PANGOLINS IN PERIL

Writer Dr Anina Lee

Most of us have probably never seen a pangolin in real life. They are fairly pre-historic looking – something like a walking pinecone or an artichoke with legs. They’re the only mammals covered in scales, which can protect them from predators. When threatened, they roll up into a tight ball baring their sharp scales which they can use like a saw. They are pretty well protected from all predators – except humans.

Ironically, it’s these scales that are the driving force behind the illicit pangolin trade, commanding huge prices on the black market. This has put all pangolin species at high risk of extinction. They are now the most trafficked mammals in the world – more than rhinos, elephants or tigers.

We do not have reliable estimates of how many pangolins remain in the wild. It’s thought that over a million individual pangolins were taken from the wild between 2000 and 2013. Currently it is estimated that 10 000 pangolins are illegally taken per year, compared to 200 tigers and 1 000 rhinos.

Pangolin scales are used in traditional Asian medicine, particularly in China and Vietnam. They are believed to have curative properties; however, pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same material that makes human fingernails and hair, and has no proven medicinal value.

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