REASONS FOR PANGOLIN TRAFFICKING:
1. Food
One of the most concerning reasons Pangolins are trafficked and one reason why there is a market for them is that they are considered a delicacy. “It tastes like chicken,” said one consumer, but the reasons for its consumption are not necessarily taste. One major factor of its consumption is that it is a sign of high social class in such places as Vietnam (Sutter). This is hardly a solid argument for continuing the practice of hunting down an intriguing animal that is dwindling in population. A more reasonable argument is that it would be hypocritical of Americans to condemn this type of poaching when they produce such things as factory farms and serve pigs, which could be considered intelligent creatures (Sutter). However, regardless of the ethical implications of these factors, pigs are not endangered and pangolins are. There is a major difference in how ecology will be affected between eating an endangered animal and a non-endangered animal.
2. Medicine
Consumption of the Pangolin’s scales is rumored to have medicinal benefits. This has not been proven. The scales are made of keratin, the same substance that forms the basis for such things as our hair and nails (Webster dictionary). It is unlikely that such material has medicinal properties. Eating this would have about as much the same effect as a person eating one’s own nails or hair.
3. Economy
What drives hunters is not necessarily a cruel desire to wipe out a rare creature. What motivates hunters is money and as the below statistics show it’s not even that much. If there weren’t a demand for it, they wouldn’t provide for that demand. Businesses want pangolins. Some hunters do this to provide for their family (Sutter), but the very thing they’re hunting puts a dent in the possible economic prosperity of their country.
Value of a Pangolin
As the above statistics show it is high-level traders and restaurants in Vietnam that are gaining the most from pangolin poaching, not the hunters. Retired hunters that CNN journalist David Sutter met, Ropi and Ruslan live in a village that just received electricity. They are not living in luxury, only trying to feed their children such necessities as milk. What needs to be the main focus is cracking down on restaurants and creating economic opportunity for people like Ropi and Ruslan. People also need to see the damage they could be doing to the economy with the depletion of this creature.
1. Food
One of the most concerning reasons Pangolins are trafficked and one reason why there is a market for them is that they are considered a delicacy. “It tastes like chicken,” said one consumer, but the reasons for its consumption are not necessarily taste. One major factor of its consumption is that it is a sign of high social class in such places as Vietnam (Sutter). This is hardly a solid argument for continuing the practice of hunting down an intriguing animal that is dwindling in population. A more reasonable argument is that it would be hypocritical of Americans to condemn this type of poaching when they produce such things as factory farms and serve pigs, which could be considered intelligent creatures (Sutter). However, regardless of the ethical implications of these factors, pigs are not endangered and pangolins are. There is a major difference in how ecology will be affected between eating an endangered animal and a non-endangered animal.
2. Medicine
Consumption of the Pangolin’s scales is rumored to have medicinal benefits. This has not been proven. The scales are made of keratin, the same substance that forms the basis for such things as our hair and nails (Webster dictionary). It is unlikely that such material has medicinal properties. Eating this would have about as much the same effect as a person eating one’s own nails or hair.
3. Economy
What drives hunters is not necessarily a cruel desire to wipe out a rare creature. What motivates hunters is money and as the below statistics show it’s not even that much. If there weren’t a demand for it, they wouldn’t provide for that demand. Businesses want pangolins. Some hunters do this to provide for their family (Sutter), but the very thing they’re hunting puts a dent in the possible economic prosperity of their country.
Value of a Pangolin
- To a hunter in Indonesia: $18 to $27 per kilo
- To a low-level trader in Indonesia: $45 per kilo
- To a mid-level trader in Indonesia: $80 per kilo
- To a high-level international trader: $265 per kilo
- To a restaurant in Vietnam: $350 per kilo
As the above statistics show it is high-level traders and restaurants in Vietnam that are gaining the most from pangolin poaching, not the hunters. Retired hunters that CNN journalist David Sutter met, Ropi and Ruslan live in a village that just received electricity. They are not living in luxury, only trying to feed their children such necessities as milk. What needs to be the main focus is cracking down on restaurants and creating economic opportunity for people like Ropi and Ruslan. People also need to see the damage they could be doing to the economy with the depletion of this creature.
Seized pangolin corpses from a recent raid on a trafficking ring.
(Photo : Z. X. Zhang via Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit)
(Photo : Z. X. Zhang via Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit)
Consequences of Pangolin Trafficking
Ant Eaters and Rubber Trees
Pangolins are beneficial to the economy. Their diet consists of ants. Ants eat rubber trees. When they eat the ants it reduces the possibility of losing rubber profits. If they diminish in population then more ants are capable of causing damage to this resource. “Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest destruction,” says Dr Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. (TRAFFIC) They help reduce damage to rubber, a major economic resource, especially in places like Malaysia where the pangolins are being poached. (UN Food and Agriculture Organization)
Ant Eaters and Rubber Trees
Pangolins are beneficial to the economy. Their diet consists of ants. Ants eat rubber trees. When they eat the ants it reduces the possibility of losing rubber profits. If they diminish in population then more ants are capable of causing damage to this resource. “Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest destruction,” says Dr Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. (TRAFFIC) They help reduce damage to rubber, a major economic resource, especially in places like Malaysia where the pangolins are being poached. (UN Food and Agriculture Organization)
Learn About the Protection of Pangolins