A Shift in the Threat—Pangolins and Tortoises Take the Heat off Rhinos and Tigers In India’s Poaching Market

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By Ryan Wallace , Parent Herald Aug 18, 06:04 pm

As conservation efforts and criminal prosecutions have escalated in India, over the protection of well-known endangered species like rhinos and tigers which have traditionally been traded through the black market, news out of New Delhi is concerning advocacy groups and conservationists as wildlife agencies are reporting a shift in the threat to species.

Much more difficult to capture and trade well-protected species like tigers and elephants, poachers are now shifting their eyes onto lesser-known species without a formidable defense. While ivory trade and tiger deaths are closely monitored by multiple government agencies, population sizes of species like the Indian pangolin and the star tortoise are rapidly declining as the species are being smuggled across borders or killed within them.

"The problem is that we were turning a blind eye to all lesser-known species and suddenly this very lucrative trade has been allowed to explode" director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, Belinda Wright says.

As growing influences and black market operations continue in Southeast Asia, India's native species have seen a great decline as poachers harvest hides and meats for a marginal profit. Considered to be delicacies, or to have medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine, species such as monitor lizards and the Indian pangolin have begun to disappear from the habitats they once flourished in.

The pangolin, for example, is a mammal closely related to the anteater, which is covered in closely overlapping scales made of keratin, much like human fingernails. When threatened, much like their relatives the hedgehog, pangolins curl up into a ball so that their scales can defend them from predators, intent on eating them. A successful defense mechanism against tigers and other predators, the mechanism makes them easy prey for poachers, who can easily bundle the pangolins up into sacks and kill them once done hunting.

Killed for their meat and scales, which serve ornamental functions in fashion, poaching of the species was once a rare occurrence. But as poachers shift their practices, the defenseless species has been decimated by the black market operations.

"We're talking here of the threat of pangolins being wiped out" India director of wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, Shekhar Niraj says. "But most often the officials set to catch the poachers don't even know what the animals look like, let alone who are the people involved in catching them or those involved in the trade."

With 374 vulnerable species current listed in India, and 274 more endangered, conservationists are calling for immediate action against poachers to help deter the extinction of yet another species. Bringing to light the issues that are continuing to threat Indian species, this news is helping drive political action, as activist groups are demanding to be heard on the matter of conservation.

"This is huge tragedy in the making" Wright says. "We must act before it is too late, or many of these spectacular animals will disappear."