Posted on 28 October
2010
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28th October 2010
- Stunning figures
in traffickers’ logbooks indicate massive
illegal capture and trade in endangered
pangolins or scaly anteaters, finds a new
TRAFFIC study.
A Preliminary Assessment
of Pangolin Trade in Sabah analyses logbooks
seized following a raid by Sabah Wildlife
Department in 2009 on a syndicate’s pangolin
trafficking premises in Kota Kinabalu, the
capital city of the Malaysian State of Sabah
in north Borneo.
The logbooks reveal
that 22 200 pangolins were killed and 834.4
kg of pangolin scales were supplied to the
syndicate between May 2007 and January 2009.
The Sabah Wildlife Department
granted TRAFFIC access to the logbooks,
which detail the volume, weight, source
and prices of pangolins purchased by the
syndicate during the 14 month period.
“TRAFFIC is grateful
to the Wildlife Department for allowing
us access to this information,” said Noorainie
Awang Anak, Senior Programme Officer with
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and an author of
the report.
“The detailed record-taking
by this criminal syndicate has given us
a unique insight into the volumes of endangered
pangolins being illegally traded in the
region.”
However, as Awang points
out, the numbers could be even higher: no
logbooks were recovered for the period August
2007 to February 2008 or for June 2008.
Whether this is because the books were missing
or because there was no smuggling during
the period is not known.
The Sabah Wildlife Department
and other enforcement agencies in the State
have focused enforcement efforts on weeding
out pangolin smugglers, resulting in successful
prosecutions in all 19 pangolin-related
seizures carried out between 2002 and 2008.
The biggest case involved
the seizure of a container lorry carrying
a hundred polystyrene boxes filled with
530 frozen pangolins meant for export. The
two men arrested in this case were each
sentenced to a fine of RM9,000 and six months
jail.
The Sunda Pangolin,
found in much of South-East Asia, is considered
Endangered and the species is protected
under Malaysian law. No international trade
in any Asian pangolin species is permitted
under CITES (the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora).
Despite this, pangolins
are widely hunted and trafficked for their
alleged medicinal properties. They are among
the most commonly encountered mammals in
Asia’s wildlife trade and alarming numbers
have been seized throughout East and Southeast
Asia in recent years. In 2008, Customs in
Viet Nam seized a staggering 23 tonnes of
frozen pangolins in a single week. Most
trade is believed to be destined for China.
The report also presents
the results of a survey of pangolin hunters
interviewed on the west coast of Sabah.
Hunters reported that high prices offered
by middlemen was the main driver for the
collection of pangolins, and this in turn
was caused by the increasing difficulty
in finding pangolins in the wild.
All but one of the 13
hunters interviewed said they believed the
pangolin was headed towards extinction.
According to the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature, numbers of wild
Sunda Pangolins have halved in the past
15 years.
“The pangolin smuggling
crisis can only be addressed through improved
law enforcement and better information on
the criminal syndicates behind the trade,”
said Awang.
“Anyone with information
on those behind these crimes against Malayasia’s
natural heritage should pass it on to the
relevant authorities for action.
