The pangolin is also the most trafficked mammal in the world.
Beijing:
China has improved the protection of the pangolin, which would be the intermediate host of the coronavirus, to that of first class protected animals as well as endangered species such as giant pandas.
Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China and its scales are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicines to promote lactation and cure impotence leading to massive poaching of the mammal.
The pangolin is also the most trafficked mammal in the world. According to the TRAFFIC wildlife trade monitoring network, around one million pangolins have been poached in the past decade, and 20 tonnes of pangolins and their parts are trafficked internationally each year.
After initially suspecting the COVID-19 snake and bat, Chinese scientists believe the pangolin may be an intermediate host of the new coronavirus for humans.
The contagion, which turned into a pandemic leading to the world‘s worst health crisis, is believed to have been transmitted from the wholesale seafood market in Huanan to Wuhan, the first epicenter of the virus that was later closed.
This weekend, China announced the upgrade of all species of pangolins from second-class protected animals to first-class protected animals, given their rapidly declining numbers due to over-hunting and destruction housing, the Global Times, a state agency, reported on Saturday.
Other first class protected animals include giant pandas, Tibetan antelopes and red-crowned cranes.
The country’s animal protection authority has said it will work more to protect and save the species with measures that include improving their habitat, suppressing poaching and trafficking, and creating a center protection research and a pangolin gene bank.
At present, the eight species of pangolins existing in the world have been listed as endangered species in their respective countries and regions, Sun Quanhui, a World Animal Protection scientist, told Friday Times.
Chinese pangolins were widely distributed in 17 provinces south of the Yangtze River.
However, a national survey carried out in 2003 showed that the number of Chinese pangolins has dropped to around 64,000 and their living space has been reduced to 11 provinces, the Xinhua news agency reported.
China banned hunting of pangolin in the wild in 2007 and in August 2018, it completely stopped commercial imports of pangolin and derived products.
However, their numbers continued to decline due to the continued destruction of habitat and insufficient sanctions for eating pangolins, according to the Global Times report.
In February, China’s supreme legislature passed a decision in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to completely ban the illegal wildlife hunting trade and eliminate bad habits that eat wild animals. considered an important measure to combat poaching of wild animals, including the pangolin.
The extension of protection to pangolin has aroused mixed reactions on Chinese social networks.
“Please let go of the pangolins, humans already have so much to eat,” wrote one Sina Weibo user.
“It won’t help if we don’t completely ban its use in medicine,” said another.
Sun suggested removing pangolin from the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and strengthening protection for wild animals used in medicine.
“There is no scientific evidence in modern medicine to show that pangolin scales have certain therapeutic or health benefits,” he said, adding that a large number of herbs and synthetics can replace the effects of wild animals used in medicine.
Population growth through artificial propagation is not an effective means and there are rare successful cases around the world, said Sun.
“Based on our practice of protecting the giant panda, protecting habitats, suppressing poaching and reducing consumption are the most effective ways to protect pangolins,” he said.
Sun also called for international cooperation as the illegal pangolin trade has increased in recent years.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
