SINGAPORE — Special economic zones set up to promote trade between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors are facilitating a black-market trade in wildlife products, according to watchdog group TRAFFIC. Tens of thousands of prohibited wildlife parts and products are being sold across open and unregulated markets in five Southeast Asian countries, with a significant […]
Tag: pangolin
Bear paws, pangolin scales: Wildlife trade flourishing in Mekong
A new study by TRAFFIC, a group that monitors the illegal trade in wildlife, has found thousands of animal parts and products – from pangolin scales to ivory and bear bile – for sale in five countries in mainland Southeast Asia, underlining the region’s struggle to address wildlife crime and the need to intensify anti-trafficking […]
Podcast: Sighting of super rare Chacoan fairy armadillo in Bolivia ‘a dream come true’
The four-wheel-drive bumped over a rutted road. Rain that began as soon as they left the pavement was so thick that the road, compacted by traffic, became slippery, and the tires dug-in. It was 8 a.m. At the wheel was Nick Mcphee, Australian conservationist-turned Bolivian ecotourism uber-specialist, and with him were Bolivian biologist Huáscar Bustillos […]
Petition: Demand Government Officials Help Save Pangolins
Although pangolins are one of the most trafficked animals in the world, most people hadn’t heard of them prior to the pandemic, when scientists found that pangolins at a wet market in Wuhan, China were likely responsible for coronavirus. These scaly mammals are so shy and gentle that they curl up in a ball when […]
China still making pangolin-based treatments despite banning use of scales, report says
Pangolin scales — armor-like, keratin-based plates that cover a pangolin’s body — are still being used in medicines sold and produced by Chinese companies, a new report has found. This is being done despite the Chinese government banning pangolin scales from the official list of approved ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and even giving […]
‘We are all ecstatic’: Rescued wild pangolin gives birth to healthy pup
Ally arrived at the veterinary hospital the way most rescued pangolins do: underweight, dehydrated and suffering from pneumonia. But a routine ultrasound revealed that Ally wasn’t a typical patient — she was also pregnant. In April, officials working for the South African Police Service’s Endangered Species Unit managed to rescue Ally, a wild Temminck’s pangolin […]
Did China really ban the pangolin trade? Not quite, investigators say
In early June, it was widely reported that the Chinese government had banned pangolin scales in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and that all pangolin species now had the highest level of protection within China. This news grabbed headlines around the world, and conservationists hailed the move as a positive step toward halting the illegal trade […]
‘It’s a success’: Pangolins return to a region where they were once extinct
Pangolins have been locally extinct in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province for the last 30 or 40 years, experts say. But now, local conservationists are working to slowly reintroduce these shy, sensitive animals in a world-first effort to reinstate wild populations. The eight species of pangolins together are considered to be one of the most widely […]