A bigger threat to African wildlife

With the attention given to the poaching of our rhinos, very little notice has been taken of what is possibly a bigger threat to African wildlife diversity – the allout assault on pangolins by organised crime syndicates.

International experts now believe that pangolins – scaly, shy animals which feed on insects – are the most trafficked nonhuman mammal. Tens of thousands of them are poached every year, because their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine and their meat is regarded as a rare delicacy in China and Vietnam.

The demand for the scales ignores the reality that they are composed of the same material – keratin – which makes up rhino horn and which is the same as that in human fingernails … and which contains no medicinal or nutritional value whatsoever. According to African Pangolin Group founder Professor Ray Jensen, 93 tons of pangolin scales alone had been shipped out of the African continent in the past year alone. That is well over 150 000 dead pangolins.

It is, therefore, welcome news that wildlife activists in South Africa are working closely with the department of environment affairs, as well as the police and the Hawks priority crime unit, to help bust poaching syndicates. There is also close cooperation with foreign agencies, including the department of homeland security and the fish and wildlife service in the United States.

The importance of busting these criminals cannot be understated. The illicit underworld will go wherever there is quick money to be made, caring as little for animal feelings and rights as it does for those of humans.

Quite often, rhino and pangolin poaching is linked to drug smuggling and even human trafficking, so any efforts to tackle the problem must be made on a wide front. And we should start telling people in Asia: our wild places are not your pantry.

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