Four arrested for trafficking pangolins in Maharashtra’s Alibag
7 May 2021
Four
persons were arrested in Alibag, Raigad district, on Thursday for
attempting to illegally traffic protected wildlife. Two live pangolins,
one adult female and a cub, were recovered from the accused who have
been booked under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act
(1972) by the Maharashtra forest department.
Pangolins are
protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act, putting them in the
same bracket as tigers, lions, rhinos and several other species.
Smuggling or hunting of pangolins -- which are classified as endangered
in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of
threatened species -- attracts the highest penalties as per the law.
Thursday’s
arrest was made in Navghar region of the Sudhagad Pali forest reserve
in Alibag. Officials said they acted on a tip-off and one of them posed
as a customer interested in purchasing pangolins for their scales,
which are in high demand in the international wildlife market.
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