Fears grow for Asia's endangered anteaters

[xchrom]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/fears-grow-for-asias-endangered-anteaters-2349095.html

Tiger poaching gets the press but wildlife groups in Asia are increasingly fearful for the future of a smaller, scalier and "less sexy" creature: the pangolin.

So prized are the meat and supposed medicinal properties of this reclusive anteater that it is now thought to be the most heavily trafficked mammal in the region, rapidly being driven towards extinction.

"The volumes we are seeing in seizures are mind-boggling. No species can survive this level of extraction for long," said Kanitha Krishnasamy from the wildlife trade watchdog Traffic.

"Unfortunately, this scaly animal does not invoke as much attention from the public, and by extension from the authorities, as pangolins are considered to be less sexy than their larger mammalian counterparts," she added.

[Nihil]

1. Appalling and truly disgusting.

The "Threats" section in the Wiki entry is heartbreaking ...

:cry:

In May 2007, for example, 31 pangolins were found aboard an abandoned vessel off the coast of China. The boat contained some 5,000 endangered animals.

... rescued over 100 pangolins as the animals were being smuggled out of the country, en route to China, where they were to be sold for cooking.

Customs in Vietnam seized 23 tonnes of frozen pangolin meat in a single week.

On December 22 of that year (2008), the officials seized around 5 tons of pangolin meat in the northern Quang Ninh province. Officials said that this meat came from 1,481 pangolins and suspected that the cargo was on its way to China.

2009, Malaysian police seized 40 live pangolins believed to have been brought illegally out of Indonesia and headed for cooking pots in the country.

2009, Malaysian wildlife authorities announced that they had rescued 130 pangolins and arrested two smugglers.

Customs officers in Guangdong, China, seized more than 7.8 tonnes of frozen pangolins and 1,800 kg of pangolin scales from a fishing vessel after it was stopped for inspection. 2090 Pangolins in total were killed.

Pangolins are also in great demand in China because their meat is considered a delicacy and some Chinese believe pangolin scales reduce swelling, promote blood circulation and help breast-feeding women produce milk.

The Guardian provided a description of the killing and eating of pangolins: "A Guangdong chef interviewed last year in the Beijing Science and Technology Daily described how to cook a pangolin: 'We keep them alive in cages until the customer makes an order. Then we hammer them unconscious, cut their throats and drain the blood. It is a slow death. We then boil them to remove the scales. We cut the meat into small pieces and use it to make a number of dishes, including braised meat and soup. Usually the customers take the blood home with them afterwards.'"

Truly fucking disgusting.

:grr:

[stuntcat]

2. ...

about the worst kind of shame .. I don't even have words for this kind of thing. .. just "Truly fucking disgusting."

[Name removed]

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