Asia – According to certain Asian medical beliefs, the foetus of pangolin would increase male virility. Is this a sufficient reason to eat the individuals of this threatened species?

The popularity of these traditional Asian remedies may well be the cause of the extinction of pangolins. The demand for meat and scales of pangolin is growing, prompting the poaching of this endangered species. This is a report published by WWF, TRAFFIC and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

From Asia and Africa, the pangolin is coveted in China for its scales. There is a belief that the foetus of this species increases the male virility. The gradual disappearance of this species has encouraged hunters to turn to the countries of Southeast Asia, like Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

With its scale, the pangolin can protect themselves from natural predators but the mammal can do nothing against the man who hunts to meet Chinese demand. Although the species is protected by the laws of several countries, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma and Laos, pangolins are still victims of poaching, which threatens the survival of the species.

In 2008 already, a “house of horrors” was dismantled in Indonesia. There pangolins boil before removing their scales and eviscerated. Last year thirty-eight tons of pangolin carcasses were seized being smuggled into China which is the primary market of this species. The treaties established to protect endangered species have almost no effect on the black market trade of pangolin.

“The extinction of these animals could have important consequences on world fauna. This species is a predator to limit the spread of termites and ants,” says Simon Stuart, head of the committee for the survival of species of the IUCN.

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