Pangolin, a creature suffering unfortune! Despite repeated prohibitions, the illegal trade on pangolins is still rampant!
Pangolins are believed to be one of the world's most endangered animals and the world's most illegally trafficked mammal, according to TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade research organization.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that a total of one million pangolins have been killed and trafficked in the last 10 years, which equates to one pangolin being captured every five minutes.
It is the armor on it that brings about the killing of the body.
The scales of pangolin were treated as precious medicine - even though later analysis proved that there was nothing special about the composition of pangolin scales, not much different from human nails and hair.
In fact, the medicinal value of the pangolin has always been controversial in Chinese medicine. Perhaps what really puts the pangolin in crisis is people's curiosity, the psychology of showing off and the destruction of its habitat.
Legal prohibitions and high prices make the pangolin more endangered: The more it becomes a symbol of wealth and status, the more popular it is popular in the illegal market. Illegal businessmen even use the gimmick of Chinese medicine and nutrition to forcefully fabricate the health effects of pangolin meat, scales, fetus and blood for their own benefits.
In the 1960s, pangolins used to be so widespread in the hilly mountains of southern China that in some places, villagers will step on them when they are not careful when walking. But now, even the most seasoned pangolin poachers can only find 1-2 new holes a year - meaning their habitat is in jeopardy.
Existing studies show that a single pangolin can eat nearly 7 million ants a year, making it a great helper in protecting dozens of acres of forests. Surprisingly, the pangolin's food range exceeds even 70 species of ants. In other words, pangolins are important "predators" in the ecological chain, and can even regulate ant and termite populations, thus affecting the entire ecology.
Ironically, poachers are now the people who have seen the most pangolins in the wild - in contrast to biologists and conservationists working in the field, many of whom have never seen a living pangolin in the wild.
We know so little about pangolins that we don't even know how long they live in the wild yet. They often don't live long enough to die of old age before they are hunted by poachers.
Perhaps, before we can fully understand it, this gentle and mysterious creature will truly disappear from the earth.
Ecological Exposure: About the Beijing Pangolin-Trafficking Scandal
A Beijing-based pharmaceutical company was accused of fraudulently obtaining administrative permits from wildlife authorities, falsifying a large number of wildlife products with special labels, "whitewashing" tens of thousands of kilograms of illegally acquired Pangolin Scales and antelope horn products, and then reselling them for profit. The value of the seized wildlife products exceeded 100 million yuan.
It is exactly such an administrative license approval that has made pangolins critically endangered.
Several changes in policy are urgently needed.
1) Although National Medical Products Administration completely stopped the identification of the pangolin into the medicine, and the pangolin has been officially removed from the latest version of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia (a)" for 2020, some companies are still implementing the 2015 version of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" and other relevant standards, and the previously identified medicine can still be circulated in the market, thus bringing the risk of repeated bans on pangolin into medicine.
It is suggested that relevant departments should explain why there still exists the tragedy of pangolin scales into medicine. For enterprises that still use pangolin scales into medicine, it is recommended that clear regulatory measures be taken to investigate their inventory to be registered and regulated, and be made public.
2) It is recommended that all administrative permits for pangolin scales that have been approved in the last 20 years be thoroughly investigated! Law enforcers breaking the law will put wildlife conservation in a vicious circle and will make law breakers reckless. Only by clearly stopping the administrative license approval, can the illegal wildlife hunting & trade be fundamentally prevented.
3) This case is not the first and probably not the last. It is strongly recommended that the illegal poaching and trading of wild animals be punished more vigorously. And the courts shall into account the ecological value of the pangolin in addition to its economic value in judicial practice.
4) Pangolins come from nature and are an integral part of biodiversity. A single pangolin can eat nearly 7 million ants a year, which helps to protect dozens of acres of forests, thus affecting the entire ecology. What’s more, the burrows that are abandoned after pangolin use can be used by land tortoises, rodents, badgers and other small beasts, becoming a shelter for them. It is suggested that rescued pangolins should return to the wild.
No sale, no harm! Sincerely hope the country will increase the publicity of wildlife protection, improve wildlife protection laws and implement them effectively and powerfully.
China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), with biodiversity conservation as its top priority, has long been committed to fighting against illegal wildlife trafficking and striving to save & rewild pangolins. Thanks to the great, unremitting efforts from its Pangolin Working Group, Pangolin has officially been removed from the latest version of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" for 2020, and China upgraded all species of pangolin from second-class to first-class protected animals considering their rapidly decreasing numbers due to over-hunting and habitat destruction.
We urge: protect pangolins, don't buy, eat or use pangolin products!
We call for: protect wild animals and their living environment, just leave them alone. Learn to respect nature, respect life!
We call on you to be kind-hearted!
(Source: Beijing Daily, Caixin Weekly, EcoChina.com)
Original Chinese Article: https://card.weibo.com/article/m/show/id/2309404766337867317421?_wb_client_=1
Translator: Samantha
Editor: Maggie
Contact: V10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
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