IWN Report — Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Villages in north-eastern India are spending six days on the football pitch to persuade young people that the pangolin, one of the most heavily trafficked mammals on earth, is worth protecting.

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a conservation organisation, is staging the second Pangolin Cup in Meluri, Nagaland, from 26 to 31 October, together with the Meluri Range Sports Association and the state’s Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Eight local sides are taking part, among them Royals FC, Knight Riders and Jessami Students Club, and Royals FC and Knight Riders opened the tournament. It belongs to WTI’s Countering Pangolin Trafficking project in Manipur and Nagaland, which is funded by the Pangolin Crisis Fund of the Wildlife Conservation Network and the Serenity Trust.

According to WTI, the wildlife warden of Kiphire told the opening-day crowd that “like football, conservation is a team effort”. He added that older generations left pangolins alone because of ancestral beliefs, and that illegal trade has since changed how the animal is treated.

Some communities have already put rules in place. The Pochury Hoho reported at the opening that more than 30 Pochury villages have adopted resolutions banning pangolin hunting, with a fine of INR 50,000 for anyone caught hunting or trading the animal.

WTI’s joint director said the organisation has worked with communities across north-east India for 25 years and pointed to its Amur falcon work in Nagaland as the model for the approach. Earlier this year, the apex body of the Sangtam Naga community in Nagaland passed its own ban on pangolin hunting and trade, in February 2026.

Sources: Wildlife Trust of India — Pangolin Cup 2026, 26 October 2026 · Wildlife Trust of India — Sangtam Naga community bans pangolin hunting, February 2026