World Pangolin Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness and recommit to international organizations fighting the world’s pangolin harvest. The only truly scaly mammal in the world.
This day is an opportunity for pangolin enthusiasts and the wider human community to work together to raise awareness of the plight of these unique mammals – a rapidly declining pangolin population in Asia and Africa.
Pangolins are a very precious commodity that is often illegally captured, traded, and mass murdered by organised crime networks because of their size to feed the Asian traditional medicine market, unfortunately pangolin scales are considered therapeutic in Asia The panacea for the traditional medicine market. All varieties and pangolin meat are considered delicacy.
In Vietnam and the central and southern regions of West Africa, pangolins are often seen in restaurants to cater to wealthy customers who see their meat as a rarity and a statement of identity.
When startled, the pangolin curls up into a tight ball to protect its soft underside, making it a prime target for illegal poachers.
In 52 seizures from 2016 to 2019, an estimated 206.4 tons of pangolins, or the equivalent of about 360,000 pangolins, were intercepted and confiscated, according to a report by the Wildlife Justice Commission. The Wildlife Justice Council is an international foundation established in the Netherlands whose mission is to prevent the proliferation of wildlife and to help dismantle organized transnational criminal wildlife trafficking networks.
Complete News SOurce : NationalTimes
