Money Overweighed the Traditional Beliefs for Hunting of Chinese Pangolins in Nepal

Traditional beliefs of local communities usually contribute to biodiversity conservation and management. We studied status, existing traditional beliefs, explored cause and prevailing hunting practices on Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) using semi-structured interviews in central and eastern districts of Nepal. All respondents speculated rapid decline of pangolins in last five years and most of them perceived sighting/hunting of pangolin as a bad omen in their traditions. Money is speculated as a driving force behind increasing the hunting of pangolins as most of the people have low socio-economic status. The most commonly used hunting practices is filling burrows with water and hitting on snout of pangolins when they attempt to escape from the burrow. We conclude that the high monetary value of pangolins in China has overweighed the existing traditional beliefs to increase hunting and decline of pangolin’s population. Awareness, understanding and uplifting livelihood of local communities with strong law enforcement are necessary for the conservation of pangolins in Nepal.