Editorial: Saving Pvt Pangolin

In a reminder of the rampant wildlife trafficking in the subcontinent, as many as 4,967 red-eared slider turtles, and 19 albino red-eared slider turtles, classified as exotic wildlife species, were retrieved at the Chennai Airport this week, after being smuggled in from Malaysia. Last week, two people were arrested at Prayagraj Junction railway station for smuggling 10 Indian softshell turtles, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. There are more exotic animals on the traffickers’ wishlist. In September, two passengers from Bangkok attempted to smuggle baby Caiman crocodiles into the Mumbai Airport. In the same month, four persons in Chhattisgarh were arrested for smuggling a pangolin, the most trafficked mammal globally. All eight variants of its species are protected under national and international laws. Two of these species are listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (some Asian pangolin species have declined by more than 50% in recent years).

For an idea of the big business that such crimes fetch, consider the recent seizure by the Mumbai police’s crime branch — over 5 kg ambergris (whale vomit) with an estimated street value of Rs 6.20 crore. Ambergris is a waxy substance produced by the digestive system of sperm whales, which is used in perfumery. A report from Down to Earth pointed out that globally, illicit wildlife trade ranks as the fourth largest illegal industry after narcotics, human trafficking and counterfeit products, and is valued at $19-26 billion per year. The UN Office on Drug and Crime, recently reported that 1.3 lakh seizures of illegal transnational wildlife trade, involving thousands of species, were made across 120 countries in the past decade. A whopping 20% of all wildlife seizures recorded between 1996-2008 took place in India.

The seizures in India mostly unearthed the remains of species such as leopards (hunted for their hides, bones, teeth and claws), Asian elephants, Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Bengal tigers. The recoveries also included ungulates, comprising deer, antelopes, wild cattle and pigs, all of which are illegally hunted for meat in different parts of India. Low conviction rates when it came to poachers and traffickers has emerged as a huge impediment to India’ conservation efforts. Data from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) tells us that more than 9,253 poachers were arrested between 2012 and 2018 in India, but the conviction rate is just 2%. Such laxity entails an irreparable loss for endangered species. Two years ago, the government said that India had lost 29 tigers over the last three years due to poaching. However, the number of poaching cases has reduced over the years — from 17 in 2019 to four in 2021, the data showed. Encouragingly, the country is taking decisive steps to battle the menace of trafficking and poaching.

Ahead of the arrival of migratory birds in Chilika, India's largest coastal lagoon, the wildlife wing of Odisha's forest department has set up temporary camps to prevent poaching activities in the area. The Assam Forest Department has also said that the population of rhinos has increased to over 3,000 now from about 600 in the 1960s, with its zero-tolerance approach to poaching. More recently, India and Nepal have agreed to use Interpol channels to collaborate with law enforcement agencies globally to tackle tiger trafficking networks smuggling animal parts to China. The bottom line boils down to a simple axiom — when the demand stops, the supply will stop too.