DEATH BY HUMAN GREED
“The traditional Chinese medicine trade has already wrought havoc on Asian pangolin populations, so the trade has shifted to Africa. Since Asian pangolins are now rarer, they fetch higher prices,” adds Dr. Schoppe. The volume by which these strangelooking, harmless mammals are captured belies belief.
At least 667 Philippine pangolins have been apprehended by authorities from 2001 to 2017. In April 2013, a Chinese poaching vessel rammed into the Philippines’ famed Tubbataha Reefs. Found aboard were 2870 dead Sunda pangolins collected from all over Southeast Asia.
In April 2019, 25 tons of scales from an estimated 38,000 African pangolins were confiscated in Singapore, the largest haul ever recorded.
In January 2019, just four months before, nine tons of scales from an estimated 14,000 pangolins were intercepted in Hongkong. From 2007 to 2009, Malaysia’s Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) revealed how just one syndicate traded 22,200 dead and dressed pangolins. In June 2019, 10 live Philippine pangolins were seized at a checkpoint in Tagaytay City. Seven died while three survived and were brought back to Palawan.
The list of apprehensions go on, even while all pangolin species are prohibited from international trade under CITES.
The belief that pangolin scales – in reality made of keratin (the same material as your hair and nails) – has magical powers, dates back centuries. Traditional Chinese healers believe the scales, which are dried, ground and inserted into pills, relieve fever, pain, ulcers, arthritis and other ailments.
Though these claims have absolutely zero basis in science, convincing millions of customers to shift to alternatives hasn’t proven easy.
“Think about it – no one pays for powdered fingernails, but traditional Chinese medicine believers spend a fortune for powdered pangolin scales, which are no different,” adds Dr. Schoppe. “Legal prescribed medicines are cheaper and more efficient alternatives, while the alleged powers of pangolin scales will die out with the last pangolin. It’s time to leave old traditions behind and opt for more sustainable solutions.”
Aside from western medicine, Chinese medicine experts have found that cowherb seeds, earthworms and other items are viable alternatives to pangolin scales. It’s high time to switch to alternatives before the world’s pangolins forever disappear. (The Wild Side)