Context

• Recently, China has accorded the pangolin the highest level of protection and removed the scales of the Pangolin from its list of approved traditional medicines.

About Pangolins

• India is home to two species of pangolin.
• While the Chinese Pangolin is found in northeastern India, the Indian Pangolin is distributed in other parts of the country as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• Both these species are protected and are listed under the Schedule I Part I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

IUCN Conservation Status:

• Indian pangolin – Endangered
• Chinese pangolin – Critically Endangered