Wild Animal Rescue

Pangolins in Peril

Pangolins Put Mayor and Officer in Jail
Bangkok Post, 16 September 2002

An acting mayor and a junior policeman were among eight people arrested in Nonthaburi yesterday for smuggling more than 400 pangolins.

Police said they stopped a 10-wheel truck from Surat Thani and found a cage containing 410 pangolins under a pile of coconuts. Eight people were arrested, including Wichian Jeen-em, the acting mayor of Nonthaburi's tambon Bang Yai, and Pol Cpl Sanont Thonglim, from Phatthalung.

In another case, police in Nong Khai seized a shipment of 124 pangolins destined to become ingredients in Chinese food and medicine. Following a tip-off, a special task force stopped a pick-up truck near a reservoir in Mak Kong village in Muang Nong Khai district. The driver fled the scene.

The officers found 13 bags containing 124 pangolins weighing 460 kg. It is believed the scaly ant-eaters were on their way to China via Laos. The seized pangolins will be freed in the Phu Wua wildlife sanctuary in Nong Khai. [return]

Pangolin Smugglers Caught
Truckload believed headed for China

Bangkok Post, 22 July 2002, Chumphon

Another 712 pangolins destined to become ingredients in Chinese menus and medicines were seized from smugglers yesterday. Acting on a tip-off, forestry police stopped and searched a six-wheel truck on Phetkasem road in Chumphon's Lang Suan district. The pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, were hidden in 70 plastic crates surrounded by empty fruit baskets.

The animals would have fetched about 10 million baht if sold abroad, Pol Lt-Col Watcharin Phusin said. It was believed they had been smuggled in from Malaysia and were to be kept at a fruit market in Bangkok before being shipped to China.

Truck driver Samniang Polduan, 26, and Prawate Absaeng, 32, both of Nakhon Si Thammarat, told police the truck belonged to a fruit trader in Bangkok, identified only as Chai. They denied any knowledge about the smuggling of pangolins, but were charged with having protected animals in their possession. [return]

Pangolins - Thailand's Scaly Anteater - Under Threat of Extinction
Press release, 15 July 2002

On last Tuesday, 9 July 2002, the highway patrol of Pak-chong District, Nakorn-ratcha-srima Province inspected a truck and found 558 Malayan Pangolins (Manis javanica) stored in 73 plastic crates. Coconut leaves neatly covered all. The police hurriedly transferred the pangolins to the forestry office of Pak-chong in order to get them released because the animals were very weak. The release ceremony was officially held on the following day (10 July) at Khao-yai National Park with many participants from government and non-government organizations, including WAR. However, not all pangolins were released. Due to their long and severe transportation, 27 were dead and many of the remainder were hurt or disable. Other 9 postnatal pangolins were still having babies on their tails. They could not be released either. These 18 pangolins (moms and babies) plus one more severely injured are now recuperating at Bang-pra Wildlife Research Center, Chonburi Province. In total, 512 pangolins were released back to the forest, but not their home. And nobody can predict how many of them will survive…

This 2nd arrest in 17 days happened in Pak-chong District. The former was on 23 June 2002, and the number of pangolin was 742. Also in last 2 months, there were 7 arrests in the kingdom of Thailand.

Late in the evening last Thursday WAR received an urgent telephone call from a resident in Samut Prakan who had found a pangolin, had read the newspaper reports and asked if we could rescue the animal. The mobile clinic was immediately dispatched with two of our trained staff and the animal was brought back to the office overnight and then subsequently released in the forest.

This rampant smuggling of pangolins, a protected species, is likely to reduce their population to crisis point. According to the police and customs official more than 5,500 pangolins were smuggled in the first half of this year. The total figure including unreported cases is believed to be much higher.

The head of the National Park and Wildlife Reseach Department, Viroj Pimmanrojanagool, said the smuggling of pangolins had increased quickly, probably due largely to orders from China, where pangolin meat could fetch 600 baht a kilogramme and scales at 1,000 baht.

Information on the species is limited. Due to their habitat and diet it would be difficult to breed pangolins, once they faced the threat of extinction as a result of widespread smuggling. WAR's Secretary General, Khun Pornpen Payakkaporn is preparing a deputation to visit the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok to draw attention to this evil wildlife smuggling activity. If you can help please call: WAR at (662) 662-0898. [return]

Wealthy Chinese Eating Wildlife into Extinction
http://www.monitor.net/monitor/0002a/chinawildlife.html
by Hu Pan

Sold in most restaurants and groceries
suffocated (ENS) BEIJING -- Thrilled by the wider choice of food that wealth brings, Chinese people are now consuming the country's beleaguered wildlife at a rapid rate. This trend will be highly evident as they celebrate the New Year with lavish feasts, which are certain to include various wildlife specialties.

As the first Chinese New Year of the 21st century approaches on February 6, many in China have reason to rejoice. Over the last two decades, the country has enjoyed spectacular economic growth, and many people have grown wealthier in a relatively short time. Yet there are signs that the Chinese may be destroying their fellow creatures while enjoying their new prosperity.

A recent survey conducted in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province revealed that 95 percent of the city's inhabitants have eaten some form of wildlife. More than 50 percent of those polled said they believe that eating wildlife food is healthy.

Shenzhen's Wildlife Administration discovered that 40 different species of wildlife are currently being offered in restaurants and hotels. Most restaurants, supermarkets, and farmers' markets sell wildlife as food.

Numerous wildlife restaurants in region designated as a conservation sector. Perhaps the most popular wildlife food in Shenzhen now is the snake. The market price for poisonous snakes has risen to over 100 yuan per kilogram. Non-poisonous snakes command over 50 yuan per kilogram. Wild boars and civet cats are also consumed on a large scale. Of the different types of wildlife that are eaten, some supposedly enjoy strict government protection -- large pythons, pangolins, many species of rare birds.

mother and baby For millions of people throughout China but most notably in the South, eating wild animals has become a way of life. In Guangdong province's Nankun Mountains, numerous wildlife restaurants thrive despite the fact that the region is designated as a conservation sector. Every day restaurant workers kill many wild animals, and no one acts to stop them.

Wild macaques, owls, pangolins, and giant lizards are among the many different animals that are eaten. Captured macaques are killed in gruesome ways. First the restaurant employees stuff a macaque in a bag and place the bag in water until the animal loses consciousness. Next they take the macaque out and pour boiling water on its body, before starting to pull off its body hair. Another man who owns a restaurant says that he actually shows his customers how live giant lizards are killed.

In metropolitan Shanghai, too, a lot of wildlife food is consumed by eager customers. As Shanghai has developed economically, the appetites of its inhabitants have expanded. Historically, Shanghai residents have never eaten much snake, but now they consume more than 1,000 tons of snakes per year, according to a study conducted by the city's Wildlife Association and Huadong Normal University.

Over the past two years, birds as well as toads and frogs have been killed en masse in the Shanghai area. The same study by the Wildlife Association and Huadong Normal University found that 50-plus tons of frogs are eaten each year.

Highly endangered species, such as the Tibetan antelope, called the chiru, have started to appear on Shanghai restaurant menus. The Tibetan antelope is famous as the source of the luxurious shahtoosh ring shawls. It has recently been recognized as a species requiring extensive protection from poachers. "Say no to eating wildlife!" campaign.

In Nanning, Guangxi province, directly west of Guangdong, the soft-shell sea turtle is bearing the brunt of the assault on wildlife. Depressed by the slaughter of these turtles, Shu Yuyan of Guangxi Medical School says they have been captured for many years because their blue-colored blood is a good poison indicator. In the past many scientists had extracted their blood in such ways so as to not kill them. They are not known to be particularly delicious, but in China they are regarded as healthy to eat. Each year now they are captured by the tens of thousands to be shipped to restaurants all over the country, and their numbers are rapidly declining.

Apart from the soft-shell sea turtle, virtually all the wildlife in the Nanning area is now gone. The human destruction of wildlife here started long ago. On Nanning's Hunan Road, many restaurants have signs that assure prospective customers that the animals they offer are indeed captured from the wild. The restaurants serve peacock, wild swan, snake, turtle, eagle, alligator, pangolin, civet cat, and monkey. Many restaurants take customers to see their live animal storage cages to pick which animals they would like to have. In all, there are roughly 200 restaurants in Nanning serving wildlife food.

doa Wildlife statistics for Guangxi show that every year in the province tens of thousands of pangolins are eaten although they are supposedly government-protected. Guangxi eats more primates than any other province in China, in both type and number. These primates are on the whole helpless to avoid capture. Many rare birds in Guangxi are already extinct.

Because the practice is so popular, the Chinese government has found it difficult to effectively limit wildlife consumption, but efforts are underway as the government has become increasingly conscious of the massive human consumption of wildlife.

In December 1999, Guangdong's provincial government published a list of nine birds that are legal to eat. On January 16, the national government launched the "South Number Two Action," a coordinated campaign to protect wildlife in the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Fujian. This is the second major operation of its kind in the history of the People's Republic, coming after the "Hol Xil Number One Action" in April 1999 that cracked down on Tibetan antelope poachers.

Some Chinese NGOs and citizens are also trying to modify the desire to consume wild animals and birds. In December of 1999, Shanghai's Wildlife Protection Association publicized a proposal, "Say no to eating wildlife!" This was a rare condemnation of a practice that is so widely accepted. Also in Shanghai last year, thousands of students signed a petition demanding an end to the eating of wild animals. [return]

Just a few of the most recent reported cases of wildlife smuggling of pangolins:

release BKK Post 13th Jan 2002
About 400 << pangolins>> an endangered species of anteater that were smuggled into other countries for use in Chinese medicines, have been rescued by customs officials in Chumphon. The shipment was worth about 800,000 baht, a customs official said.

BKK Post 6th June 2002
<< Pangolins>> turtles discovered at apartment A 22-year-old man was arrested yesterday after he was found to be housing protected wildlife at his apartment on Phatthanakan road.

BKK Post 13th July 2002
WILDLIFE SMUGGLING Concern rises for << pangolins>> Rampant smuggling of << pangolins>> a protected species, could reduce their population to a crisis point in less than a year, said a wildlife expert.

BKK Post 10th July 2002
Pangolins saved from kitchen pots More than 500 pangolins believed headed for restaurant kitchens in China were found hidden on a truck in Pak Chong district yesterday.

BKK Post 14th July 2002
Highway policemen seized 467 pangolins aboard a truck yesterday which they said was destined for China through Laos. Highway policemen seized 467 pangolins aboard a truck yesterday which they said was destined for China through Laos. The pangolin find was the second by highways police in less than a week. In the last 10 days 2,000 of the ant-eaters have been intercepted. Police said the pangolins were stored in 70 plastic crates. Police said Kornsak Sudta, 38, the driver, and Sathit Wanchusert, 32, a passenger, admitted they had been hired to take the animals from Bangkok to Nong Khai, bordering Laos.They said pangolins were popular fare in China, where consumers believed their meat was good for health. Police said the pangolins would be freed in Khao Yai national park today.

BKK Post 18th Aug 2000
Loei-A man has been charged with trying to smuggle 55 protected anteaters from Phitsanulok to Nong Khai. Boonnuay Mingman was arrested after the pangolins were found in a search of his pick-up truck at Ban Bu Hom, Chiang Khan district, on Wednesday. Mr Boonnuay, 55, was arrested after Pak Chom forestry officials were tipped off about attempts to smuggle pangolins to China via Laos. The suspect told police he had been hired to deliver the ant-eaters, worth 139,200 baht, from Nakhon Thai district, Phitsanulok.

BKK Post 10th Jan 2002
WILDLIFE Smuggled << pangolins>> saved from becoming sex drugs Customs officials with an adult and a baby pangolin at the Customs Department. About 400 <<pangolins>> , believed to have been smuggled from Malaysia, were rescued from a truck in Chumphon province on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, the officials searched a truck parked near Wat Kanpattana in Muang district of Chumphon on Tuesday and found the animals, also known as scaly anteaters, in plastic baskets. The driver and other people with the truck fled before the authorities arrived. The shipment was valued at about 800,000 baht, a customs official said. The << pangolins>> were apparently smuggled from Malaysia.
It was believed the animals were en route to China, Hong Kong or Taiwan for use in traditional Chinese medicines.

New Straits Times Thursday, 22 November, 2001
Haul of 92 pangolins from lorry
RANTAU PANJANG, Wed. - The General Operations Force detained a lorry driver carrying 92 pangolins worth about RM56,800 during an operation at Pangkalan Haram Pak Dollah here last night. GOF Ninth Battalion acting commanding officer Deputy Superintendent Hussin Abdon said the seizure was made by a team led by Chief Inspector Kheng Siong Lye at about 8pm.
Acting on a tip-off, the team went to the area and spotted a lorry. On checking, they found, 15 plastic baskets containing the pangolins. The 50-year-old driver was released on RM5,000 bail. The pangolins, weighing 736 kg and brought in from Johor, were bound for Thailand. The animal, scientifically known as manis javanica, is fully protected under the Wildlife Act 1972. Under the law, anyone who possesses, kills or hunts the animals faces a maximum sentence of up to RM5,000 and five years' jail. Several officers from the State Wildlife and National Parks Department were present at the GOF's base in Lubok Setol today to secure the pangolins' release.

New Straits Times Wednesday, 9 May, 2001
Wildlife rescues 202 pangolins from poachers' den. Protected species were on their way to Thai black market.

A total of 202 pangolins, meant for sale on the black market in Thailand, were seized by the Wildlife and National Parks Department in a raid on a house in Yong Peng last night. Acting on a tip-off, Perhilitan officials had monitored the house for two days and moved in about 10pm last night.

The pangolins, weighing a total 2,000kg, were crammed into into plastic cages normally used for transporting chickens. Some were already dead. One was believed to be just a day old. The department's Legal and Enforcement Unit deputy director Abdul Jalal Kasim said a 32-year-old local man was detained in the raid. He was subsequently released on RM1,500 police bail.

Pangolins (scientific name Manis Javanica) are a fully protected species under the law. Under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, the penalty for unauthorised trapping, collecting or shooting of protected animals is up to five years' jail, fine up to RM5,000, or both.

The animals are highly in demand as an exotic delicacy, and for medicinal purposes, in some countries. Abdul Jalal said pangolins are commonly found in Batu Pahat and Segamat. It is believed that the pangolins were due to be smuggled into Thailand by a syndicate which has been active for the past six months. They could fetch RM50 to RM70 each. Meanwhile, the magistrate's court here issued an order to have the seized pangolins released into a forest reserve here. Magistrate Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim allowed the application by Abdul Jalal, after the court was told that the animals were highly sensitive creatures and were not capable of adjusting to a new environment. [return]

release Facts About Pangolins
Order Pholidota (pangolins) - Manis Javanica

Pangolins are a small group (seven living species placed in one genus and one family, Manidae) of mammals that feed mostly on ants. They are found in the tropical regions of Africa and
Asia.

Pangolins are conspicuous and remarkable because their backs are covered with large, overlapping scales made up of agglutinated hairs. But they are strange in other ways as well. Their tongue is extraordinarily long and muscular, arising from the pelvis and the last pair of ribs deep in the animal's chest. As a result, the tongue and associated muscles are longer than the animal's head and body, allowing the tongue to be extruded to an astonishing degree. Pangolins lack teeth. Instead, the pyloric part of their stomach is thickened and muscular, with odd keratinous spines projecting into its interior. It usually contains pebbles and seems to be used for "chewing" in much the same way as a bird's gizzard. Pangolins have the ability to close their ears and nostrils as well as eyes, presumably to keep ants out.

The skull of pangolins is smoothly conical, lacking the ridges and crests found on most mammalian crania. The palate is long, but not as long as the palate of myrmecophagids, and unlike members of that group it does not incorporate the pterygoids. They have no jugal and the zygomatic arch is incomplete. The mandible is narrow and weak. It lacks angular and coronoid processes but has an unusual conical projection at its anterior end on the upper (dorsal) surface.

Externally, the scales extend from the head, down the back to or almost to the tip of the long tail. Beneath, pangolins lack scales but have a sparse coat of fur. Their limbs are stout and well adapted for digging. Claws are large, sharp, and recurved. Pangolins range in size from about 1.6kg to a maximum of about 33kg.

Some species of pangolins are arboreal, others are terrestrial. Two species have semiprehensile tails, used in climbing. Their scales provide good defense against predators. When threatened, pangolins curl into a ball, protecting their scaleless undersurface and sometimes rolling down a steep slope. They lash about dangerously with their tails, which are covered with sharp-edged scales. They may also spray a foul-smelling liquid from their anal glands. Pangolins have relatively poor vision and hearing; they probably locate their prey by scent. The relationship of pangolins to other groups of mammals is not clear. Their fossil record extends to the Eocene. [return]