Pangolin

Fig. 1. Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata. f the eight extant species of pangolin 3KROLGRWD 0DQLGDH the Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata and Chinese Pangolin M. pentadactyla RFFXU LQ ,QGLD )LJV DQG The Indian Pangolin is widely distributed across the country, occurring in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The species also occurs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and 6UL /DQND 6ULQLYDVXOX DQG 6ULQLYDVXOX Baillie et al. 7KH &KLQHVH 3DQJROLQ LV native only to the north and north-eastern States of India, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim, and also occurs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Lao PDR, Taiwan, Thailand and Viet Nam 6ULQLYDVXOX DQG 6ULQLYDVXOX &KDOOHQGHU et al. D $OWKRXJK WKH WZR VSHFLHV DUH VLPLODU morphologically, the scales of the Indian Pangolin are relatively larger than those of the Chinese Pangolin and have ± URZV RI VFDOHV DFURVV WKH EDFN FRPSDUHG WR ± URZV LQ WKH &KLQHVH Pangolin. A terminal scale is also present on the ventral side of the tail of the Indian Pangolin, but DEVHQW LQ WKH &KLQHVH 3DQJROLQ 3RFRFN +HDWK 3UDWHU Major threats to pangolins in India include hunting and poaching for local consumptive use (e.g. as a protein source and an ingredient in WUDGLWLRQDO PHGLFLQH DQG IRU LQWHUQDWLRQDO WUDGH (Challender et al. D &KDOOHQGHU %DLOOLH et al. +XQWLQJ RI SDQJROLQV KDV UHFHQWO\ been recorded in Arunachal Pradesh, Pariyar Tiger 5HVHUYH .HUDOD WKH :HVWHUQ *KDWV DQG HDVWHUQ 6WDWHV RI ,QGLD LQFOXGLQJ 2GLVKD 0LWUD Mishra et al. 0RKDQW\ 0LVKUD et al., *XEEL DQG /LQNLH PROTECTION STATUS The Chinese Pangolin is listed as Critically Endangered, and the Indian Pangolin as Endangered, on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. These listings are based on evident (Wu et al., :X DQG 0D DQG VXVSHFWHG