Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of global ecology
Gurugram villagers beat rare pangolin to death
A rare Indian pangolin was beaten to death by people in a village near Gurugram after its sighting triggered a scare, a media report said.
People in Patakpur, Punhana were scared when they saw the 2.5-feet-long creature with scales. To them, it looked like a reptile, a snake. When the animal started running towards them, the mob beat it to death.
An FIR was filed at the Punhana police station about the killing of the pangolin, which is a Schedule I species under the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
The Indian Pangolin is categorised as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The pangolin is the most trafficked animal in the world, being hunted for its flesh, scales and skin.
Mugger crocodile rescued from bajra field in UP
Village residents in Uttar Pradesh recently came across an eight-foot-long mugger or marsh crocodile in a bajra field. The incident took place in the Nagla Jaiyya village in Fiorzabad district, according to a media report.
Village residents immediately informed the forest department. After almost an hour, a team of rescuers comprising those from the Uttar Pradesh forest department and a non-profit, Wildlife SOS, managed to lure the crocodile into a trap with a bait. Later, they released it into the Yamuna river.
Only a day before, a massive gharial had been rescued from nearby Sirsaganj.
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