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Sakchai Lalit / AP
Two rescued pangolins sit in a basket during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand, June 7. Thai customs rescued 110 pangolins worth about $35,500 that they say were to be sold outside the country as exotic food. The animals, hidden in a pickup truck, were seized at a customs checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok.
Sakchai Lalit / AP
A Thai customs official shows a rescued pangolin during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand, June 7.
Freeland Foundation via EPA
A pangolin peers out of a cage after it was confiscated by Royal Thai Customs authorities in Pranburi, Thailand, June 7. Thai police confiscated a pickup truck with 110 pangolins after a high speed car chase when the truck failed to stop at a customs checkpoint and later crashed after being followed by authorities. The pangolins are alleged to be part of a large illegal wildlife trafficking operation, responsible for thousands of pangolins destined for markets in China and Vietnam, according to Freeland.
The rhino isn't the the only one being hunted to extinction. The wildlife smugglers continue to decimate this already endangered species. Just five days ago 171 more pangolins were rescued in Thailand and a few hours later 155 more were seized.
These adorable, shy and defenseless pangolins are hunted for their meat which is regarded as highly nutritious and its scales which are prescribed for ailments ranging from skin diseases to lack of milk in breast-feeding mothers. In China, they believe pangolin can boost sexual prowess. Like the rhino, most of the myths are just that.
Sometimes described as the walking pine cone, the species is quickly disappearing. The species, once prevalent, can hardly be found in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia or Laos any more. Skyrocketing prices and a slow-breeding cycle has made it hard for those trying to save this scaley anteater. Too bad people don't want to keep them as pets instead - they are a natural pest controller, feasting on termites, ants and other insects.
More about the pangolin under pressure.
More about the pangolin species and how you can help from the African Wildlife Foundation and at savepangolins.org
Leave a Comment:
F*cking dinks will eat ANYTHING in the world if they think it will give them a chubby.
So true it seems!
Who are the "F*cking dinks "?
Very crude but very true statement Dave. It's these issues that make me feel absolute disgust with some Asian countries. This really is one of the biggest threats to so much wildlife around the world. They'd kill the last wild rhino on the planet if they thought it gave them even just a chance to make their skin a bit clearer or their hair a bit shinier. Absolutely sickening.
it seems like the people eating these endangered animals are selfish and ignorant. one wonders just how long this selfish, me,me, me can continue.
Pangolins have no way to protect themselves. They don't have teeth! When frightened, they roll up into a ball and actually make themselves easier to put into a bag or container. If only they could bite or maim the idiots trying to capture them they might have a chance at survival. It is truly one of the saddest stories of animal endangerment that will inevitably lead to extinction.
Perhaps the poachers and those that eat, use their hides, bones, scales, etc., should be put in the cages and left to their fate.
Perhaps the poachers, and those that eat, use the hide, bones, teeth, etc., should be placed in the cages and left to their fate.
I'm amazed how few people know about the pangolin. It may be hunted to extinction before many people have ever heard about it. I've written a petition asking the Chinese government to stop illegal imports of pangolins, used for meat and voodoo products:
If you like it, would you please sign it and share with your lists?
It appears my url was deleted. How petty! You can find the petition by googling "pangolin petition."
Thank you!
my fellow earthlings are being abused by man, who continues to degrade himself, with so little left in the natural world man is heading down the road to his own destruction.