Pangolins in Peril!

Why is the pangolin the most trafficked mammal in the world?  Blind faith, superstition and a lack of understanding can be the cause of immense harm to the world and wilderness around us. The belief that the body parts of certain animals cure diseases, etc., is one of great concern.

Pangolins, hunted from the wild, make to the top of the list of species that are a part of the illegal wildlife trade in India. They share the ranks with the Indian Star tortoise, sea cucumbers, and parakeets. But where do these pangolins go? Who uses them? 10,000 of them and more every year?

TRADITIONS THAT RELY ON POPULAR BELIEFS

Have you ever responded to someone's sneeze by the words "God bless you"? It's ingrained into most English-speaking people but few would know why. It's interesting how rituals come so far and become a part of our regular behaviour.

The roots of this go far back to the sixth century A.D. when Italy was gripped by a terrible contagion. The symptoms for the affected people was severe sneezing.

By the order of Pope Gregory the Great, if someone sneezed, the healthy should pray on their behalf by uttering "God bless you". The behaviour lives.

While beliefs like these are harmless, there have been several others, across the various cultures in the world, that drag us in to being primitive. This is the only reason why more than 200,000 pangolins are hunted globally from the wild every year to be a part of products like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The hunt is partially for the meat but largely for the scales of the animal, that is the same material keratin, as our hair and fingernails. The easier way to get these scales? Well, it's a common practice among poachers all across the globe to boil the pangolin dead or alive (well, it doesn't really matter if the animal suffered), to make it easier to peel the scales off the now-tender skin.

PANGOLINS AS A "CURE"?