Pangolin: about to become extinct because of wildlife trafficking

Recently, a document from the wildlife smuggling group in Borneo revealed the scale of illegal trafficking.

This document shows that between May 2007 and December 2008, smugglers bought at least 22,220 rare and precious Sunda Pangasius that are in danger of extinction and nearly tons of their skin for export.

Pangolin , the only scaly animal today is being hunted aggressively for skinning. It is believed that meat, skin and pangolin scales can treat asthma, menstrual disorders and milk, or arthritis .

Meanwhile, according to official records, local police confiscated 645 pangolins illegally transported between 2001 and 2008.

Like many other rare animals, the population of eight pangolin species is severely reduced. Two Chinese pangolins and Sunda pangolins, listed as endangered rare animals in the 2008 IUCN Red List, and international trade in these animals are illegal.

But illegal traders say demand from China has made pangolin one of the most illegally traded animals in Asia, and shipments of pangolins from Africa have recently been catch in China. China is also a potential destination for pangolins listed in smugglers' list. In addition, Traffic also mentioned another fact that wildlife conservation officers in Sabah, Malaysia where these shipments were caught did not have enough money to fuel the boat to chase smugglers.

Meanwhile, hunters for TRAFFIC (Wildlife Trafficking Monitoring Network) know that stopping hunting is difficult for them because catching animals is easy and can earn 160 USD for each animal. According to the leaked documents of smugglers, they spent $ 5,700 a day to buy pangolins. This document does not specify how much money they have earned, but according to TRAFFIC's estimates, the profit must be very high.