Although pangolins are strictly protected and acutely threatened, there is a lively trade between Africa and Asia in the pangolins, which are particularly popular in Chinese medicine, as researchers have discovered. Since 2010, almost 200,000 kilograms of these sheds have been discovered in raids in Nigeria and the ports of Asia – they come from at least 800,000 pangolins killed. This suggests that the illegal trade in African pangolins is far more extensive than previously thought.
Pangolins are primeval-looking mammals that are found mainly in Africa and parts of Asia. The body of these approximately dog-sized insectivores is covered with large horn scales, which gave these animals the nickname pangolins. All eight species in this group of animals are considered threatened and are protected by the Washington Convention on Endangered Species. This means that hunting, catching and trading of these animals are prohibited.
But this does not prevent poachers and other illegal actors from still intensively hunting the threatened pangolins and from selling their remains, especially to Asia. There, the meat and scales of the pangolin are considered to be particularly beneficial in the context of traditional Chinese medicine, in some areas the scales also play a role in certain rituals. As a result, pangolin scales and meat are among the most commonly illegally traded animal products in the world.
Scales of almost a million pangolins
A study by Charles Emogor of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues now shows how serious this illegal trade is. For their investigation, the researchers evaluated data from raids in which customs in Nigeria and in several Asian ports had seized smuggled pangolin scales or other parts of these animals. By analyzing the finds and shipping documents, the team determined where the illegal goods came from and what types of pangolin they were. “All the cargo seized in transit was destined for Asia and the amount of these cargo smuggled by ship has increased significantly,” they report.
Specifically, the analyzes showed: The smuggled goods discovered by chance in raids alone comprise 190,407 kilograms of pangolin scales. These come from almost 800,000 individual pangolins, but probably even just under a million, as the scientists report. “These figures suggest that the extent of the pangolin trade in Nigeria and Africa as a whole has been dramatically underestimated,” says Emogor. And the real extent could be much higher: Experts estimate that only two to 30 percent of illegally smuggled animal products are discovered through raids. “Obviously, the measures to combat illegal trade are not enough,” said Emogor.
Nigeria as the center of illegal trade
The study also reveals the intricate ways in which the smuggled pangolin products reach their Asian destinations: although the majority of them are loaded into Nigeria or transported through the country, the illegal cargo also comes from other African countries such as Gabon or Cameroon. The team estimated that Nigeria has been a center of the African pangolin trade since around 2017 – although this country has also signed the Washington Convention on Endangered Species. In 2019, almost all pangolin cargoes smuggled into Asia from Africa originated from Nigerian ports. Some of the contraband reaches its destination via European ports in France and Holland.
“The extent of the discovered contraband of thousands of these animals suggests that the illegal networks for the pangolin trade are growing and are being driven by increasing demand from Asia,” says Emogor. “If this continues, it could endanger the survival of some African pangolin species.” According to the research team, customs and other authorities urgently need to take stronger action here – and punish the perpetrators more severely. Because so far illegal traffickers in Nigeria have only rarely been arrested and if they do, the majority of the cases do not even come to court. “Stricter persecution of dealers would be a deterrent,” says Emogor.
Source: University of Cambridge; Technical article: Biological Conservation, doi: 10.1016 / j.biocon.2021.109365