Wildlife

Poaching Pangolins

Conservationists are concerned over the rate at which a group of unique African and Asian scaly mammals called pangolins are being trafficked and hunted for their meat.

It's estimated that 21 pangolins are taken out of the wild every hour and about a million have been removed from their natural habitats in the last decade.

In mid-January, Hong Kong seized more than eight tonnes of pangolin scales and nearly two tonnes of ivory. Two weeks later, Ugandan authorities seized 762 pieces of ivory and 423 kilograms of pangolin scales bound for Vietnam.

Just a few days later, a shipment of close to 30 metric tonnes of both dead and live pangolins, pangolin scales and pangolin meat was seized in Malaysia. The shipment also included two legs of a sun bear. The seizure in Hong Kong alone would have been supplied by hundreds of elephants and thousands of pangolins. All of these animals were illegally poached and trafficked by transnational organised criminal networks.