On World Wildlife Day, we spoke to Pawan Sharma, the wildlife rescuer from RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) in Mumbai. He takes us through the five exotic breeds of trafficked animals, that his team rescued during a smuggling racket at Mumbai airport last year
Updated On: 2023-03-03 04:34 PM IST
Compiled by : Ainie Rizvi
Pangolins are said to be the world's most trafficked animal owing to their scales. Almost 10,000 Pangolins are traded each year. They are hunted for their meat and magnificent scales that are used for medicinal purposes and also for textile designs (Pic/AFP)
Parakeets are emerging as a lucrative business for smugglers who sell rare birds to their customers. They resemble parrots and are sold to pet shops in the city and neighboring districts (Pic/AFP)
Komodo Dragons are the largest lizard species and exist mainly in Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. They are smuggled from abroad into various cities of India including Mumbai. In the black market, its worth stands at USD $30,0000 (Pic/AFP)
Ball Pythons are snake species found abundantly in West and Central Africa. Smugglers have been caught with several Ball Pythons that they attempted to traffic in India via Chennai and Mumbai airport in 2022 (Pic/AFP)
Lemurs are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea, divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail (Pic/AFP)
