Sighting a prehistoric animal in the forest

Sighting a prehistoric animal in the forest

Views: 2117 | May 22, 2018

One of our volunteers from our line-transect surveys pens his account of an incredible sighting of the shy, nocturnal Indian Pangolin, which is also one of the most trafficked mammals on the planet.

Camera-trap photo of a pangolin. © Ullas Karanth/WCS

It was relatively a pleasant morning and a usual drive back to our base camp after the Line Transect Survey conducted by WCS India.

This survey is done to estimate the prey population which is crucial for the survival of predators. As usual, the discussion in the jeep was about the sightings of each other's line just finished surveying and interesting experiences if we had any.

It was our turn and I casually listed out the sightings of the animals. And then after a few minutes, I said, “Oh yeah, we saw a Pangolin at the start of the line.”

I was taken aback by the kind of reaction from Manish and others in the jeep that clearly indicated that I just had one of the best moments of my life in the wild and not realised it. I had sighted one of the most illegally trafficked and poached mammals of this planet. It wasn't just a sighting, but rather an experience. Not everyone who has been part of the field projects sights this animal, at least not alive!

Going back to the experience, I was surveying this particular line with Shubham (another volunteer for the line transect camp) and we started walking or rather soaking ourselves in the enormity of flora with the high decibel avian chatters. The line took a turn and I could see a tall ‘crocodile bark’ tree almost in the middle of the path. I paused for a moment looking for the marking but couldn't see one. I went little ahead and stood just behind the tree, waiting for Shubham to come closer to me.

At that moment, I saw some leaves of a shrub moving on the ground on the right side of the path. As I was in the front I alerted him to stop moving, expecting a Monitor Lizard or a big snake to cross our path.

What really came out struck me for the next few mins. It walked right in front of us and went into a bamboo bush on the left side of the path. Shubham whispered to me saying, “That's a Pangolin, Anna!” I tried to get a proper look, as I was behind that tree.

For some reason, it turned left and walked towards me and stood still for a few seconds and rolled its eyes (maybe it was surprised too that I didn't kill it yet!). It had blue eyes or maybe it was the reflection of the sky/flora or a combination of both. It looked absolutely comfortable walking next to me, and then went near Shubham and had a look at him and eventually walked away.

No other experience can parallel the feeling of you being trusted by a wild animal (however big or small the animal is) in the wild. A lot more questions arose in my head about the way we humans have been and continue to live our lives.

Did this impact me? Yes, it did. I learned that more than 20 tonnes of Pangolins and their parts are traded every year as per the research conducted by TRAFFIC, an organisation that monitors illegal wildlife trade.

Also, that we are losing 10,000 Sunda Pangolins every year due to poaching. But still, they manage to thrive in the ever-shrinking habitats across Asia & Africa.

I don't know if I will be lucky to see this endearing animal again in the wild. My hope is fading away day by day as I am just another so-called 'wildlife enthusiast' who hasn't done anything on the ground to protect or conserve this pre-historic animal which predates human existence on this planet by 72 million years.

Written by Rajaram Vasudevan

Photo credits: Rujan Sarkar (Cover)

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