20 February 2022
A female White-bellied Tree Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) /? Justin Miller at Pangolin Conservation, in St. Augustine, FL.
Yesterday was World Pangolin Day and here’s what’s going down with our neighbor, Namibia.
- Namibia has recorded 320 cases of crimes involving pangolins since 2017
- Authorities had confiscated 1 505 pangolin products, including 15 carcasses; 81 live animals, 193 skins; six skin pieces and 1 210 scales from suspects.
- 592 suspects have been apprehended since 2017.
- The Namibian government together with the private sector has set up a reward scheme for information leading to the arrest of people catching, killing, trading and trafficking pangolins.
Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals (if one discounts human trafficking). Their scales are believed to treat a variety of health conditions in traditional Chinese medicine. And eating a pangolin at a Vietnam restaurant will set you back around R5 000 per kilo.
I’ve been going to the bush for decades but I’ve never seen a pangolin in the wild.
