(News of The South) – Pangolins are under threat from illegal trafficking networks. Around 100 000 pangolins are illegally removed from their wild habitat each year.
Markets in Asia have a voracious appetite for the solitary creature as a result of this, African pangolins’ numbers are decreasing at alarming rates.
This year alone, almost 70 000kg of scales have left the African continent. Demand for pangolin scales has exploded over the past decade, with seizures rising from 21 kilogrammes in 2011 to to 68 000 kilogrammes in 2019.
In southern Africa, there is a large amount of cross-border trafficking and trading of poached animals, particularly between Zimbabwe and South Africa. Both countries have strict laws on pangolin poaching.
However, Zimbabwean poachers trying to sell the animal in their home country often receive harsh sentences if caught, whereas South African pangolin poaching cases rarely result in punitive sentencing.
Pangolin researcher Richard Chelin said, “it is vital that we understand and prevent the illicit trade in pangolins before it is too late.”
Lack of education and implementation of pangolin policies have been attributed as the major causes of the illicit poaching of the rare mammal.
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