The pangolin is one of the most trafficked animals in Asia, traded for its flesh, scales and skin

GURUGRAM: When villagers at Patakpur in Punhana spotted a 2.5-feet-long creature with scales on Sunday night, they did not know what it was. It looked like a reptile, had scales and was unlike anything they had seen before. Afraid and unaware, they killed it.

It was a rare Indian Pangolin , a Schedule I species, given the highest protection under the Wildlife Protection Act. It is a harmless species.

“It looked different, it looked dangerous. The villagers got scared and some started chasing it. Threatened, the pangolin ran towards the people and they killed it,” said a local. “We got a call after it had died. We filed a complaint at the Punhana police station and an FIR was filed,” said Rajinder Prasad, district forest officer (wildlife, Gurugram). The forest department conducted a post-mortem and confirmed it had been beaten to death by the mob.

Wildlife officials said this incident highlights the importance of creating awareness. “It was unfortunate. People did not know what it was. There is a need to create awareness about such species. People need to know it is harmless and plays an important role in the ecosystem,” Prasad said.

Anil Gandas, a wildlife enthusiast, was among those who got a call after the pangolin was killed. “I have been rescuing animals in the Aravalis since 2006. The species is extremely rare. It is completely harmless – it doesn’t even have teeth. Only once, about two and half years ago, did I get a call from a villager in Dabripur about a pangolin he had locked in his house. If only someone had called me this time as well,” Gandas rued.

He raised another important point — pangolins were common in Uttarakhand but not found in the Aravalis even 25 years ago. “The Aravalis had more moisture at a point of time. It has turned drier because of desertification, scattering pangolin habitats,” said Amit Chaudhery, founder of Earth Quotient and Naturalist.

But by now, the Indian Pangolin has been categorised as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of habitat destruction, disruption in wildlife corridors and increased trafficking. The pangolin is one of the most trafficked animals in Asia, traded for its flesh, scales and skin.

The forest department performed the pangolin’s last rites.

