Abstract
The Indian Pangolin, although considered to be widely distributed due to its elusive nature and low detection probability its status and distribution records are very limited. Rampant hunting for local consumption, and illegal wildlife trade for medicinal and ornamental purposes has pushed the species towards serious decline. Herein, we report the first photographic records of the Indian Pangolin in Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR), Rajasthan, India. During our camera trapping study from June 2018 to April 2019, out of 29,220 camera trapping nights the species was recorded on four occasions, at two different locations in STR. The species was recorded in the open forest areas near natural water bodies situated in the middle of dense Anogeissus pendula forests.
Highlights
The Indian Pangolin was recorded on four occasions at two different locations from an effort of 29,220 trap nights
Despite being one of the most traded species throughout the globe, very little is known about the distribution and current status of the pangolin in most of its range including Rajasthan
Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) is one of the most researched protected areas (Bhardwaj 2018), but there are no published records barring a single mention in text on Indian Pangolin in the STR (Bhardwaj 2018)
Summary
The species inhabits wide varieties of habitat and recorded from Indian subcontinent in both forested and non-forest areas (Roberts 1977; Mahmood et al 2020). Study Area The Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) is situated in the Aravalli Hills in Alwar District of the Indian State of Rajasthan between 76.241°–76.545°N & 27.095°– 27.648°E. GPS locations (shown as green dot) of Indian Pangolin camera trap captures in Sariska Tiger Reserve.
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