Singapore sets grim record for pangolin scales seized: more than 28 tonnes
Environment — di Lorenzo Brenna
Nearly 40,000 pangolins — animals at risk of extinction — are thought to have been illegally killed to obtain them.
Singapore sets grim record for pangolin scales seized: more than 28 tonnes
Nearly 40,000 pangolins — animals at risk of extinction — are thought to have been illegally killed to obtain them.
Evolution has given pangolins (Manis) an extraordinary defence mechanism: an impenetrable armour made up of large, hard, mobile horny scales. Yet it is precisely this armour that could cause their extinction — the scales are a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and their price has risen steeply in recent years.
The defence technique of these peculiar mammals, which curl into a ball to protect themselves from predators, also makes them an easy target for poachers. Pangolins have long held the unfortunate distinction of being the world's most trafficked mammals, and Singapore has now confirmed this trend: authorities have confiscated more than 28 tonnes of pangolin scales, belonging to around 38,000 individuals.
From Africa to Asia
Singapore customs officials and the National Parks Board stated in a press release that 14 tonnes of pangolin scales had been hidden inside containers carrying frozen beef. The other 14 tonnes were found a few days later in a separate container. The animal parts, which had departed from Nigeria, were destined for Vietnam, home to the second most lucrative black market for pangolin scales, after China. According to authorities, the seizure is the largest of its kind ever made in the Asian country, with a total estimated value of nearly 40 million dollars.
#Pangolins are the world's only scaled mammals, but this extraordinary feature may also lead to their downfall.
Give a #WorldPangolinDay shoutout to some who are helping their plight on Borneo Wildlife Rescue. bit.ly/2S4Y25m
Give a #WorldPangolinDay shoutout to some who are helping their plight on Borneo Wildlife Rescue. bit.ly/2S4Y25m
Unsustainable trafficking
The illegal trade, which generates a global turnover worth 19 billion dollars a year, poses a serious threat to the survival of pangolins. Over the past decade, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than one million of these animals have been smuggled. Eight species of pangolin currently survive and all are at risk of extinction. To prevent the permanent disappearance of these animals, in 2016 the United Nations decided on a total ban on the trade in pangolins, and all pangolin species were listed in Appendix I of Cites, which prohibits any cross-border movement of animals or parts of their bodies for commercial purposes.
If pangolins go extinct
"We are hearing the death knell for pangolins," said Crawford Allan, wildlife trafficking expert at Traffic, "they cannot sustain this level of poaching. This is our last chance to save them." The extinction of pangolins would not only deprive us of unique and fascinating creatures, but would also have a negative impact on their habitats, since no other animal could fill their ecological niche. "They are so evolutionarily distinct that losing pangolins would mean losing a fundamental part of our biodiversity," said Thomson Paul Thomson, vice president of the Pangolin specialist group and co-founder of Save pangolins.