Pangolin trade gives a better high than drugs

Six out of 8 pangolin species are on International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list as endangered species

LAHORE:

The trade of pangolins is so lucrative in Punjab that people, who were previously involved in human and drugs trafficking, have switched over. The profits are just as high, if not higher, and chances of detection and prosecution are next to none. In worse case scenarios, those caught are charged with fines that they pay without much fuss considering the profit margins involved.

Six out of a total of eight pangolin species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list as endangered species. However, they are being poached at an alarming rate due to the high price that they fetch and the ease with which they are caught.



Wildlife Protection Force deputy director Rana Shahbaz told The Express Tribune that more than 40 people have been arrested for poaching pangolins. Their punishment? Meagre fines between Rs10,000 and Rs15,000; less than half of what they get from selling a single pangolin.

“Unfortunately, the trade is on the rise in Punjab, with around 10,000 pangolins being trafficked annually,” said Shahbaz. The pangolin’s only form of defence is its scales, and when threatened, the pangolin rolls itself up into a ball in order to ward away predators. However, this defence mechanism plays right into the hands of the poachers, who have to do little in order to catch these scaly mammals.

One of the people involved in the trade, Ghulam Ali, claimed that the demand for pangolins has increased and that its scales are used to manufacture bullet-proof jackets.

Pangolins are not the only endangered animals being hunted in Punjab though. World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan’s Dr Masood Arshad told The Express Tribune that trade of hard shell turtles is also on the rise. “Only five per cent of their total population remains in Pakistan,” he said.



Arshad added that 229 black-spotted turtles were seized from China, and two Pakistani smugglers and five Chinese buyers were caught. This led to an interesting first as all animals that are seized alive are to be sent back to their country of origin. Hence, these 229 turtles made the long journey back home and have now been released into the wild.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2014.