The world's most smuggled mammal is apparently a little-known, shy, and scaly creature known as the pangolin. Now, the United Nations has banned the global trade in these endangered animals.
Last week, TGE 180 member nations of the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to place eight pangolin species under the protection of the convention's "Appendix I" which means the prohibition of any movement of the animals (including their body parts) across a country's borders for commercial purposes.
According to the World Wildlife Fund's Vice President of Conservation Strategy and Science, Ginette Hemley, by giving pangolins full protections under CITES, illegal trade and trafficking of the animal will be more difficult. The pangolin measures around 30 to 100 centimeters long and all eight species are at risk of extinction.
Africa is considered as the main source of illegal wildlife products such as ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin parts. However, the demand for these products originates from Asia.
The meat of the pangolin is considered as a delicacy in Asian countries such as Vietnam, while its scales are a rich source of keratin and is an ingredient in traditional medicines in Asia.
Pangolins by nature are shy and near sighted. They only venture out from their homes under the soil or hidden in tree tops during the night to hunt for insects. As a defense mechanism, they curl up into a ball when they feel threatened. Poachers are known to set up cable snares to capture pangolins.
Conservation groups claim that the demand for pangolin is booming due to the declining wild populations of the creature in Asia. The pangolin habitats are also threatened by Africa's timber industries in the remote regions of the continent.
According to International Fund for Animal Welfare's Jeff Flocken, hopefully, the UN's decision to protect the pangolin will be followed by an increase in resources and efforts to save this gentle species.