Maha becomes first state in India to have action plan to save Pangolins

Maharashtra is set to be the first state in India to have a dedicated action plan for conservation of pangolins ndash the worldrsquos most trafficked animalPangolins are listed in Schedule I of Indiarsquos Wildlife Protection Act 1972 implying the highest degree of protection The principal chief conservator of forests PCCFwildlife recently got approval from the state for its proposal to form a study group to prepare a fiveyear conservation action plan for pangolins ldquoWe have been informed that the proposal has been acceptedrdquo said Nitin Kakodkar PCCFwildlife reports Hindustan TimesAlso ReadEarly sight of Dolphins along Mumbai coast this yearldquoThe committee will look into aspects such as population estimation distribution habitat protection and most importantly illicit trafficking hotspots Unlike tigers and leopards these are species that have never been in focus despite having a huge ecological rolerdquo he addedAlso ReadSeven turtles rescued along Maharashtras west coast in one dayM Maranko regional deputy director west Wildlife Crime Control Bureau WCCB said ldquoMaharashtra will be the first state to have such a plan People eat pangolin meat their scales are valuable in the international market and are kept by some as a sign of good luck or for superstitions allegedly involving witchcraft This activates the illegal trade Our mandate is to coordinate with states collect intelligence and make the public and enforcement agencies awarerdquoKakodkar said the proposal was planned based on a detailed proposal by Vishwas Katdare member of the State Board of Wildlife and IUCN Species Survival Commission Pangolin Specialist group member ldquoKatdare has been actively working towards pangolin conservation in Ratnagiri for the past four years and will be a leading member of this committeerdquo he said adding the panel will be headed by additional principal chief conservator of forests wildlifewest Sunil Limaye and also include the WCCB among other membersldquoStray cases of pangolin poaching are regularly being reported from Maharashtra To address this we need inputs from local people primary data to understand the trade and its channels We need to understand whether it is happening at the local level or if there is an organised network secondary data There will be a special focus on Mumbai to check whether the city as a port is functioning as a hub for this traderdquo said KakodkarKatdare the founder of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra SNM a nonprofit operating for the past 26 years has been studying the population using 40 camera traps and spreading awareness about pangolins across Ratnagiri Over the past two years 23 pangolins have been rescued by local people with help from SNM and the forest department From October SNM extended their research to Sindhudurg district ldquoTaking this in perspective I submitted the proposal to the department to have a roadmap for protecting this species across Maharashtra where pangolins are distributed in maximum numbers along Konkan and Vidarbha These mammals can survive in different types of habitats and thus monitoring them is keyrdquo said KatdareMeanwhile WCCB has seen six major cases of pangolin in Maharashtra in 2020 On June 10 six persons were arrested from Nanded and one from Pune where two live pangolins were rescued and on August 30 six persons were arrested at Satara with a live pangolin and items worth Rs 110 lakhMaranko explained that based on interrogations with those involved in the trade they found out that the modus operandi involved local villagers training hunting dogs to catch pangolins ldquoThese dogs are weekly taken to forest areas where they track the scent of pangolins and lead villagers to their burrows Once pangolins are caught their scales are removed and sent to the supplier Their meat is partially processed consumed by local villagers and also given to the dogs which are made dependent on the pangolin meat to easily repeat the processrdquo he saidExperts welcomed Maharashtrarsquos decision and said other states needed to follow it ldquoAs long as the pangolinrsquos habitat is protected along with strict control on illegal trade we can have some hope for the speciesrdquo said Aniruddha Mookerjee consultant wildlife advisor WildCRU University of Oxford While Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Chhattisgarh and Odisha in central India are the major areas for pangolin trapping the scales move to the north east for export he explained ldquoThe consumption of pangolin meat is much higher in the north eastern states If states like Assam and Meghalaya can join the states in central India in creating a holistic plan for conservation of both the subspecies it should have a far better chance of survivalrdquo said MookerjeeIn February a study by the South China Agricultural University identified pangolins as the potential intermediate host of the novel coronavirus Covid19 The study announced the discovery of a 99 genetic match between the new 2019nCoV virus and a strain of the virus found in pangolinsldquoWe thought that after Covid19 the trade would reduce but unfortunately in all probability it appears to be the samerdquo said Saket Badola head TRAFFIC India a wildlife trade monitoring group adding ldquoThere have been limited efforts to understand the population distribution and estimation for pangolins We have been flagging this issue repeatedly However with interventions being introduced in Maharashtra Uttarakhand doing a population estimation exercise with the Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun and MP also involved in good work through targeted approaches awareness among enforcement agencies is much more and it is clear they are preparedrdquoKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news