Poor Pangolins

Earlier this week, a pangolin scale smuggling scheme was busted as the smugglers attempted to leave Thailand with more than one ton of pangolin scales estimated to be worth around $1.4 million dollars.

What is a pangolin and why are their scales being smuggled? Pangolins are scaly anteaters found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. They are the only mammals known to be covered in "scales." The scales are not traditional scales seen on reptiles but consist of keratin (which is found in hair and fingernails) and pangolins are the only known mammal with this feature. Pangolins are not the only animal hunted for their keratinous appendages - rhinoceros' horns also consist of keratin and are used in traditional Asian medicine.

What is so special about pangolin scales that makes them so desirable? In China and Vietnam pangolin scales are believed to have medical properties and are used in traditional medicine. Unfortunately, between being hunted and having their habitats destroyed by deforestation, pangolins are endangered species. Which is also unfortunate for the smugglers, because internationally it is illegal to hunt, or import/export new products harvested from endangered species. We note "new" because there's a slippery slope with elephant ivory where it was legal until a point, so old ivory is legal, but new ivory is not.

Another interesting takeaway is that traffickers began turning to media outlets like Facebook to sell their animal stock because the COVID-19 pandemic limited physical human interaction. We suppose COVID-19 was good for at least one thing, and that was bringing animal traffickers out of hiding to make them a bit easier to catch.

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