Scientists tracing a suitcase full of seized pangolin scales may soon be able to tell not just what species the scales came from, but the exact forest where the animal once moved through the undergrowth.

That possibility could reshape the fight against one of the world’s most secretive wildlife crimes.

A new international study has shown that DNA recovered from trafficked pangolins can now be used to map illegal wildlife trade routes with remarkable precision, helping investigators identify poaching hotspots and track organised trafficking networks across borders. But how?

For India, home to the Indian Pangolin and the critically endangered Chinese Pangolin, the implications are significant. The country has become both a source and transit point in a sprawling illegal trade network stretching from forests in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra to smuggling corridors running through Myanmar into China.

A mammal vanishing quietly

Unlike elephants or tigers, pangolins disappear without much public attention.

These shy nocturnal mammals, often called “scaly anteaters”, are hunted primarily for their keratin scales, which are illegally traded in traditional medicine markets despite there being no scientific evidence supporting their medicinal use.

Their meat is also sold in underground luxury wildlife markets.

Over the past decade, the trade has become increasingly organised.

A major study published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research documented 426 pangolin seizure cases in India........

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