The city police arrested two men from Mahalakshmi Layout on August 13 for attempting to sell a pangolin, also known as the scaly anteater.
Listed as endangered, the Indian Pangolin is an ant-eating mammal found in the sub-continent. Its scales are highly sought for decorating garments. The animal’s bones and scales are high in demand for medicinal ingredients, and its meat for delicacies in China and Vietnam.
Munivenkatappa (45) and Gowtham (31), both residents of Weavers Colony on Bannerghatta Road, were picked up with the pangolin.
Sub-inspector Venkataramanappa, in his complaint, stated he was on duty at the Mahalakshmi Layout station when he received credible information from a source that three people were trying to sell a pangolin and pangolin scales at a playground near Kamalamanegundi. Venkataramanappa and his team rushed to the spot and found two men with a jute bag on the roadside, heading towards the ISKCON temple. Seeing the policemen, the third person took to his heels. When the police checked the bag, they found a live pangolin.
Upon intimation, forest officials came and took possession of the pangolin and the scales. The accused confessed that they caught the pangolin from the Bannerghatta forest and were attempting to sell it to their contact in the city.
The accused maintained that the third person who ran away had come to see the animal and was not part of the gang. The police registered a case of theft and mischief by killing or maiming an animal, along with other sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Pangolin scales cost around 3,000 USD a kilogram in the black market, a police source said.