Just after Customs officials confirmed that the China-Nepal border is serving as a significant smuggling route for the illegal wildlife trade, new media reports indicate a massive upswing in pangolin poaching in areas of Nepal near the porous Chinese border.
In a press conference held last Friday, the Lhasa Customs Office confirmed that porous Tibetan borders are being used to smuggle illicit drugs, pangolin scales, and other highly sought after wildlife products into China from other countries. Read more
What the heck is a pangolin? Aside from being a very unique, insectivorous creature and the most trafficked mammal in the international illegal wildlife trade, these scaly anteaters also have a job — a very important one!
A pangolin trade report compiled earlier this year by NGO Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) has uncovered disturbing information about the trafficking of these little-known mammals.
With at least one pangolin being killed every hour of every day throughout their Asiatic range, this elusive creature has become the most commonly smuggled mammal in Southeast Asia. The extent of illegal pangolin trade is shocking and experts say the two most endangered species could go extinct within ten years, if current trends continue.
Want to learn more about these gentle creatures? Check out this list of eleven cool facts about pangolins. Enjoy!
Pangolin populations are rapidly declining in Southeast Asia, due to the use of their flesh, skin, and scales for traditional Chinese medicine. Even pangolin fetuses are consumed.
The shy, scaly anteaters are believed to have been en route to China or Vietnam, where they are consumed as delicacies. Their body parts are also used in dubious folk remedies.
They were discovered in a truck on September 25th, when the driver fled after being stopped at a checkpoint in the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, according to the BBC.
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