India’s Lesser Known Species Endanger Of Becoming Extinct
With India’s efforts to protect majestic endangered animals – rhinos, tigers, etc. wildlife poachers have started thinking smaller. And, because of this, activists have said scores of the country’s not-so-known animal species are disappearing from the wild.
For example, the star tortoise, which is a popular pet and measures out to a foot long, and the scaly Indian pangolin with its roll-up-into-a-ball defense mechanism, are being trafficked or killed in large numbers as conservation efforts focus their attention on other iconic animals.
Wildlife Protection Society of India Director Belinda Wright said the problem is that people are ignoring the lesser-known species, causing this profitable trade to gain popularity.
According to wildlife specialists, the increasing affluence of China and other Southeast Asia countries has driven the demand up for exotic animals. Some animals are kept as pets while the other animals are consumed for their questionable medicinal properties.
The pangolins are killed for the meat, which many consider is a delicacy. The pangolin scales, which are made of keratin, are used in conventional Chinese medicine. This is the same protein that forms fingernails and hair but has no renowned medicinal value.
Once vague in India, the pangolin trade averaged about three a year killed by poachers between 1990 and 2008. According to Wright, the number soared to over 320 a year from 2009 to 2013. The numbers covers just the confirmed seizures made by wildlife expert and customs officials. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, over a million pangolins were poached from Asian and African habitats.
Port and airport customs officials have noticed a rise in star tortoise seizures from under 800 a year from 1990 to 1999 to over 3,000 a year from 2002 to 2013.
Indian officials have denied they have neglected the lesser-known species, saying developing tiger reserves have helped protect the area’s smaller species.
S.B. Negi with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau said the agency’s focus on the tigers doesn’t mean the other species are not being looked at. Still, the bureau is just not collecting information on the smaller species in danger, which reflects the little attention they have been paying attention.
Wright said the trade of the lesser-known species must be given attention or else whole species could be wiped out.
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