Pangolins face threat

PANGOLINS in Indonesia are at risk of extinction because of an illicit trade that sees thousands of the critically endangered animals trafficked each year, a study showed yesterday.

More than 35,000 pangolins – docile, ant-eating mammals with a thick armour – were seized by Indonesian authorities between 2010 and 2015, exposing the scale of the illegal business, the study by wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic said.

The pangolin is prized as an edible delicacy and ingredient in traditional medicine, especially in China and Vietnam.