The use of pangolin parts in traditional Chinese medicine is driving poaching of the small, scaly mammals, according to an analysis of legal records.
The Environmental Investigation Agency, a watchdog group, looked at 169 Chinese court judgments involving pangolins, which together documented the illegal trade of 5,465 pangolins and nearly 43 tons of pangolin scales since 2014.
“There’s no escaping the clear connection between the country’s domestic trade in pangolins for traditional Chinese medicine and the high levels of international trafficking of pangolin specimens,” said campaigner Erin Chong, of EIA.
In Chinese medicine, pangolin meat and scales are believed to improve circulation, aid lactation, alleviate menstrual pain, heal abscesses, and soothe rashes. While it is illegal to import pangolin parts to China, some hospitals are permitted to sell from verified stockpiles. However, researchers have found that pangolin sales vastly exceed the legal supply, suggesting sellers are trafficking in illicit goods.
Earlier this year, the Chinese Pharmacopeia, a compendium of medicines issued by the Chinese government, removed all formulas that include pangolin. Though significant, the move has no legal impact.
Now, as a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species gets underway in Uzbekistan, campaigners are calling on China to shut down the legal market for pangolin scales.
Found from Africa to East Asia, all eight species of pangolin are at high risk of extinction. Threatened by both poaching and the destruction of forests, they are the most trafficked mammal globally, conservationists say.
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