According to CCTV’s report in late August, a restaurant in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province made pangolins a famous dish: for high-end diners. The police in Changzhou successfully dumped a gang that illegally acquired and sold endangered wild animals. After receiving the report, the police cracked the case after more than three months of investigation. A total of 47 pangolins were found, 40 of which were already dead and the other 7 live ones were rescued from the suspects’ homes. The rescued live pangolins have been sent to the Changzhou Wildlife Park for treatment and care.

At 2018 “A Counting Year for Pangolins”, CBCGDF is highly concerned about this news. First of all, the ones who reported this case and the police who worked hard to detect the case must be praised. Secondly, pangolins are national second-class protected animals, are also endangered species, and cannot be breeding artificially. CBCGDF can’t help but ask:

1.    This restaurant has a transaction amount of several million yuan for several years. What is the reason why the local wildlife protection supervision department has not taken action for a long time?

2.    Are there any other food and beverage outlets in the local area that sell pangolins?

3.    The restaurant that was reported by the masses belongs to the private home cuisine kitchen type. How is the law enforcement inspection of this type of restaurant?

4.    What kind of people are the diners who eat this kind of pangolin dish? Are they breaking the law knowingly?

5.    According to the criminal suspects, the pangolins sold were mostly smuggled from abroad. So where are the customs entries from?

6.    There are suspects who confessed to purchase the pangolins from Guangdong and sold them in Shanghai. So which restaurants in Shanghai are secretly selling pangolin dishes? The relevant departments of Shanghai supposed to investigate further.

According to the suspects, in order to make the pangolins gain weight, and make more profit from illegal trade, they will fill the stomachs of the pangolins to be sold with flour, stone, water, etc., usually will fill weigh up to one pound of water.

According to media reports, the case is still under investigation. The year of 2018 is CBCGDF’s “A Counting Year for Pangolins”. CBCGDF will take the system to inventory the source and destination of the pangolin products that were punishable by the customs. CBCGDF is concerned with all domestic and international trends related to the endangered species pangolin. CBCGDF will continue to pay attention to the case.

Frozen bodies of the pangolins seized by the police.

Pangolins have been sent to Changzhou Wildlife Zoo for treatment and care.

(Photo source: Internet)