Opinion 4: Is Malay pangolin indigenous? Can’t Malay pangolin be released to the wild merely because of its ill-defined source?

According to China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), more than ten Malay pangolins have been found in mainland China, including Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan, during the past two or three years.

Recently, many Malay pangolins have been released into the wild. Their existence in nature is solid evidence.

Regardless of when these pangolins are smuggled and how many people hold suspicion, the most important is the fact that no one dead Malay pangolin has been found in the wild. On the contrary, lots of healthy Malay pangolins distribute in mainland China, which is the evidence.

The wide distribution of Malay pangolins has proven that wild release is practical for Malay pangolin in China because of no one case of exotic species invasion or disease outbreak.

Smugglers treat pangolins as private assets that they would never discard. As a sensitive creature, pangolin sometimes can run away by themselves. The fact that the number of Chinese pangolins in the wild is declining mirrors a cruel reality-Chinese Pangolins Have Been Functionally Extinct in Mainland China

In early June, one pangolin has been found in Zhongshan, Guangdong. There is no way to prove its source. Is it a local species or released to the wild? Therefore, it should be released immediately according to general practice because there is no need to keep it in quarantine.

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/8930.html

By / Wang Yanqing