The new ivory: Endangered pangolins dominating illegal wildlife trade in SE Asia

China's shutdown of the domestic ivory market has crashed the price of elephant tusks by more than 60 percent, forcing smugglers to shift their trade towards another lucrative trade – endangered pangolin scales.

After the Chinese government's crackdown on the once thriving wildlife trade, smugglers are shifting to Vietnam and Laos for selling wildlife products, said experts citing recent ivory and pangolin scale seizure data.

The ivory price declined by nearly two-thirds – from 2,100 U.S. dollars per kg to less than 700 dollars per kg – after China's mainland and its regions Hong Kong and Taiwan closed their domestic markets last year. The massive global demand for ivory has led to the poaching of more than 20,000 African elephants every year.

“(Chinese) President Xi's ivory ban turned the tide in the ivory wars,” said Peter Knights, CEO of WildAid.

“As the price of ivory falls, smugglers appear to be turning increasingly to beleaguered pangolins,” a statement by WildAid, a conservation group maintained. “Pangolin scales can still be legally sold when smuggled into China,” it added.

The recent wildlife seizure data shows wildlife traders prefer to trade pangolins scales over ivory. Most of the consignments, originating from African countries, are routed to various Southeast Asian countries, with Vietnam and Laos emerging as a favorite destination.

Hong Kong, as a Chinese special administrative region and a major illegal wildlife product destination, intercepted 17.6 tons of pangolin scales in 2018, up from 7.9 tons in 2017. Ivory seizures dropped for around 20 times, from 7,600 kg in 2017 to barely 370 kg in 2018.

On Friday, customs authorities of Chinese mainland and Hong Kong announced a record seizure of 8.3 tons of pangolin from Nigeria, worth 5.4 million U.S. dollars. An estimated 13,000 pangolins were believed to be poached, given the large consignment size.

“This is the largest amount of pangolin scales ever seized in Hong Kong,” officials announced

In three other separate operations, Vietnam, Uganda, and Angola law enforcement agencies intercepted a massive haul of ivory and pangolin scales.

Around 750 pieces of ivory and thousands of pangolin scales were seized in Uganda on Thursday. The seized consignment, sent from neighboring South Sudan, is one of the country's largest seizures. Authorities arrested two Vietnamese nationals for smuggling the banned wildlife products.

At Vietnam's Haiphong port city, 1.4 tons of pangolin scales and 20 elephant tusks were seized last week. In Angola, five Vietnamese nationals were arrested for attempting to smuggle in 800 kg of ivory and 900 kg of pangolin scales.

The ant-eating pangolins are the most illegally traded mammal in the world. Concerned over the large scale poaching, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared all eight pangolin species as threatened with extinction.

Massive use of the product for traditional medicines, mostly in Southeast Asian countries, is leading to their extinction, IUCN said.

“China could help save African and Asian pangolins. Pangolins cannot be bred commercially, and all populations are banned from trade, so there is no possible legitimate source for ongoing scales sales,” Knights added.

(Top Image: Hong Kong Customs officials showing a record seizure of endangered pangolin scales on Friday, February 1, 2019. /Pix courtesy of WildAid)

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514f3367444e32457a6333566d54/index.html

Record seizure of pangolin scales, ivory in Hong Kong

A record nine tons of endangered pangolin scales and 21 tons of ivory were seized after a joint operation by Hong Kong Customs and Chinese Mainland Customs.

Officials estimate that more than 13,000 pangolins and 500 elephants were brutally poached for such a large consignment. The shipment, on the way to Vietnam, was valued at nearly eight million U.S. dollars.

“This is the largest amount of pangolin scales ever seized in Hong Kong,” officials announced at a press conference on Friday.

Following a confidential tip, customs launched a massive operation screening containers at various ports to track the illegal consignment. The product dispatched from Nigeria was found hidden in a container at Hong Kong's Kwai Chung cargo port.

The container was labeled as frozen beef and deliberately kept at a low temperature to disguise the smell of pangolin scales.

Last July, Hong Kong customs seized more than seven tons of pangolin scales from Africa en route to the Chinese mainland. These frequent massive seizures expose a thriving trade of wildlife products, most of which has been banned by China. Last year, the country banned domestic trade in both wildlife products.

The ant-eating pangolins are the most illegally traded mammal in the world. Concerned over such large scale poaching, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared all eight pangolin species as threatened with extinction.

Massive use of the product for traditional medicines, mostly in South East Asian countries, is leading to their extinction, IUCN said.

Wildlife experts believe the smuggling routes for wildlife trade are undergoing significant transformation after China's wildlife trade ban. Vietnam is emerging as a lucrative destination.

Recently, TRAFFIC – a wildlife trade monitoring agency – found more than 10,000 ivory items being sold in the country' s 852 physical stores and 17 online platforms.

Alex Hofford, campaign manager at conservation group WildAid in Hong Kong, pointed out that there are two possible explanations for smugglers trying to sneak the consignment into Vietnam. The first is that this illegal consignment was never intended to go there.

Vietnam's Haiphong port, listed on shipping documents, would be a ploy to mislead the Hong Kong Customs. The couple arrested for the illegal consignment may have been planning to repackage these illegal wildlife products and send them to the Chinese mainland via speedboat.

“The second theory is that the illegal consignment could genuinely have been on its way to Vietnam, a country which shares a long and porous border with China,” Hofford told CGTN.

The couple arrested for importing the banned wildlife items owns a trading company in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district. “Investigation is ongoing, and all arrested persons have been released on bail pending further investigation,” Hong Kong Customs said in a statement.

(Cover Image: Hong Kong Customs and Chinese Mainland Customs seized a large consignment of pangolin scales and elephant tusks from Nigeria en route to Vietnam. /Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Customs.)

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e3355444e32457a6333566d54/index.html