Though a clampdown late last year on pangolin poachers has reflected in a deterrent effect seemingly, the Forest Department is yet in pursuit of a main accused in the case.
About eight poachers operating in contiguous parts of Erode and Coimbatore districts were arrested during November last year, but interrogation could indicate that actual culprits at large had been capitalising on their ignorance.
The department stepped up guard by not letting anybody take hunting dogs inside forest area following the monsoons after learning that they were being used to sniff and locate pangolins in their burrows.
The department has, however, made out the trail of the pangolin shells to Dimapur in Nagaland and from there to Moreh town in Manipur on the India-Myanmar border from where the shells are sourced by poachers based in Eastern countries, District Forest Officer of Sathyamangalam Division and Deputy Director of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve K. Rajkumar said.
Consumption of the shells of the animal, included in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, is believed to enhance lactating mothers to secrete more milk. The scales of ant-eaters made of keratin are valued internationally, particularly in China, for use as ornaments as well
In India, Traffc India - a division of WWF India, has been in the forefront of creating awareness on saving pangolins from extinction, unfailingly on the World Pangolin Day on February 20. According to the wildlife body, the threat of extinction of the scaly ant-eaters is all the more acute since there is no information available on their population status and the current level of illegal utilisation.
