Pangolin is listed as “critically endangered”, while the Indian pangolin is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

cover, probably accounts for one of the highest pangolin populations in India.

Naturally, this makes the state a hot target for poachers catering to Chinese markets – which see the scales as a medical aid to treat issues such as impotence, asthma, reproductive problems and reduced lactation.

According to certain observers, Chinese couples keen on having a second baby – thanks to a new government policy of allowing couples to have two children – may also be fueling the demand for pangolin scales. Besides this, STF officials believe the wildlife product is blended with party drugs for extra potency.

Pangolins found in central India are bigger than their Chinese counterparts.

Pangolin expert Rajesh Kumar Mohapatra said that nearly 2,000 pangolins were killed between 2009 and 2014, going by the 5,913 kg of scales seized during that period.

“Our research shows while the number of seizures is increasing, the volume of seized scales is declining. This is a clear indication that the population of Pangolins is decreasing in India,” said Mohapatra, who is also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Pangolin Specialist Group.

Considered as “one of the most trafficked mammals in the world”, the shy solitary animal is listed in schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972.