Odisha Forest Department Plans To Save Endangered Pangolins From Extinction

Odisha Forest Department Plans To Save Endangered Pangolins From Extinction

Nandankanan Zoological Park had started a captive breeding research centre in their premises in 2008 with six pangolins. It now boasts of a population of 26. In a bid to save the pangolins from extinction by gathering more information about their behaviour in the wild, the Odisha Forest Department is ready to set some pangolins from Nandankanan Zoological Park free in the jungle with tracking devices embedded in them.

Around 5-6 anteaters will be roped in for the research on which sophisticated infrared transmitting devices will be installed to track their habitat, movement, food habits and reproductive behaviour.

All in all, the ambitious project aims to provide more security and safety to the exotic animals which are on the brink of extinction thanks to an unabated poaching, by gathering more intricate information about their behavioural traits.

Speaking about the project, Odisha PCCF Wildlife, Sashi Paul informed that they were in contact with foreign experts to obtain specialised transmitters by this year to launch the programme.

Pangolins are in huge demand in Chinese black market. The scales of these mammals are used to manufacture Chinese traditional medicine. Notably, in December 2020, the Maharashtra government announced a dedicated action plan for the conservation of pangolins, the first Indian state to do so.