Pangolin rescued in Odisha, one held

A pangolin was rescued from a village in Odishas Baragarh district on Tuesday, and one person was arrested on charges of wildlife trafficking, police said. Since 2020, the STF has seized at least 22 leopard skins, 12 elephant tusks and nine pangolins, and arrested 52 wildlife criminals, police said.

A pangolin was rescued from a village in Odisha's Baragarh district on Tuesday, and one person was arrested on charges of wildlife trafficking, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a team of special task force personnel with the help of forest department officials conducted search operations in areas along the Baragarh-Bheden road and recovered the animal from his possession, a senior officer said.

The animal was suspectedly trafficked and the person, a resident of Negipalli village, was handed over to the forest department for legal action, he said. Pangolins are nocturnal, termite-eating mammals found in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and they are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which put them in the same bracket as tigers, lions, rhinos and several other species.

The body of a pangolin is covered with overlapping scales made of keratin, the same protein that forms human hair and nails, and rhino horn. Since 2020, the STF has seized at least 22 leopard skins, 12 elephant tusks and nine pangolins, and arrested 52 wildlife criminals, police said.