In Cameroon, 4 tons of pangolin flakes were seized, hidden in plastic bags, the value of which is around 5 million pounds.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThere is no peace for pangolins, infamous for being the most illegally trafficked mammals in the world, despite having long been at risk of extinction. The latest maxi kidnapping dates back to a few days ago in Cameroon, near the border with Nigeria. The authorities found 4 tons of pangolin flakes, hidden in plastic bags, the value of which is around £ 5 million.
According to what was discovered by the agents, the pangolin flakes were intended for Nigeria. In fact, 70% of the pangolins that are hunted and killed in Africa to be exported all over the world leave from the ports of this country.
"Large quantities of pangolin flakes are illegally harvested from the forests of central Africa for export by criminal networks that use Nigeria as a safe haven for wildlife trafficking." - explains Chris Hamley of the Environmental Investigations Agency - This kidnapping shows that these criminal networks are exploiting the porous and largely unregulated northern border area between Cameroon and Nigeria “.
Despite the risks and prohibitions, the pangolin trade does not stop
About a year ago, Malaysian customs seized a shipment of 6 tons of pangolin flakes hidden in peanut sacks destined for Vietnam in Nigeria.
Although the flakes have finally been removed from the official list of ingredients allowed in traditional Chinese medicine, the species continues to be the busiest in the world, and around 200.000 pangolins are still eaten annually in Asia, both for their flakes and their own. meat. And due to this illegal business, populations of Asian pangolins have dropped by 80% over the past 10 years over the past XNUMX years and Chinese, Malaysian and Filipino pangolins are now among the species. "Critical danger" on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
If until a few years ago this species was little known in Europe, it has recently come under the spotlight due to numerous studies that would identify it as a "vector" that allowed Covid-19 to be transmitted from bats to humans. The pangolin hosts, in fact, a coronavirus similar to what has spread among humans and the cruel illegal trade in this animal could therefore have played a fundamental role in the origin of the global pandemic. These dangers, however, have not been able to stop the cruel traffic of this species which is in danger of disappearing forever.
Fonte: Independent/WWF
Read also:
- Pangolin seizures reach an all-time high, showing that the illegal trade is still booming
- The origin of Covid-19 is animal: how the jump of species from bats to pangolins could have happened
- Coronavirus: at the origin of the epidemic the consumption of pangolin, a species at serious risk of extinction
- Despite the bans, China continues to use and promote pangolin scales in traditional medicine
