IWN Daily Digest — Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Fishing boats on the Tamil Nadu coast are landing fewer adult devil rays than they did in the early 2010s, which matters because these animals produce roughly one pup every two to three years.
As reported by Mongabay India:
“The proportion of adult spinetail devil rays in marine species brought to shore fell from 64% to 26% over the study period.” […] “India is the highest contributor, accounting for 28.2% deaths.”
Researchers compared catches at two landing sites in Thoothukudi district, Threspuram and Tharuvaikulam, across two periods, 2012–2014 and 2023. They recorded 8,163 landings of mobulids, the group that covers manta rays and devil rays, spread over six species and a few unidentified ones, and published the work in Conservation Science and Practice.
At Threspuram, landings per vessel fell by 86 per cent for spinetail devil rays and 92 per cent for sicklefin devil rays, with manta rays down 83 per cent. Total ray landings still rose 4 per cent over the period, which the researchers link to larger fleets and more efficient gear.
Drift gill nets accounted for 98.9 per cent of mobulid landings, and tuna-targeting fisheries accounted for 50.2 per cent of the bycatch in 2023.
Mongabay India reports that about 259,000 mobulids are killed in fisheries each year, with India’s share of those deaths put at 28.2 per cent. In November 2025 all 10 manta and devil ray species were listed under CITES Appendix I, which bans commercial international trade but does not cover domestic catch or trade. The researchers suggest shorter net soak times and smaller mesh sizes, though both need evaluation, and call for strict no-take protection for devil rays.
Orangutan Homecoming
An infant orangutan seized in India two years ago was due to fly home to Indonesia on 19 October, while five other baby orangutans rescued in the country remain in Indian care as authorities investigate where they came from.
As reported by Mongabay India:
“He can certainly be rewilded. Even sub-adults can be rehabilitated and released into the wild.”
The young orangutan was about a year old when he was seized in 2024 from a private apartment in Dombivli, Mumbai. He was first moved to Gorewada zoo in Maharashtra and later to Vantara zoo in Gujarat, after a respiratory problem at about a year and a half old, and the authorities said he was recuperating there.
He is bound for the Sumatra Rescue Alliance in Sumatra, which is managed by Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari-Orangutan Information Centre. After quarantine he is to attend a forest school, and an adviser to the group says he could be released in about four years if the plan works. An official of the CITES assistant management authority in Mumbai who oversaw the process described it as the first successful repatriation of a seized CITES animal from India.
The founder of the Orangutan Information Centre told Mongabay India that the case of the five babies rescued in Odisha renewed momentum for the repatriation. Those five remain at Nandankanan Zoological Park while authorities investigate their origins and suspected trafficking. Indonesia has proposed sending a seven-member delegation of officials, veterinarians and specialists to assess them, and India has agreed in principle, although arrangements are still being coordinated.
Sources: Mongabay India · Mongabay India
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