Conservationist have received the news of the upgrade of the threat level and subsequent ban of trade in pangolin and pangolin products with cautious optimism, as there are fears the trade will be driven underground.

The eight species of the animals exist in Asia and Africa. While the Asian pangolins were already listed as critically endangered and a total ban on trade imposed, all the four African species could still be traded so long as legal permits from the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species accompany shipments.

However, it emerged that more trade was going on compared with the number of legal permits, a development that prompted environmentalists to push for moving African pangolins from Appendix II, where it was classified as an endangered species, to Appendix I, where trade in the species is illegal.

The decision was unanimously arrived at on September 30 at the CITES 17th Conference of Parties meeting held in South Africa.  

“The rate at which the animals were being hunted was not acceptable, so the decision is very good,” said Irene Ssekyana, Uganda co-ordinator of Green Watch. 

A reserve guide holds a female pangolin. These reclusive animals are the world's most heavily trafficked mammal. FILE PHOTO | AFP

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in Asia and increasingly in Africa as well. African pangolins are found in forests and grasslands in Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

In 2008, just two of the eight pangolin species were listed on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, but today all eight appear on the list. “Giving pangolins full protection under CITES will eliminate any question about the legality of the trade, making it harder for criminals to traffic them and increasing the consequences for those who do,” WWF said in statement.

High demand

Pangolins are in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam and now the US. The pangolin is hunted for its meat, which is considered a delicacy in Asia, while its scales are used to make luxurious ornaments and traditional medicines to treat a range of ailments like asthma, rheumatism and arthritis.

“The parties must move swiftly to enforce the decision. Illegal trade will continue to threaten pangolins as long as demand for their meat and scales persist. We need to strengthen anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts, and continue to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products in countries like China and Vietnam,” said WWF.

In many countries, Customs officials seize thousands of pangolins and hundreds of kilogrammes of pangolin scales each year, often disguised as other goods. In January, the Uganda Wildlife Authority said they had seized two tonnes of pangolin skins packed in boxes identified as communications equipment.

In France, over 200kg of pangolin scales were discovered buried in bags of dog biscuits. Based on reported seizures between 2011 and 2013, an estimated 116,990-233,980 pangolins were killed, which, according to experts, represents only about 10 per cent of the actual volume of illegal trade in pangolins.

In January 2015, the global environmental watchdog Green Watch sued the Uganda Wildlife Authority over the seized pangolin scales. Court documents revealed that 7,310kg of pangolin scales valued at $3.3 million were sold to Smico Skin Craft Industries Ltd, a company that was permitted to export the scales.

In its defence, the authority’s executive director Andrew Seguya said the transaction was legal and posed no damage to wildlife population because the scales are from a collection of old trophies and diseased animals kept in Uganda Wildlife Authority’s stores since the 1960s.