Here at Practice Source we’ve been fans of the Pangolin for the last decade or so, as soon as we discovered the animal through learning how many were being illegally imported to China via Hong Kong to satisfy the culinary tastes of some of those on the mainland.
Now it’s thought that Coronavirus may have originated from China’s desire to eat these poor animals but as the New York Times discovers even this knowledge and new legislation from Beijing probably won’t save the creature from extinction
A must read article – here’s how it starts…
“We can’t be indifferent anymore!” President Xi Jinping of China fumed at top officials early last month, referring to the public health risks of eating wildlife. On Feb. 24, the 13th National People’s Congress issued a decision “Comprehensively Prohibiting the Illegal Trade of Wild Animals, Eliminating the Bad Habits of Wild Animal Consumption and Protecting the Health and Safety of the People.” This and an earlier ban on wildlife markets were direct responses to concerns that the new coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in bats, may have been transmitted to humans via a wild animal for sale at a wet market in Wuhan, a city in central China.
Genetic analyses have come up short of pinpointing the culprit so far, but among the prime suspects is the pangolin, a long-snouted, scaly, ant-eating mammal virtually unknown in the West but widely prized in China as a delicacy and for its purported medicinal virtues.
So now, on suspicion that it might have infected humans with Covid-19, the pangolin will finally be spared and protected. Or will it?
China has had wildlife trading bans on the books for three decades, but those haven’t prevented pangolins from becoming the most trafficked mammal in the world.
The country’s first wildlife protection law dates back to the late 1980s, as does an official list of some 330 endangered species. Illegally poaching, smuggling or trading pangolins, for example, can carry lengthy prison terms.
In 2000, China issued detailed regulations for more than 1,700 protected species considered to have biological, scientific or social value. Hunting toads in a pond or catching geckos could count as a violation.
