India: Indian government makes more difficult for wildlife poachers to attack dangerous animals like tigers and rhinos, and they started targeting smaller creatures. And activists say scores of the country’s lesser-known species are disappearing from the wild as a result. In China, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries there is a growing trend which helps to drive the demand for tropical animals. Some are used as pets, while others are used to eat and as well as used in medicines or as aphrodisiac items.

Pangolins are killed for their meat, which is considered as delicacy and delicious, and their scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The scales are made of keratin, it is the protein that key structural building block of hair skin and nails, and have no documented medicinal value. The Pangolin trade was once known by only few people in India, with an average of only about three a year reportedly killed by poachers between 1990 and 2008. Wright said that increased to an average of more than 320 per year from 2009 to 2013. Pangolin and the Star Tortoise lesser known animals which are being smuggled and poached in large number while the focus of attention of the media was on iconic animals like the Tiger or the Rhino. Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, an advocacy group comments, “The problem is that we were turning a blind eye to all lesser-known species and suddenly this very lucrative trade has been allowed to explode.” Star Tortoise has similar situation. Seizure of Star Tortoises has increased dramatically from 800 per year in between 1990 to 1999 to more than 3000 per year from 2002 to 2013. (Source : The Capital Wide)