An endangered pangolin was rescued by a team of the forest department after it entered a residential area. The incident took place in the Dauli range in Terai east forest division.
The Dauli range officer Anil Joshi informed that information was received about a crocodile entering the home of one Wahid at Indra Colony in Kiccha. When a departmental team from Lalkuan reached the site, they found that it was not a crocodile but a pangolin which had entered the residential area. The department team rescued the pangolin and later released it in its natural habitat away from the residential area. According to Joshi, the rescued pangolin was about three feet long, weighed about 15 kilogrammes and was aged about 10 years.
The western circle conservator of forests, Parag Madhukar Dhakate informed that the pangolin is a rare mammal which has its entire body covered in overlapping scales. When threatened it curls up into a ball. Of its two species found in India, one is found in the Terai region of Uttarakhand. It plays a vital role in the ecosystem by feeding on termites, ants and other insects, controlling their population and also maintaining the mineral cycle to keep the soil fertile. It is the most poached wild animal in India for its scales.
