RAIPUR, Aug. 24 -- An endangered pangolin has been rescued from a government building in Odisha's Naupada district where wildlife traffickers had allegedly hidden the animal while searching for a buyer, a Chhattisgarh forest official said on Monday.

Three persons have also been arrested. They have been identified as Roshan Thakur, 31, of Pitapara village in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh, and Odisha residents Balakrishna Hati, 30, and Sonu Hati, 40, both from Palama village in Nuapada district.

Pangolins are illegally hunted for their meat and keratin scales-the animal's distinctive armour-like covering-which are falsely believed to possess medicinal properties in traditional medicine markets.

Varun Jain, deputy director of Udanti-...