There is a funny little creature with gentle eyes, a long tongue, and that "transforms" into a ball when frightened. It looks like a small anteater and is covered in a scaly armour. It is the pangolin. Most people are unaware of its existence — unfortunately, poachers are not.

A 19-billion-dollar pangolin trade

Pangolins are in fact the most commonly trafficked mammals in international trade. According to a report by the Chinese wildlife protection authority, produced in collaboration with a team of British researchers, more than 10,000 specimens are smuggled illegally into China from Southeast Asia every year. The pangolin smuggling trade is merely the latest example of China's growing demand for illegal wildlife. A global business worth 19 billion dollars a year.

What in nature is the pangolin's greatest strength — its armour made up of large, hard, mobile horny scales that protect it from predators — can also be its downfall. The scales are a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Their price has soared: in 1990, a kilogram cost 14 dollars; today it costs as much as 600.

A medicine made from pangolin scales

The value of this small scaly anteater, however, does not lie solely in its scales. It is also used as food in restaurants, particularly in China. A pangolin carcass can cost up to 1,000 dollars, and foetuses in particular are considered a delicacy.

Pangolin vs traditional medicine

Despite this, traditional medicine remains the greatest enemy of pangolins, even though their usefulness in the medical field has been demonstrated. Nonetheless, the Chinese government protects hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that resort to these treatment methods, making itself complicit in the extermination of pangolins. It remains unclear, however, how these institutions are able to purchase pangolin parts when the trade is itself illegal.

The pangolin, of which eight species are known, faces extinction, also due to its low media profile. Among threatened animals, more iconic and "charismatic" species such as tigers, elephants and rhinos certainly attract far more attention.

Even smaller species with less appeal deserve to be protected — besides, they are "irresistibly cute," says Rhishja Cota-Larson, founder and director of Project Pangolin.