Pangolin, kangaroo, gibbon: India’s exotic animal trade is booming

This was the third attempt in 2024 alone to smuggle thousands of red-eared sliders at the Chennai airport, a species native to the US and Mexico and one of the most sought-after exotic pets in India today. It is classified as a Schedule IV species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and its capture and sale are regulated by law.

Just weeks later, an eight-kilo live pangolin, one of the mammals most vulnerable to poaching, was seized in Assam, along with thousands of pangolin scales in separate raids conducted in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, a joint operation between forest, police and wildlife authorities. Meanwhile, the same month, four African De Brazza’s monkeys, with their distinctive long white beard and orange crowns, were rescued by the Assam Rifles force from Champhai in Mizoram.

By all accounts, India’s exotic wildlife trade is booming, fuelled by a growing fascination with owning exotic and rare animals as pets—both as a status symbol and for their perceived medicinal properties. From pangolin, gibbon, iguana, non-native monkeys, to wallaby, kangaroo, tri-coloured squirrel, and birds such as the maleo and Visayan hornbill, the list of exotic species being seized across the country is growing every year, being smuggled from remote corners of the world.

Traffickers have become bolder in their operations, too. When three malnourished kangaroos were found hopping on a highway in West Bengal in 2022, reportedly abandoned by traffickers who had gone into hiding during a patrol, it sent shockwaves through the wildlife conservation community in India. To even the most seasoned rescuer, it was a shocking display of how insidious the exotic species crime racket had become.

Driven by this surge in trade, authorities are now cracking down more firmly than before: the environment ministry had set a deadline of August 2024 for individuals, organizations and zoos in possession of exotic species to register it on a government portal, or face penal action.

Reptiles to insects

“The trend of trading exotic pets has been on the rise in recent years. There is a rising demand from consumers, and middlemen and traders have become very active. While the trend was once limited to Chennai, it has now spread to other major cities like Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, and Jaipur, where we are seeing illicit activity for the first time. Exotic species are now coming in from Malaysia and Indonesia, in addition to Thailand," said Kirupasankar M., the joint director at the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), in an interview with Mint.

Many of the species that make their way into India’s domestic markets from Southeast Asia originate from South America, Africa, and the Australia-Oceanic islands.

In 2023, more than 19,079 exotic animals belonging to over 80 species were recovered in 29 seizures, including reptiles, mammals, birds, rays, molluscs, insects, freshwater fish, and crustaceans, according to an open-source data assessment published by WWF in December 2024, up from 4,000 rescued exotic animals in 2022.

Pet turtles of Kerala

T.V. Sajeev, chief scientist in the department of forest entomology at the Kerala Forest Research Institute, first came across the problem of exotic species becoming invasive a year and a half ago when his former colleague found a red-eared slider in a rivulet in Thrissur while fishing with his grandson. “I saw a photo of it and realized someone had released the pet into the wild," he told Mint. It prompted him to start a campaign at the institute to make people aware of the dangers and start an exotic pet surrender programme.

“Trends have shifted since the pandemic as people, particularly those living alone, now seek pets more than ever due to feelings of isolation and loneliness, even as a replacement for human relationships," observed Sajeev.

Exotic species have also found a place in popular culture: the rise in popularity of the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for example, saw a noticeable spike in the red-eared sliders as pets, and they have since become common in ponds, sewers, and canals, especially in Kerala.

The Smuggling in India Report 2019-2020, published by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the apex anti-smuggling agency, highlighted that with a complete ban on trade in Indian species, “the interest of smugglers has shifted to exotic species, which has led to disastrous global environmental consequences."

Many of the animals being traded have previously interacted with humans, which makes them easier to domesticate and more appealing to buyers. They are often kept in facilities for a period before being transported and sold, during which time they become accustomed to human presence, Kirupasankar M. explained.

Licenses to breed

While it is not explicitly illegal to own some exotic species in India, as a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the trade of many exotic species is regulated under India’s wildlife protection laws, particularly due to their potential to become invasive and endanger native species as they compete for food and habitat. Government permits and compliance with quarantine protocol are required to sell some of these species legally.

Particularly since the pandemic, authorities are growing more concerned about the consequences.

“Wildlife crime has now become as important a concern as the trafficking of drugs, humans, and arms," said Wasim Akram, director of sustainability and special projects at Wildlife SOS, a non-profit organization that works with authorities to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife.

In June 2020, India’s ministry of environment, forest and climate change issued an advisory for the voluntary disclosure of exotic live species to better manage and control zoonotic diseases, while providing guidance on their proper care and well-being. In 2022, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was amended to include non-native CITES-listed species, making it illegal to own or possess such species without proper certifications. This amendment allowed owners to voluntarily report their possession of non-native species through the government’s PARIVESH portal by 28 August 2024. New laws also require licenses for breeding and keeping high-risk species.

Monkey’s worth

Despite the boost in such efforts to fight the trend on the ground, challenges abound. The illegal trade of exotic pets is increasingly driven by sophisticated and organized crime networks that exploit loopholes in the system and use the growing presence of social media platforms to facilitate illegal transactions and expand their reach across cities.

“The emerging threat is how traders are investing in exotic species to monetize them through platforms like Instagram and the dark web," noted Akram.

Attracted by the high prices consumers are willing to pay, the trade has become highly lucrative, spurring breeding centres too. Pet stores across India, online and offline, are becoming experimental in how they market their wares, tempting buyers with frequent reels and images showcasing the latest “catch" on their shelves, from sugar gliders to iguanas and macaws.

According to some estimates, exotics such as macaws can fetch up to ₹10 lakh each, star tortoises retail for ₹15,000 to ₹50,000, and De Brazza’s monkeys can cost around ₹8 lakh in the black market.

The global value of the illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be between $7 billion and $23 billion annually, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). However, determining its value in India is difficult, and the WCCB cautions against assigning any monetary figure, as the trade is illegal and its true worth cannot be accurately assessed.

Gangs and guns

Several factors make India an attractive place for this trade: since not all exotic species are regulated under the laws, it’s easier for traders to breed or sell them with little to no legal repercussions, experts said. Moreover, the country’s porous borders with China, Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh create prime routes for traffickers. India’s dense population allows them to evade detection too. Trends in wildlife trafficking also shift with political changes.

“For instance, Mizoram has become a major hotspot for land-route trafficking due to its proximity to Bangladesh and Myanmar, both of which are currently experiencing instability. This has led to a rise in all forms of trafficking, including wildlife. Aizawl Zoo (Aizawl Zoological Park) is flooded with seized exotic animals and struggling with limited space," Akram told Mint.

While changes in wildlife laws have been welcome, enforcement is a challenge, with a conviction rate of just 2%. The wildlife trafficking chain is a long and complex one, involving multiple middlemen across states, using all three modes—air, land, and sea. For example, in a recent big cat seizure in Coimbatore, a gang from Haryana travelled across multiple states to prepare the material, with plans to take it to Northeast India. This network involved several people, each passing it along until it reached its final destination.

“It’s also become harder to trace traffickers now, as they have become tech-savvy. In many cases, when we arrest someone and confiscate materials, they often don’t know the end source," said Akram. Even if they confess, they may genuinely be unaware because the people orchestrating the trafficking are far removed, possibly in Southeast Asia or China. The middlemen, who may only receive small amounts (e.g., ₹1,000), often don’t realize the full impact of their actions.

Investigations also face challenges due to jurisdictional issues. For instance, if the Tamil Nadu forest department confiscates animals but the buyer is in Mizoram, the legal process becomes slower, often allowing traffickers to escape before action is taken.

The exotic wildlife traffickers themselves, said officials, are people who often operate in other illegal trades, such as drugs, human trafficking, or arms smuggling—sometimes even carrying weapons alongside the animals.

The macaw on a tree

But increasingly, it’s the potential health and ecological risks of this trade that are alarming scientists and conservationists.

Many are working to raise public awareness through wildlife campaigns and rescue programmes to discourage people from keeping such pets. “Often, exotic pets are kept in poor conditions, and people are not aware of how to take care of them, what to feed them, or the environment they should be kept in," said Surya Keerthi, a wildlife rescuer and conservationist in Mysuru, who has rescued and housed several exotic species at his rehabilitation centre.

He recalls rescuing a macaw that had escaped its cage and flown up a tree 60 feet high and had to be brought down using a crane.

“What commonly happens with exotic species is that people buy them thinking they are small and easy to handle, but once they grow larger, or owners become aware that it is illegal to keep them at home, so they release them into the wild, where they become invasive and threaten native species," he added.

Red-eared sliders, for example, carry harmful bacteria, such as salmonella and shigella, that can infect humans. When abandoned, they threaten local biodiversity by preying on plants, animals, and other amphibians. And importantly, as an exotic species without natural predators, their populations can rapidly expand, disrupting ecosystems, Kerala Forest Research Institute’s Sajeev, explained.

Catch the thief

A growing movement is emerging to address this issue, bringing together government authorities, non-profits, scientists, conservationists, and civil society in a collective effort. To fight this surge, the government has ramped up regulations and checks. Border forces are on high alert. Wildlife authorities, forest and police forces are being frequently trained to tackle sophisticated smuggling networks. Some organizations, like WWF and Wildlife SOS, are working with authorities to build capacity and awareness of officers on the ground.

As India ranks among the top ten countries using the airline sector for wildlife trafficking, there are trainings targeted at customs officials to keep them up to date with the latest trends in wildlife crime to be able to detect and prevent trafficking through airports.

According to an analysis by global wildlife network TRAFFIC, over 70,000 native and exotic wild animals were trafficked, including their body parts or derivatives weighing around 4,000 kg, in 141 wildlife seizure incidents at 18 Indian airports between 2011 and 2020.

Sophisticated scanners at nodal points could make detection easier, said Sanjay Kumar Shukla, former additional director at WCCB. “There are now 3D scanning technologies, like those used in Australia, that are programmed to detect live animals in baggage. Using more advanced technology could improve the accuracy and ease of identifying live animals being smuggled," he told Mint.

However, the responsibility of curbing the trade of exotic species doesn’t just fall on frontline officers, said Akram. “The demand originates from the public. As urban people, we are often disconnected from nature. Many of us don’t even fully understand what a forest actually is—we only have a concept of parks. We need to reconnect with our environment and forests to understand that animals thrive in their natural habitats and that keeping them as mere entertainment in a confined space isn’t the right thing to do."