5 held for smuggling live pangolin in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa

TIRUPATI: The Kadapa district forest department officials nabbed five persons accused of smuggling a live pangolin, a critically endangered species, protected under the wildlife protection Act 1972. Addressing a press conference at Kadapa on Wednesday, DFO Vineet Kumar IFS stated that the five accused identified as Ragi Srinivas, Ponnaiahgari Penchalaiah, Lekka Sivakumar Reddy, Manchala Venkatadri and Omkaram, captured the live pangolin at the Udayagiri forests in Nellore district and transported the pangolin to Nakkakonda forest area near Badvel, and were searching for buyers to trade the animal for a good fortune.Acting on credible information, the forest department staff zeroed in on the accused and nabbed them besides rescuing the captured pangolin near the Nakkakonda forest area on Wednesday. The forest department staff also seized an autorickshaw and two bikes from the possession of the accused.DFO Vineet Kumar stated that the live pangolins are one of the most smuggled animals in the world as their scales are used in Chinese traditional medicine and exotic luxury food. He added that the pangolins which are captured live are illegally trafficked to China and that each pangolin could fetch a fortune for the seller, which is one of the reasons for the illegal international trafficking of live pangolins to thrive.