As conservation efforts and criminal prosecutions have escalated in India, over the protection of well-known endangered species like rhinos and tigers which have traditionally been traded through the black market, news out of New Delhi is concerning advocacy groups and conservationists as wildlife agencies are reporting a shift in the threat to species.
Much more difficult to capture and trade well-protected species like tigers and elephants, poachers are now shifting their eyes onto lesser-known species without a formidable defense. While ivory trade and tiger deaths are closely monitored by multiple government agencies, population sizes of species like the Indian pangolin and the star tortoise are rapidly declining as the species are being smuggled across borders or killed within them.
"The problem is that we were turning a blind eye to all lesser-known species and suddenly this very lucrative trade has been allowed to explode" director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, Belinda Wright says.
As growing influences and black market operations continue in Southeast Asia, India's native species have seen a great decline as poachers harvest hides and meats for a marginal profit. Considered to be delicacies, or to have medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine, species such as monitor lizards and the Indian pangolin have begun to disappear from the habitats they once flourished in.
