ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Wildlife Department on Thursday saved an endangered pangolin and released it into its natural habitat.

The pangolin was allegedly being smuggled in a sack by two poachers on a motorcycle. The two men stopped at a checkpoint, threw away the sack and fled.

“The poaching of pangolins has declined significantly in and around Rawalpindi district after strict measures were introduced to stop its illegal capture and trading. This is the first case in the last three years of a pangolin being smuggled,” District Wildlife Officer Rizwana Imtiaz, whose team confiscated the animal, said.

Pangolins are a unique species that play a crucial role in maintaining health ecosystems by consuming insects, serving as natural pest controllers. They also help improve soil quality by mixing and aerating it.

Despite holding significant ecological importance, the pangolin population has been declining rapidly in Pakistan. Ms Imtiaz told Dawn that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been trying to save the endangered species through research, interventions, projects and collaborations.

The rescued pangolin was released in an area where the department and WWF were conducting studies to better understand the animal’s habitat and ensure its survival.

Ms Imtiaz said pangolins were near extinction in Rawalpindi district.

“Their numbers had dwindled to less than 10pc. However, with the WWF and Punjab wildlife’s conservation efforts the population has increased to a little over 30pc,” she said, sharing statistics from a study conducted on pangolins in 2018.

She said that with these studies, researchers were able to find major threats to pangolins and could successfully devise strategies, interventions and management plans to conserve the species.

She said pangolins were poached extensively in 2013 and 2014. Strict measures were introduced to protect them after 2016.

She added that pangolins are in high demand in Southeast Asian countries, particularly China, where their meat is considered a delicacy and believed to have mythical importance.

“What is worrisome is that while the animal itself is eaten, a greater danger arises from the belief that the scales have medicinal values. Fresh scales are never used. The scales are dried and roasted, ashed, cooked in oil, butter, vinegar, to cure various types of illnesses. But none of that is not backed by scientific research,” she said.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2020