Inside the Movement Bringing 252 Villages Together To End Pangolin Hunting — With a Little Help From Football

They are shy, elusive and also the most trafficked mammal in the world. Between 2018 and 2022, reports suggest 1203 pangolins have been found in illegal wildlife trade in India. While wildlife authorities are focusing their efforts on curbing illegal trade, pangolin trafficking is fueled by its high profitability. The mammals’ meat and scales are considered prized in traditional medicine and considered a delicacy in some regions.

The Wildlife Trust of India introduced its ‘Countering Pangolin Trafficking Project’ in 2023, an initiative geared towards curbing the poaching of the mammals. Their impact stands in the form of the arrest of 67 pangolin traffickers from 12 states across India from 2001 to 2023, saving 11 pangolins and the seizure of 182.61 kilograms of pangolin scales.

India hosts two species of pangolins — the ‘endangered’ Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) (L) and the ‘critically endangered’ Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) (R). Both are accorded the highest level of legal protection, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Appendix I of CITES, thus outlawing their international commercial trade.

In Manipur, diverse ethnic groups traditionally hunt and consume wildlife. The illegal wet markets and porous borders here have made the state a major hub for the illegal trade of pangolins and their derivatives.

A 2022 report by TRAFFIC, an NGO working globally on trade in wild animals, revealed that, in 2022, more than 330 tonnes of pangolins and their parts were seized in Asia from 2015 to 2021. This underscores the threat to pangolins.

Wildlife Trust of India’s ‘Countering Pangolin Trafficking Project’, supported by Pangolin Crisis Fund (Wildlife Conservation Network), and Manipur Forest Department, is implementing an inclusive, community-based strategy to curb pangolin hunting and illegal trade in unique ways.

The Pangolin Cup 2025 was a unique initiative launched in March this year by Wildlife Trust of India in collaboration with the Senapati District Olympic Association of Manipur (SDOAM) and the Manipur Forest Department. Football was used as a medium to spread the message of pangolin conservation and illegal wildlife trade. The idea was to empower local communities to become champions of their natural heritage, causing them to advocate for pangolin protection.

Another unique approach by the Wildlife Trust of India was to keep a close check on social media channels to monitor the illegal trade of pangolins. They did this by searching for keywords: pangolin tester, pangolin power, pangolin scale, pangolin for sale, pangolin scales on sale, bajrakit khipri, sallusaap chilka, and Saham Akhor or Saphu Akhor (Tangkhul Naga). The team discovered a well-established wildlife trade market.

This was followed by assisting the central and regional enforcement agencies in conducting a total of eight enforcement operations on the illegal trade of pangolins across the country. Three of these resulted in the seizure of Chinese pangolin body parts in Assam and Meghalaya, and five helped authorities seize Indian pangolin body parts across Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha, and Maharashtra.

By mobilising the local communities of Northeast India, the project has touched a chord. Around 252 Tangkhul Naga villages decided to ban the hunting, consumption, and trade of the Chinese pangolin in Manipur. Further, four villages of the Kiphire district in Nagaland have introduced the ban this year. With the help of the community and the Forest Department, six Chinese pangolins have been rescued and sent back to the wild.

Wildlife Trust of India has assisted the enforcement agencies in successfully executing 25 national enforcement actions on the illegal trade of Indian and Chinese pangolin.