What would happen if there were no lizards? Tulsi Lakshmi Suwal, who has been studying and researching this animal, says, "We would have to spend a lot of money to control lizards. In developed countries where there are no lizards, a lot of budget is spent on lizard control."

The main food of the salak is termites and ants. She says that having a salak will help you get rid of the suffering of termites and ants.

The body of the salak, which looks like a long, thin mouse, is covered with large scales. It has a tongue that is up to 40 centimeters long and up to one and a half centimeters wide. The salak uses its long and flexible tongue to extract termites and ants. This tongue is its main weapon. But Suwal says that salaks do not cause any harm to humans.

According to Bishnu Prasad Acharya, Divisional Forest Officer of the Chitwan Division Forest Office, who has been active in salak conservation, an adult salak eats at least 20,000 termites and ants a day. ‘If the lizards do not eat, these ants come to the settlements and attack the farms and other structures. They can also disrupt the ecological cycle within the forest,’ said Forest Officer Acharya.

Suwal, who has a PhD in education about the lizards, says that the lizards live in the Chure region and the Mahabharata region at an altitude of about 3,000 meters above sea level. ‘It digs holes under the soil itself. Due to which the looseness of the soil increases. It helps keep the soil fertile. Its food and habitat are beneficial to people and nature,’ said Suwal.

She said that there are eight species of lizards in the world. Four species of lizards have been found in the Asian continent. There are two species of lizards in Nepal, copper and black. The copper lizard has a light yellow and red color on its shell and a slightly pointed face. Which is called Indian pangolin in English . Black salak is called Chinese pangolin which is black in color and has a slightly wrinkled face . 

Although government data mentions that salaks have been found in 43 districts of Nepal, Suwal said that salaks have been found in 61 districts in her PhD study . She said that 15 years ago, public government data estimated that there were around 5,000 black salaks in Nepal . Since then, there has been no systematic count of salaks . The number of copper salaks is not certain, it is even less .

Salaks are an endangered species in recent times . Although various works have been done for conservation, more collective efforts are needed, says Divisional Forest Officer Acharya. 

With this aim, the Bagmati Province Forest Ministry held the first provincial-level salak conference in Madi, Chitwan on Monday. Where a seven-point declaration was issued to save the salak. Since the existence of the salak is in danger due to deforestation and poaching, a consensus was reached at the conference to make a plan to stop it. Acharya said that salaks are poached for their scales and meat. Acharya said that salaks are on the list of most trafficked wildlife internationally. The traditional belief that they have medicinal properties has led to their hunting. ‘The same chemical elements are found in our nails and hair in their scales.’ But people have formed a wrong belief due to superstition,’ said Suwal.

Hari Prasad Sharma, associate professor at the Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, says that people outside the local area are involved in salak smuggling. ‘This creature is found to live in forests near agricultural areas rather than in dense forests.’ In our study, locals are knowledgeable about salaks. But we have not yet been able to include it in the conservation policy. Poaching (illegal hunting) has been found to be done by outsiders, not locals,' said Sharma.

He said that people between the ages of 17 and 40 are more likely to be involved in salamander poaching. 'There are various crises for salamanders. It is necessary to address this and formulate a conservation policy. If we continue like this, it will not be long before salamanders are limited to stories in the next 20 or 50 years,' warned Sharma, an associate professor at the Department of Zoology.

Acharya, Divisional Forest Officer of Chitwan, said that there have been 119 incidents of illegal hunting of salamanders in Bagmati Province in the last 10 years. 'In these illegal incidents, we have rescued 11 live salamanders. Others have been traded for their skins and meat. In 2020 alone, there were a maximum of 20 illegal incidents. This is a matter of concern,' said Acharya.

The salak has been included in the list of protected wildlife under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act. Killing or trading in its parts of an animal on this list is punishable by law. Divisional Forest Officer Acharya said that killing a salak and trading and transporting its parts can result in a fine of Rs 5 to 1 million or imprisonment for 5 to 15 years, or both. Therefore, the participants of the conference were of the opinion that conservation can be effective by raising awareness among the community against poaching of salaks and that attention should also be paid to the impact on their habitat. 'Forest fires have affected their habitat. The habitat is being disturbed when roads and other structures are being built. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture have also had an impact,' said Makawanpur Divisional Forest Officer Rashek Chandravanshi.

In the last few years, community-based conservation and monitoring of salaks has also been carried out. Madi Wankatta village is an example of this. The salak is also known by local names such as sal macho, syaal macho, etc. ‘Our father had heard of syaal macho.’ He thought it must be an animal like a jackal. Later, a program was started in our village to protect the salak. After taking a video of the salak with a camera, we finally realized that this is what salaks are like,’ said Satyanarayan Bote of Wankatta, Madi Municipality-1.

He has not yet seen a salak with his own eyes. He says that he is sure that the salak is there because it is being recorded on the camera. Due to its nature, people cannot see it immediately. The salak is usually more active at night. Acharya says that it searches for food at night.