Dhemaji: Forest officials from the Jonai Range under the Dhemaji Forest Division in North Arunachal Pradesh, on Saturday, arrested two individuals involved in wildlife body parts trade.
Acting on a tip-off, the officials seized a smoke-dried skin of a Pangolin from the Laimekuri area of Jonai in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The confiscated item was the scaly skin of a thick-tailed Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), measuring approximately 2.3 feet in body length, including the tail.
Jonai Range Forest Officer Debabrata Gogoi confirmed that the team intercepted the suspects along the national highway and recovered the Pangolin skin from their possession during the operation.
Officials have registered an offense report (OR No. JR-01/2025-26) against the accused Dhanesh Doley and Asiram Doley, both residents of Laimekuri. Authorities booked them under the Wildlife Protection Act for illegally trading in wildlife parts.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
This latest case marks over ten arrests of wildlife traffickers from the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border region in the last decade. In previous cases, forest and police teams seized tiger skins and large quantities of wild animal body parts from the smugglers’ possession.
Forest officials suspect an active wildlife trafficking network is operating in the region. “We believe a deeper investigation will expose the full scale of the wild animal trading racket,” one official stated.
Pangolins, insect-eating mammals commonly found in the forests of the Siang belt in Arunachal Pradesh near the Assam border, are frequently trafficked for their scales, which traditional medicine practitioners falsely believe have healing properties.
In addition to their use in traditional medicine, traffickers often sell Pangolin skins for making leather products like belts, bags, and boots.
In parts of Africa, pangolins are also hunted and sold as bushmeat or used for ritual and spiritual practices.