Hard News: The almost silent extinction of unheard pangolins

Written for the CNN, printed on Saturday 15 February 2020, World Pangolin Day, as a recap of distinct events in relation to the pangolins’ dire situation.

Pangolin scales seized by Singapore customs officials in April 2019.

Just within a week in April 2019, two record-breaking seizures occurred in Singapore Immigrations; a combined total of 25.6 tonnes of contraband pangolin scales en route to Vietnam. Customs officials inspected a 40-foot container labelled as “frozen beef”, passing through from Nigeria—estimating to 72,000 pangolins poached and to be sold for their parts.

Dr Sonja Luz, director of conservation, research and veterinary services in WRS, spoke to TNP that the seizures reminded her of her first encounter with a pangolin in 2003. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore had seized a shipment of 34 live pangolins then, all coiled up, stuffed in nets and packed in Styrofoam boxes. When she opened one of the boxes, a baby pangolin was still strapped to its dead mother.

In February 2019, Hong Kong authorities seized 8.3 tonnes of pangolin scales also from a shipment of “frozen beef” from Nigeria. The haul also included ivory that added up to $8 million worth of smuggled endangered species.

Within India, pangolin poaching is too lucrative for farmers to resist in some of the country’s poorest communities. Though the pangolin species has diminished drastically, a new report by researchers of World Animal Protection (WAP) and Oxford University has found that one single pangolin is worth almost a year’s salary for hunters, making prevention widely difficult.

In entirety, more than 100,000 pangolins were killed by traffickers in 2019 as compared to 1,000 tigers and 200 rhinos. Four of the pangolin species found within Southeast Asia are largely concentrated in Indonesia, while the other four in Africa, but all are not protected from the threat of extinction. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species, all eight species of the meek pangolin—native to Asia and sub-Saharan Africa—are categorised as “vulnerable”, “endangered” or “critically endangered” since 2017.

Masked to protect their identities, law enforcement officers sit atop nearly 8,000 pounds of pangolin scales seized in 2017 and 2018.

These harmless, scale-covered nocturnal mammals, that survives on ants and termites, bear the unfortunate title of “most illegally traded mammal in the world”. Every 5 minutes, a pangolin is snatched from the wild and killed as a luxury delicacy amongst the wealthy in China and Vietnam. Their keratin rich scales are traditionally believed to host medicinal and magical benefits that can aid breastfeeding and cure asthma or cancer—none of which is proven by science.

“It is the keratin—the same substance in fingernails—that is found in them that they are killed for. But just like rhino horns and tiger bones, pangolin scales don’t work,” said Member Parliament for Nee Soon GRC.

Professor Jonathan Baillie, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group and Conservation Programmes Director at ZSL, asserts that the plundering and illegal trading of pangolins is simply inexcusable.

Said Dr Luz: “Ultimately, it comes down to greed. The more endangered a species, the higher the value. Pangolins are killed for their perceived health benefits. And if this issue is not addressed, it can push pangolin populations to the brink of extinction.”

Pangolins are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Singapore is a signatory to the organisation and dedicated to international efforts in curbing illegal wildlife trade. The Singapore Government acquires a zero-tolerance stance on the use of Singapore as a conduit in smuggling endangered species, their parts and by-products.

To show your support and contribute, join us on 15th February 2020 at Singapore Zoo as we celebrate pangolins and pledge towards creating a safer environment for them in this world.

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