Distribution and Illegal Killing of the Endangered Indian Pangolin Manis Crassicaudata on the Potohar Plateau, Pakistan

Distribution and illegal killing of the Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata on the Potohar Plateau, Pakistan

T ARIQ M AHMOOD,FARAZ A KRIM,NAUSHEEN I RSHAD,RIAZ H USSAIN,HIRA F ATIMA S HAISTA A NDLEEB and A YESHA A IHETASHAM

Abstract The Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassi- Introduction caudata, a burrowing, armoured mammal, plays an import- ant role in the food web by consuming insects and termites. he Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata is categorized  In Pakistan the species’ range includes the , km Tas Endangered on the IUCN Red List (Baillie et al.,  Potohar Plateau, where it is under pressure from illegal ) because of its declining populations, which is a result hunting for its scales and requires conservation attention. of illegal hunting and increased levels of poaching for its  We used a geographical information system to quantify scales and meat (Baillie et al., ). It is one of four Asian the range of the Indian pangolin on the Plateau and to com- pangolin species, all of which have protective keratinized   pare this with the range estimated in the IUCN Red List as- scales (Gaudin et al., ; Gaubert, ). The scales are sessment of the species. We found that the species occupies used in traditional medicine in China and other countries, c. % of the Plateau, in eight of the  protected areas, com- and Indian pangolins are traded illegally throughout East  pared with the IUCN estimate of %, and we recorded the Asia (Challender et al., ), with many reports of seizures  species at  locations on the Plateau outside the range pre- in Vietnam in recent years (EIA, ). dicted by the IUCN assessment. We collected data on the All eight species of pangolins (four Asian and four  illegal capture and killing of the species, recording  indi- African) are on Appendix I of CITES ( ), and pangolins viduals that had been killed at  locations between January are considered to be the most trafficked wild mammal glo-  .    and the end of April . The highest number of kill- bally (Challender et al., ), with an estimated , ings was recorded in Chakwal District (n = ,at sites) individuals of both Asian and African origin traded since  followed by the Attock District (n = , at eight sites). . This trade is recognized as having a severe impact Although the Indian pangolin’s range on the Potohar on the status of pangolin populations (Challender et al.,  Plateau is c. % larger than that estimated in the IUCN as- ). sessment, the species is under pressure from illegal killing The Indian pangolin occurs in five countries: Pakistan, and requires urgent conservation measures to save the India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (Baillie et al.,  small remaining population and avoid the extirpation of ). In Pakistan the distribution is localized, with the spe- this vital insectivorous predator from the area. cies occurring in the provinces of Sind, Balochistan, some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab, including the Keywords Distribution, Indian pangolin, IUCN assess- Potohar Plateau (Roberts, ). ment, killing, Manis crassicaudata, Pakistan, Potohar, spa- The Indian pangolin occurs in barren hilly areas and sub- tial range tropical thorn forests (Roberts, ), usually ranging from  Supplementary material for this article can be found at moist to dry and thorn to grassland (Pai, ). It occurs at https://doi.org/./S naturally low population densities and prefers forested en- vironments of various types (Gaudin et al., ). It is also found in ruined wasteland near human settlements (Yang et al., ). The pangolin’s scales provide defence against predators; when threatened, it rolls up into a ball to protect its delicate, vulnerable underside. Demand for the scales for use in traditional medicine has fuelled inten- sive poaching of the species, resulting in a decline of c. %  TARIQ MAHMOOD (Corresponding author), FARAZ AKRIM,NAUSHEEN IRSHAD,RIAZ in its native range (Irshad et al., ). HUSSAIN,HIRA FATIMA and SHAISTA ANDLEEB Department of Wildlife The Potohar Plateau is the core distribution range of the Management, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan. E-mail [email protected] Indian pangolin in Pakistan, with only localized, patchy dis- tributions in other areas. Previous studies (e.g. Mahmood AYESHA AIHETASHAM Zoology Department, University of the Punjab, Lahore,  Pakistan et al., ) have highlighted the illegal trade and killing of Received  October . Revision requested  December . Indian pangolins in Pakistan and the smuggling of their Accepted  January . First published online  May . scales into China via Hong Kong (and perhaps

Oryx, 2019, 53(1), 159–164 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317000023 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.14, on 25 Sep 2021 at 17:04:02, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317000023 160 T. Mahmood et al.

Singapore). In April  information was reported (GACC, ) on a seizure in China of . kg of pangolin scales that were apparently sourced from Pakistan, where illegal smuggling is facilitated by weak law enforcement. We aimed to estimate the distribution range of the Indian pangolin on the Potohar Plateau, where a high intensity of illegal killing has been reported, and compare it with the IUCN estimate, to assess the intensity of illegal hunting pressure on the species on the Plateau, and to evaluate the efficacy of the protection system in place.

Study area

The study was conducted on the Potohar Plateau in north-  east Pakistan (Fig. ) during –. The , km study  area comprises four districts (Attock, , km ; Chakwal,    , km ; Jhelum, , km ; Rawalpindi, , km ), and also some parts of the capital city, Islamabad (Bhutta, ). The Plateau is at –, m altitude and the climate is semi- arid to humid, with mean annual rainfall of – mm. FIG. 1 The distribution of the Indian pangolin Manis The mean maximum temperature in summer is °C, drop- crassicaudata on the Potohar Plateau estimated by this study and indicated by the IUCN assessment for the species (Baillie et al., ping to below freezing during winter (Encyclopaedia     ), with locations where pangolins were recorded, and Britannica, ). Of the protected areas in Pakistan locations where illegal capture and killing of pangolins was occur on the Potohar Plateau: six National Parks (Kala recorded. Protected areas are numbered as in Table . Chitta, Chinji, Ayub, Margalla Hills, Murree-Kahuta-Kotli Sattiyan and Ayubia), two Wildlife Sanctuaries (Chumbi Surla and Islamabad) and two Game Reserves (Domeli-Diljaba and Khairi Murat; Fig. ).

Methods

Preliminary species occurrence data were obtained by inter- viewing local people using a questionnaire (Supplementary Material ). Field data were collected during surveys of all natural areas of the four districts (Jhelum, Chakwal, Rawalpindi and Attock) of the Plateau. The interviews  FIG. 2 Numbers of Indian pangolins killed illegally on Potohar and field surveys were conducted between January Plateau, Pakistan (Fig. ) during January –April . and the end of April . The field surveys were conducted using a motor vehicle driven at – km per hour along all accessible roads, guided by the published occurrence re- points where the species was known to be present. For each  cords of the species. Direct (sightings, capture, dead bodies) location point we created a buffer of  km , which approx- and indirect (burrows, faeces) signs of the species were re- imates our estimate of the home range size of the Indian corded at stops every – km. Thorough searches were car- pangolin in Pakistan based on its daily activity. There are ried out at sites where the species was reported to occur. no published records of the home range size of the Indian Geographical coordinates of the locations of occurrence pangolin, although the home range of the Sunda pangolin were recorded using a global positioning system, and were Manis javanica in Singapore was estimated to be consider-  used to construct distribution maps of the species and esti- ably smaller (c. . km for females, and larger for males; mate its distribution range in the study area. Lim & Ng, ). The occurrence data were georeferenced and uploaded to We then clipped areas outside the study area, using a GoogleEarth (Google Inc., Mountain View, USA) and saved shapefile of the Plateau obtained from the global topograph- in Keyhole Markup Language format before being imported ical data layer from WebGIS (). We created a polygon into QGIS v. .. (QGIS Development Team, ) and incorporating all the buffers to construct the distribution converted into shapefiles. The result was a layer of location range of the Indian pangolin in the study area. The

TABLE 1 Records of illegal capture and killing of the Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata in the four districts of the Potohar Plateau (Fig. ) during –.

Date of record Site name collection Details of capture/kill Jhelum District Dhoke Jamroz Undated 1 jacket of scales PD Khan Undated 5 dead pangolins PD Khan July 2011 2 captures, 10 kills Diljaba-Domeli Aug. 2011 1 complete scale jacket Farash Pamal Apr. 2012 1 individual killed PD Khan Apr. 2012 2 live captures, 2 killed, 1 scale jacket (in addition to the kills) Mohal 10 Apr. 2012 2 pangolins caught by nomads Rohtas 10 Apr. 2012 12 pangolins reported to be caught & sold to nomads Dhok Rajo 10 Apr. 2012 9 pangolins caught & sold by local people (nomads gave 15–20 kg fish for 1 pangolin) Dhongi, Sohawa 10 Apr. 2012 15–20 pangolins caught in 2–3 months; no more pangolins were found here. Nomads distributed cards to local young people to collect information about pangolins, for poaching purposes. Chakwal District Jubairpur Undated 5 dead pangolins Kallar Kahar Undated 2 pangolins killed Mureed Jan. 2011 1 adult male Chumbi Surla Jan. 2011 1 adult male, plus 1 kg of scales Thoha Mehram Sep. 2011 2 individuals Jubairpur Oct. 2011 2 individuals Jubairpur Dec. 2011 3 individuals Sardhi, Kallar Kahar Feb. 2012 2 individuals Ratta Sharif, Kallar Kahar Mar. 2012 2 individuals Talagang city Jan. 2012 3 individuals Chakwal city Feb. 2012 24 kg of scales Mathrala 20 Feb. 2013 5–6 pangolins caught by local people, plus 10–15 caught in December 2012 by local people & sold to nomads Kot sarang 20 Feb. 2013 10–20 caught & sold for PKR 2,000–5,000 each Dhok lunda 21 Feb. 2013 7 caught in previous few months Dhoke Sehla 21 Feb. 2013 4 caught by local people & sold to nomads Khokhar Zair 21 Feb. 2013 4 caught by local people & sold to nomads Mureed 21 Feb. 2013 2 caught by local people, 1 more killed Talagang 21 Feb. 2013 20–30 caught in previous few months Lawa 20 Feb. 2013 34 pangolins caught by nomads Chakora 20 Feb. 2013 1 pangolin caught by local farmer Chandu wali 20 Feb. 2013 3 caught in previous 3 months Danda Shah Balawal 20 Feb. 2013 7 caught in previous few months, plus 1 killed Rawalpindi District Ghakkar Sanhal Undated 5 killed Malpur -Islamabad Undated 1 adult, plus 2 baby pangolins, plus 1 road kill Kanyat Ladhu Mar. 2011 1 individual Chakri village Nov. 2011 1 individual Banni Gala Feb. 2012 3 individuals Chakri 27 Apr. 2013 7 pangolins caught, plus 2 caught in previous week Kanyat Ladhu 27 Apr. 2013 1 killed; all pangolins present here were caught during previous 8–10 months and there are none remaining Kanaisar 28 Apr. 2013 16 caught in previous 3 months Attock District Khairi Moorat, Near 13 Sep. 2012 50 caught (during Jan.–Sep. 2012) Tanaza Dam Tanaza Dam colony 12 July 2012 2 caught by watchman Jaspal 13 Sep. 2012 3 caught by local people Near Jamat Chowk 12 Sep. 2012 25–30 caught by nomads in 2 months Haddo wali 14 Sep. 2012 20–30 caught during previous 3 months. Population extirpated according to local people

Table 1 (Cont.) Site name Date of record Details of capture/kill collection Rattowal, Fateh Jang 16 Sep. 2012 6–7 caught Dhok Chaki 16 Sep. 2012 7–8 caught by local boys & sold to nomads Kisran 16 Sep. 2012 14 caught by nomads in previous 3 months

TABLE 2 The  protected areas on the Potohar Plateau, Pakistan (Fig. ), indicating whether the Indian pangolin has been recorded and whether there were any records of poaching or killing of the species during – (Table ).

Area Pangolin Protected area Designation District (km2) occurrence Poaching/killing 1 Chumbi Surla Wildlife Chakwal 559 Yes Yes, 1 adult male captured plus Sanctuary 1 kg scales 2 Chinji National Park Chakwal 61 Yes No evidence 3 Diljaba-Domeli Game Reserve Jhelum 1,181 Yes No evidence 4 Khairi Murat Game Reserve Attock 56 Yes Yes, c. 50 individuals 5 Kala Chitta National Park Attock 1,326 Yes No evidence 6 Ayub Park Other Rawalpindi 9 Yes No evidence 7 Ayubia National Park Rawalpindi 17 No No (Murree) 8 Murree-Kahuta-Kotli National Park Rawalpindi No No Sattiyan (Kahuta) 9 Margalla Hills National Park Islamabad 174 Yes Yes, c. 7 individuals 10 Islamabad Wildlife Wildlife Islamabad 70 Yes No evidence Sanctuary Sanctuary

distribution of the Indian pangolin provided by IUCN was Rawalpindi, ) where there were direct sightings or indirect retrieved as a shapefile from the Red List of Threatened signs of Indian pangolins (Fig. ). Based on these occur- Species (IUCN, ). To examine the occurrence of the rences we determined that the species occurs in c. %  Indian pangolin with respect to protected areas, we com- (, km ) of the Plateau rather than in the c. %  pared the species’ distribution to the locations of the pro- (, km ) indicated in the IUCN Red List account for tected areas on the Potohar Plateau, obtained from the the species (Baillie et al., ; Fig. ). At least  locations World Database on Protected Areas (IUCN, UNEP-WCMC, (in Rawalpindi and Attock Districts) were outside the range ). indicated by IUCN. The elevational range of the Indian Questionnaire surveys (Supplementary Material ) were pangolin on the Plateau was – m; in Rawalpindi conducted with local people in the study area (including District the species occurred from  (Gujar Khan) to hunters, shepherds, shop keepers and school children) to  m (Kahuta), in Chakwal District from  (Mureed) gather data about illegal capture and killing of Indian pan- to  m (Basharat Hills), in Jhelum District from  golins. During the survey period a total of  monthly field (Haranpur Victoria pul) to  m (Sohawa), and in Attock visits were conducted. Based on information obtained from District from  (Haddowali) to  m (Durnal). the questionnaires we recovered a number of dead pangolins (without scales), and scale jackets (which remain after a pangolin has died and decayed). Local people do not use Illegal capture and killing of the species scale jackets for decorative purposes but sell them in local    markets. From January to the end of April we collected items of evidence of the illegal capture and/or killing of Indian pangolins from  locations across all four districts   Results of the Potohar Plateau (Table ; Fig. ). The highest number of records of illegal capture or killing were in Chakwal   =  Spatial distribution District (n = ; locations), followed by Attock (n ; eight locations), Jhelum (n = ; eight locations) and We recorded  locations across the four Districts of the Rawalpindi Districts (n = ; five locations). The Potohar Plateau (Attock, ; Chakwal, ; Jhelum, ; highest number of illegal killings occurred in February

 (n = ), followed by September  (n = ), April illicit trade (Rosen & Smith, ; Underwood et al., ).  (n = ) and January  (n = )(Fig. ). Historically, Asian pangolin species have been exploited lo- cally for a range of consumptive uses (e.g. as a protein source, a tonic food, and an ingredient in traditional medi- Protected areas cine), most conspicuously in China, but also for the international trade in their scales (Herklots, ; Harrisson & The Indian pangolin has been recorded in eight of the  Loh, ). The seizure data and records of trade indicate protected areas on the Potohar Plateau (Table ), with no that between July  and December  there were at records in Ayubia or Murree-Kahuta-Kotli Sattiyan least  seizures involving pangolins in Asia, with an esti- National Parks. There are reports of poaching and killing mated , individuals traded illegally (Challender et al., of Indian pangolins in some of these eight protected areas ). The trade was mainly of scales (%) as well as live (Table ). and dead individuals (%) and meat (%) (Challender et al., ). Discussion There are no reports of consumption of pangolin meat in Pakistan, and the limited local trade in pangolin scales does The Indian pangolin was categorized as Near Threatened on not account for the large number of pangolins killed. Thus the IUCN Red List in  but was recategorized as we conclude that the high level of poaching is driven by de- Endangered in  ‘because it is subject to hunting and in- mand for the international trade. At present, the penalty for creasing levels of poaching’ (Baillie et al., ). In Pakistan poaching the Indian pangolin is a fine of c. PKR , the species is categorized as Vulnerable (Sheikh & Molur, (c. USD ) and/or  week in prison. This is an ineffective ). Under the Punjab Wildlife Acts and Rules ()it deterrent, as a single adult pangolin may be sold for PKR is included in Category Three of the Third Schedule and , (c. USD ). Recent population estimates indicate is therefore protected throughout the year (Shafiq, ). the species has declined by c. % (Irshad et al., ), and Despite being protected, however, the species is heavily that the decline is ongoing. To reduce poaching of the hunted for trade (Molur, ), although there is limited Indian pangolin and protect the population on the evidence of the trade or of threats to the species (CITES, Potohar Plateau we recommend increasing the patrol and ). Data on any hunting and trade are required to design enforcement efforts and increasing the penalties for poach- effective conservation strategies for the species. Without ing. We passed our findings to the local authorities at conservation efforts the population is likely to continue to District level (Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department, decline, and could be lost from the wild in Pakistan. Government of the Punjab) and they have increased their Baseline information about the species’ biology and ecology, efforts to protect pangolins in the study area. There are including habitat requirements/preferences, population and now fewer reports of pangolin captures. However, this feeding habits, is also needed to inform conservation efforts. could also indicate that Indian pangolins are continuing We found that the species is widely distributed in all four to decline on the Potohar Plateau and poachers are finding districts of the Plateau and occupies % more of the Plateau fewer individuals. than previously estimated (Baillie et al., ). It is possible that the species is broadening its range in response to hunting pressure or, more likely, that it was overlooked previously at Acknowledgements ’ some sites because of its cryptic nature. Given the species low We thank the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, for  reproductive rate (Roberts, ), it could be extirpated from funding provided through Research Project No. –/ the Plateau without improved protection. Although poachers R&D-/. do not target individuals of a particular sex,  of  individuals recorded in a separate study were male (T. Mahmood, , unpubl. data). Although this suggests a male-biased sex Author contributions ratio, the sample size was small, and it is possible that males travel more widely, are more active or are easier to find. TM designed the study and secured funding for the re- Although pangolins are traded internationally in Asia search. FA, NI and RH collected field data. TM and FA ana- (Wu & Ma, ; Challender et al., ), CITES does not lysed the data and wrote the article. AA, HF and SA assisted record this trade centrally. Data from seizures of pangolins with the analysis and writing. in Asia (including derivatives, species, and number of individuals in trade) between July  (when zero export quo- References tas for wild-captured individuals of the four Asian pangolin  species came into effect) and indicate the level of trade BAILLIE, J., CHALLENDER, D., KASPAL, P., KHATIWADA, A., and provide the most comprehensive means of analysing MOHAPATRA,R.&NASH,H.() Manis crassicaudata. The

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() T ARIQ M AHMOOD’s research interests include the ecology of mam- Distribution, abundance and diet of the Indian pangolin (Manis mals, animal physiology, geographical information systems, and toxi- crassicaudata). Animal Biology, , –. cology. F ARAZ A KRIM studies the ecology of the Indian pangolin on IUCN () The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species v. .. Red the Potohar Plateau. N AUSHEEN I RSHAD is interested in wildlife man- List Spatial Data. Http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/ agement and has conducted research on the distribution, population spatial-data [accessed  November ]. and food habits of the Indian pangolin on the Potohar Plateau. R IAZ IUCN, UNEP-WCMC () The World Database on Protected H USSAIN conducts research on the ecology of small mammals. H IRA Areas. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, F ATIMA’s interests include the ecology of mammals. S HAISTA UK. Http://www.protectedplanet.net [accessed  March ]. A NDLEEB is interested in the ecology of small mammals, and has con- LIM, N.T.L. & NG, P.K.L. () Home range, activity cycle and ducted field research on the habitat, distribution and population esti- natal den usage of a female Sunda pangolin Manis javanica mation of the Indian pangolin in Margallah Hills National Park, (Mammalia: Pholidota) in Singapore. Endangered Species Research, Islamabad. A YESHA A IHETASHAM’s interests include biodiversity , –. and entomology.