Between January and April of this year, media reported on at least fourteen pangolin busts worldwide — and there have already been two others this month.
The events took place across eight
countries around the globe and saw the confiscation of an estimated
minimum of 600-700 pangolins.
- January: 5
- February: 2
- March: 4
- April: 3
- May: 2 (so far)
Including the two seizures made so far this month (one in Malaysia and one in India), the total may even be as high as 700-800 or more.
Most of these cases involved whole carcasses or live animals, but pangolin scales alone were also seized once in Nepal (seven kilos) and twice in the Philippines (for a total of 102 kg).
The largest known seizure in 2012 took place in Thailand, when 180 of the animals were confiscated from a smuggler in January.
It’s possible that the haul may be outweighed by a March bust in Vietnam
that included over 5,000 kg of frozen pangolin and iguana carcasses,
but authorities did not detail what percentage of their seizure was
comprised of pangolins.
Read more at pangolins.org
