Another highly endangered animal, the one-horned rhino, is hunted for its horn. These horns are smuggled to South-East Asia for use in traditional medicine, falsely believed to be useful as an aphrodisiac and for the treatment of blood pressure, paralysis, and brain fever. Musk or Kasturi, as it is popularly known in India, is yet another commonly traded product. Derived from the musk pod of the highly endangered musk deer, a high altitude Himalayan species persecuted in most of its distribution area, it is considered to be a natural perfume fixative and used in the Aryuveda, Tibetan and Unani systems of medicine. Poaching The poaching of the Asian elephant for ivory has severely depleted its population.
Male tuskers are the main quarry of poachers.
The killings have adversely affected the animal s sex ratio. During 1994-1998, more than 100 cases were reported from the Southern States of India alone. Several other species such as the pangolin and civets are killed for their parts to be used in tribal medicine. The trade in live mammals is another area which demands greater attention. Wild species of mammals such as the blackbuck, the giant squirrel, the Slow Lorris and several species of primates figure in the domestic as well as international trade from India.