'Shocking' scale of pangolin smuggling revealed (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Ella Davies
Reporter, BBC Nature

Official records show that pangolins are being illegally traded on a "shocking" scale, according to a report.

The globally threatened animals are sought for their scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Annual seizures have been estimated at roughly 10,000 animals but experts warn the illegal trade is far greater
***
"The numbers of pangolins traded are shocking, and all the more so considering the pharmaceutical pointlessness of the trade. This trade is intolerably wasteful," said Prof Macdonald, director of the University of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), and a co-author of the paper.
***
Chinese and Sunda pangolins are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Indian and Philippine pangolins are considered Near Threatened, as are Africa's giant and white-bellied species.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/26549963




Just FUCK "traditional Chinese medicine", OK ? No amount of respect for tradition can excuse such ignorance-driven destruction. And spare me the accounts of drugs discovered through Chinese medicine -- even a broken clock is right twice a day, and for much the same reason.

[snagglepuss]

1. Traditional Chinese medicine and its proponents make me puke.

It is on par with other barbaric practices like FGM and stoning.

[stuntcat]

2. The "threatened animals are sought for their scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicine."

thanks China!!