A Chinese pangolin that had been trapped in the forests of the Northeast was rescued by a team of foresters at the New Town bus terminus late on Tuesday, an official of the wildlife crime control bureau (WCCB) said.

Three men, who had allegedly come to sell the pangolin, have been arrested.

The Chinese pangolin is listed as critically endangered species by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

In India it is found in the foothills of the Himalayas and can be spotted in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, among other states.

The pangolins are believed to be the world’s most trafficked mammal, apart from humans. Tens of thousands of pangolins are poached every year, killed for their scales that are used in traditional Chinese medicines and for their meat, a delicacy among the wealthy in China and Vietnam.

According to a WCCB official, they had received information that three men were trying to sell a pangolin.

“Our officers got in touch with these men. They posed as buyers and asked them to show the animal before any deal could be struck,” said the official.

Another officer from the state forest department’s Barasat range said the men asked them to meet at one point and then suddenly changed the rendezvous point.

“It became clear to us that they were quite wary. However, finally we asked them to come with the animal to the New Town bus stand,” said the officer.

Officials from the forest department, the wildlife crime control bureau as well as plainclothesmen from New Town police station spread out in the area around the bus stop.

After the officers established contact with the trio, they showed the pangolin stuffed inside a bag. “We immediately arrested the three men. The pangolin was alive. We took it to the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Salt Lake,” said the officer.

Agni Mitra, the regional deputy director, wildlife crime control bureau, said they were surprised but relieved to find the pangolin breathing.

“It must have endured a long journey and in most cases, the trauma is too much for the animals to take and they don’t survive. We are overjoyed as it seems to be in good health,” said Mitra.

The three men — identified as Abdul Rashid Halder, 36, a resident of Mathurapur in South 24-Parganas; Kedar Maity, 42, and Atul Jana, 52, both from Egra in East Midnapore, were produced in a court that sent them to custody.

Another forest department official said pangolin scales were valued at nearly Rs 3 lakh a kilo in the grey market and the price of its meat was as high as Rs 30,000 a kg.