Pangolins being eaten to extinction, conservationists warn

Scaly anteaters are now the most illegally-traded mammal in the world, with all eight species listed as threatened

An African white-bellied pangolin – poachers are turning to African pangolins because Asian populations have been denuded. Photograph: IUCN/ZSL

Pangolins are being "eaten to extinction" due to a demand for their meat at banquets in China and Vietnam and their scales for use in Chinese medicine, conservationists have warned.

In an update last week to the authoritative Red List of endangered animals, all eight species of the scaly anteaters were upgraded to threatened status.

Resembling a pine cone on legs, they are the world's only scaly mammal, using their scales for armour to protect against predators and their long, sticky tongues to catch prey.

According to experts at the Zoological Society of London, the demand for the animals in Asia has been so great that poachers are now turning to Africa, where four of the species are found. Conservationists say there is already evidence of an underground, intercontinental trade in pangolins between Africa and Asia.

More than a million are believed to have been illegally caught in the wild over the last decade globally, giving them the unenviable record of being the most illegally-traded mammal in the world. Read more ...

Source: theguardian.com

457 dead pangolins found in 4 fridges in China

PHOTO: NEWS.QQ.COM

Guangdong police received a report this week of 457 dead pangolins, or scaly anteaters, that were found in Shijing Town.
A total of four large fridges full of pangolin bodies were seized and four suspects were arrested, according to Shanghaiist via Tencent News.
All the carcasses were placed in a morbid spread on the ground of a room, with the largest weighing more than 20 pounds.
A pangolin is a rare, scale-covered mammal whose armour is believed to cure cancer and asthma, as well as other ailments in traditional Chinese medicine. Read more

Source: STOMP

Pangolins: ‘The New Rhinos’

The Indian Pangolin:

Seized Pangolin scales

Few of us know about this animal called the pangolin, or scaly anteater, found in the tropical forests of Africa and Asia, including India. It’s an odd creature, donning an armour – not unlike a knight of the medieval ages. It has a very narrow, long tongue that extends over 15 inches, coated with a gluey substance to enable it to probe nests, mounds and suchlike for ants, termites, etc. that make for its unique insectivorous diet. The pangolin has impressive digging powers, can live deep underground, is a capable swimmer, yet may be found up a tree, as it’s an agile climber as well. In fact, India’s pioneering naturalist and officer of the Imperial Forestry Service FW Champion said of the pangolin, “this astonishing survivor of the past ages may well be the most remarkable animal found in the Indian jungles.” Pangolins are nocturnal, shy, and when threatened they curl up into a tight ball—which offers excellent protection, even from predators like lions and tigers.

But not from man.

An ugly truth about the pangolin is that currently it is the ‘hottest’ item in the illegal wildlife market, so much so that it is now considered the ‘new rhino’ – a species traditionally in demand and slaughtered ruthlessly for its horns, pushing one species of rhino (the Javan) in Asia to virtual extinction with less than 50 remaining in the wild. The Vietnamese subspecies of the Javan rhino has been pronounced extinct after the last rhino was found dead with its horn removed. In Africa too, the Western black rhinoceros is now extinct, while other rhino species are being massacred at unprecedented scales. The slaughter of the pangolin is on similar scale, only its plight has failed to grab headlines or attention. All eight sub-species of the pangolin, across their range in Asia and Africa are in trade, and in dramatic decline, including the Indian pangolin. 

Read more:

Source: conservationindia.org

Pangolins: The most illegally trafficked mammals in Asia

Inside the illegal wildlife trade

Pangolins are trafficked by land and sea in Southeast Asia and China. As supplies dwindle in the region, pangolin is also being sourced from Africa, experts say. Source: Education for Nature Vietnam

Sources: TRAFFIC, South Africa and IUCN. Note: Rhino numbers are for South Africa only.

THE MOST TRAFFICKED MAMMAL YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF.. Read more

12 pangolin saved from wildlife trafficking syndicate

NONG KHAI, July 19 -- Thailand's Mekong Riverine Operation Unit rescued 12 endangered pangolins – commonly known as ant eaters – and arrested one wildlife smuggler, Thai authorities said Thursday.

Capt Samart Srimuang, chief of the Operations and Intelligence Division of the Nong Khai-based Mekong Riverine Operation Unit, said the detainee was identified as Pongsak Thongbot, 28. He was arrested while driving his pickup truck carrying the endangered species in Rattanawapi district.

The suspect confessed that he was hired to transport 12 scaly ant-eaters from the southern province of Chumphon to Nong Khai. He said that he was to deliver the endangered species to an unidentified party near the Mekong River who would smuggle them across the border, according to the officer.

Pangolin scales and pangolin flesh are in high demand in Vietnam and China as medicine although their international trade is banned.

The smuggling and sale of pangolins is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. 

Source: mcot.net

171 pangolins bound for Thailand seized

Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department assistant officer Cosmas Ngau (right) and colleague Mohamad Daud with some of the pangolins seized from smugglers near the border. Pic by Adnan Mohamad

KOTA BARU: STATE police prevented 171 pangolins worth  RM340,000 from ending up in cooking pots in Thailand with the arrest of five men on Saturday.

The men, aged between 30 and 45, were detained in two operations in Jeli and Bachok. Police said in Jeli, they detained two men at a roadblock near the Mara Junior Science College at 4am and seized 16 pangolins from them. They also seized the four-wheel-drive vehicle the duo were in.

Some 20 hours later, another police team in Bachok seized 155 pangolins packed into nets from three men while they were at an unnumbered house in Kampung Alur Tok Majan. Another 4WD vehicle was also seized here. The pangolins (manis javanica) and the five local men were later handed over to the state Wildlife and National Parks Department.

Department assistant officer Cosmas Ngau said the pangolins were believed to have been brought into Kelantan from other states several hours before they were seized. "We believe the pangolins were being smuggled to Thailand separately through Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah and Rantau Panjang."

Ngau said pangolin flesh, popular as a delicacy and for its perceived "health benefits" could fetch up to RM350 and RM380 per kg on the black market. He said the seizure in Bachok was the biggest over the past five years. "One of the pangolins seized in Bachok is also the biggest seized by us so far. The male pangolin weighed 10kg."

The rare ant-eating animal feeds a mainly Asian market, where pangolins are eaten as delicacies and their scales sought after for various remedies. Pangolin scales are made chiefly of keratin, a substance believed to have curative value in traditional Asian medicine despite scientific evidence to the contrary.

Source:  nst.com,my

Malaysian Maritime saved 26 pangolins from ending in cooking pots

Image Source: mmea.gov.my

Image Source: mmea.gov.my

Alor Gajah: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) saved 26 pangolins from ending in cooking pots after detaining two men at the Pulau Hanyut waters here last night.

Kuala Linggi MMEA Capt (Maritime) Abu Bakar Idris said the two men, aged 40 and 41, were in a boat at 8.15pm and tried to escape when spotted by the MMEA vessel that was on patrol in the area.

Abu Bakar said when spotted by the MMEA, the boat sped off to the Malaysia/Indonesia border towards Banda Hilir but the MMEA vessel managed to intercept the boat about five nautical miles from Pulau Hanyut.

"Upon inspecting the boat, we found 26 sacks filled with pangolins while the duo failed to show any documents for the animals," he told reporters here today. He added that the suspects may have thrown a number of sacks into the sea to erase evidence.

Abu Bakar said initial investigations revealed that the pangolins, an exotic meat here, was worth RM50,000 and smuggled into the country from Indonesia to be sold in Melaka.

Source: NST