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A prison term for a pangolin smuggler.


A Filipino man identified as Aivon Vencer has been sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to smuggle 1,068 frozen pangolins, weighing 4,988 kilograms.

Malaysia’s Star reports that the pangolin smuggler was arrested near Sandakan in December 2011, after leading customs officials on a high-speed chase which ended when he crashed his vessel onto the shore.

Authorities believe the illicit cargo was headed for Taganak Island in the Philippines.

This was the largest pangolin seizure of 2011 — a devastating year for the scaly anteaters, with an estimated 40,000 pangolins killed for the illegal trade.

Pangolins slaughtered for traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine credits pangolin scales with the power to treat an unusually wide variety of conditions, including psoriasis, infertility, asthma — and even cancer.

Pangolin flesh is consumed, mainly in China, to “nourish the kidneys.” Even pangolin fetuses are eaten.

There is no scientific evidence to support these wild claims about the health benefits of pangolin scales, flesh or fetuses.

(Note: The Star states Avion Vencer is 20 years of age; the New Sabah Times earlier reported his age as 18.)

Author: Rhishja Larson. Learn more about Rhishja here.

Image by Unknow, via Wikimedia Commons