The Manipur Forest Training School took a step in the right direction over the weekend by burning an assortment of confiscated wildlife products.
Manipur’s online news portal, The Sanghai Express, reported that pangolin scales, dried seahorses, and rhino toenails were among the destroyed items.
Manipur’s shared border with Myanmar makes it a popular transit point for wildlife traffickers, and seizures of illegal wildlife parts in this region are frequent.
According to a Transnational Organised Crime Threat Assessment (TOCTA) report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2010, “Myanmar is the primary country used to smuggle Southeast Asian wildlife into China, the single largest consumer.”
Image: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via Wikimedia
![Pangolin Trafficking: 2011 to April 2013 [Infographic]](https://annamiticus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/PangolinsInTrade2011thru2013-150x150.jpg)
Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.