China steps up legal protections for pangolins
- World’s most trafficked animal is highly endangered due to strong demand for its scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine
- Pangolins could have played intermediary role in transmission of Covid-19 from bats to humans and conservationists have welcomed stronger penalties for killing and smuggling animals
China has stepped up legal protections for pangolins, one of the world’s most endangered animals.
The animals are in high demand for traditional Chinese medicine, but many scientists suspect they may have played a role in transmitting the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 from bats to humans.
The National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced on Friday that pangolins are now a grade one protected animal, the highest possible level.
China’s official news agency Xinhua said pangolins used to be commonplace south of the Yangtze, but populations have now shrunk dramatically.
According to a national survey in 2003 – the most recent figures available – the number of pangolins had dropped to around 64,000 across 11 provinces.
Although China banned poaching of pangolins in 2007 and forbade imports of the animals and products made from them in 2018, it remains the world’s most trafficked animal and smuggling from southeast Asia remains rife.