source
KARACHI:
A sting operation involving wildlife activists from Pakistan and Kenya has recently led to not only the busting of an organized gang connected with the inter-continental Pangolin trade being operated from this South Asian country, but has also exposed several dark facets of this high-scale illegal activity.
The story of this unexpectedly successful operation began a few months ago with an email, which initially was considered “spam”. Aemanu (name changed due to security reason), an African wildlife activist, who is also associated with a famous conservation network received an email from an unknown person in Pakistan, asking her if she was interested in procurement of pangolins. She, initially, took that as a spam email, like another hundreds she received every day. However, her own interest in the wildlife, and the unique subject of the email ignited her curiosity, prompting her to have a glance on the content.
Perusing of the first few paras instantly made her understand that it was neither a junk email nor had it been sent mistakenly. It was a well-pegged letter, covering even minor details of the sizes and kinds of the anteaters the gang could provide. She immediately made up her mind. The young activist contacted one of her friends Shiraz (another alias) who worked for a Lahore-based conservation organization. Shiraz contacted the purported smuggler, showing interest in purchasing the pangolins. He was stunned when the suspect informed him that he could immediately provide four kilogrammes of pangolin scales worth over $900,000.
Following a brief consultation with his African colleague, Shiraz brought the issue to the knowledge of the wildlife authorities of northeastern Punjab province, which chalked out a strategy to bust the gang. A wildlife department official, masquerading himself as a customer, contacted the alleged smuggler, inviting him to a deserted portion of a highway near Lahore to finalize the deal. To cut the story short, the suspect fell prey to the plan, and was caught red-handed along with 1.5 kilogrammes of pangolin scales. His arrest led to detention of several others allegedly involved in the illegal trade. They were later jailed for different terms, along with modest fines.
This was one success story; undoubtedly encouraging but simultaneously not suffice to contain the increasing trade of pangolins. The greedy traffickers have even come up with modern techniques, including online sale and purchase of pangolins or their scales, aside from live trade, across Pakistan. Punjab’s Chakwal district, which otherwise is famous for its presence in the country’s powerful army, is notorious for the pangolin trade, followed by the desert and mountainous areas of southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces, and parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir valley.
A delicate ecological balance
Pangolin is the only carnivorous animal which is covered with hard scales on its body that are made up of keratin. It is also known as the live pine cone. Globally, pangolin has eight subspecies and it exists in Asia and Africa. The Indian pangolin, scientifically called Manis crassicaudata, is also found in Pakistan. This species is confronting a host of challenges, the key threats include hunting and smuggling of the animal. According to the IUCN Red List, the conservation status of the animal is ‘endangered’. It is warned by IUCN that 50 percent decline may occur in anteater population within next twenty years. Due to its endangered status, it is listed in the Appendix-I of the Convention on the International Trade in the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Being a signatory to this convention, trading or hunting of this animal in any form is illegal in Pakistan.
According to Wali Muhammad, Deputy Conservator Sindh Wildlife Department, Pangolins have an extremely important ecological role of regulating insect populations. One single pangolin can consume around 70 million ants and termites per year. If pangolins go extinct, there would be a cascading impact on the environment. “Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest Control. The excavated burrows, till and aerate the soil, including turnover of organic matter.
Pakistan and the global black market
Smuggling of pangolin meat and scales is carried out not only in Pakistan but also internationally. According to reports, pangolins are thought to be the most trafficked wild mammals in the world. The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a multibillion dollar industry worth between USD7–23billion annually and leaves a long-lasting impact on both humankind and the environment (UNODC, 2016). It is considered to be one of the fastest growing illegal trades, (although its underground nature) due to high corruption, weak legislation/ controls, lax law enforcement and high returns, make estimating its true scale downright impossible.
Using different illegal means, pangolin trade is carried out in Pakistan. According to Muhammad Wasim, Manager Conservation at WWF-Pakistan, illegal sale and purchase of the pangolins has been reported in major cities across the country. They include Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi where more than 239 shops deal in pangolin and its parts. Mentioning WWF-Pakistan’s recent study titled Scale of illegal killing and trade of Indian Pangolin, Wasim further said that these shops and markets also have other animals which are listed in the CITES. He also referred to Empress Market in Karachi where wildlife traffickers could easily be found selling such animals.
25-year old Ramesh works at a shop in the Empress Market where he mostly deals in parrots and other birds. However, he shared that the owner of the shop also sells live pangolins or their meat and scales. He also revealed that no one openly uses the word pangolin, instead the people involved in the trade use a codename ‘Sharmeli’ in local parlance to evade wildlife department or other government agencies. He also went on to say that they have certain customers who regularly get pangolins. However, the live animals are never kept at the shop as it could create a problem for them.
Wasim also confirmed that shopkeepers are well aware that sale of these animals is illegal so normally they do not keep them in the marketplace. However, they arrange the animal from some remote place and deliver to the customer at his doorstep.
Ramesh disclosed that the animals brought to their shop were mostly captured from Thar desert and Sunn in Jamshoro district of Sindh. The animal is sold as per its weight in kilogrammes. If the animal weighs 14 kg, then the approximate price is 600 USD. This price is comparatively low as reported in the international market. He also informed that the pangolin is largely purchased by Chinese nationals living in Pakistan.
Javed Mahar, Conservator, Sindh Wildlife Department endorsing the claim of Ramesh shared that it is a fact that pangolin population has significantly decreased in Sindh. He maintained that the animal had a significant population in the past as it was largely found in the forest areas. Over the last fifty years, 80 percent of the forest cover has been cut down to acquire land for the purpose of agriculture. He also informed that only 5 per cent of pangolin lives in Sindh while the remaining population exists in Punjab and Azad Kashmir.
According to Ramesh, people dwelling in the villages and settlements around Khirthar National Park provide them pangolins. After the details shared by Ramesh, the writer visited the national park, which is a mountainous area and signs of pangolins claws could easily be observed there. However, residents did not confirm the presence or sale of the animal in the area. People realized that the commercial trade of pangolin is illegal and they could be punished if anyone was found to be involved in such activity. That is why local community member did not say anything about pangolin. However, when a few photos of pangolin were shown to some children, they acknowledged having seen anteaters in the area. Some community members shared that they witnessed nomads with tracker dogs looking for pangolins in the hilly areas mostly during the night time.
Poached by nomads
It was reported by the local people that nomads are very much involved in poaching and hunting of the pangolins. Muhammad Wasim confirmed that wandering nomad groups carry out poaching activities of the pangolins and they are part of the wildlife trafficking network. As they wander from one area to another, they keep an eye on the burrows of pangolins and at night when animal come out, they catch it. Nomads sell these animals to middlemen who later supply them to buyers in big cities especially Karachi. Wasim further said that as these people do not have a permanent home, therefore their identity cards have temporary address mentioned on them. It is because of this issue; relevant agencies have difficulty in locating these people. He further shared that these people have very strong network and coordination mechanism. Wasim shared that during the WWF-Pakistan research study, we met a middleman named Javed who came from the nomad community but had close contacts with suppliers and buyers. He was also arrested and fined for illegal trade of the pangolins.
It was in Bimbhar, Azad Kashmir that WWF-Pakistan team with support of wildlife officials followed the nomad people. As they arrived on the site, they heard weird sounds of the animals, startled them. Later they found that members of the nomad group had put live pangolins into hot water just to remove their scales. It was heart-wrenching for the team to see such cruel act. According to the WWF study, around 375 pangolins have been illegally traded between 2013 to 2018 from various parts of the Potohar and Mirpur district in Azad and Jammu Kashmir.
Talking about the involvement of nomads in pangolin trade, Wali Muhammad, Deputy Conservator Sindh Wildlife Department said that he was not 100 percent sure about that, as dozens of villages are located in the Khirthar National Park and local communities do not allow them to hunt this animal. They come there just for begging, however, wildlife staff asks them to go away. He further said that there has not been any trade of pangolins in the Khirthar Park for last many decades
Cool