Hunters target endangered pangolins in India
Pangolin scales have become so lucrative in India that some traditional hunting communities are now actively targeting the animals.
A study published November 3 in the journal Nature Conservation by researchers at University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the nonprofit World Animal Protection sheds new light on pangolin hunting in India, a country known to be a source of pangolins entering the illegal trade but that’s been little studied.
Pangolins are scaly, ant-eating mammals that live in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Their scales are in high demand in the illegal wildlife trade, valued for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Two species—Indian pangolin and the Chinese pangolin—live in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where the research was carried out.
Researchers interviewed 141 hunters from the Biate, Karbi, and Dimasa tribes in the rural district of Dima Hasao,
