World Pangolin Day 2019
Commonly referred to as the most trafficked mammal in the world, the plight of the pangolin looks bleak. While a proportion of the demand for pangolins is for its meat, the greatest value lies in its scales, used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Sadly, this demand is driving transnational smuggling of pangolin scales to the extent we see today, the supply of which to illicit markets is undoubtedly increasing.
Pangolin seizures in Hong Kong SAR and Malaysia (2019)
Smuggling is occurring on a substantial and unprecedented level, illustrated recently by the seizure of over eight tonnes of scales in Hong Kong SAR in January 2019. The shipment was valued at HKD 42 million and estimated to represent approximately 14,000 pangolins.
While in Malaysia, intelligence-led raids resulted in the discovery of 30 tonnes of locally-sourced pangolins and the identification of a processing factory in early February. The ability of pangolins to recover from this level of removal from the wild appears increasingly unlikely.
2014 – 2018: 140 tonnes of pangolin scales seized
During the last five years, an estimated 140 tonnes of pangolin scales have been removed from illegal trade, and the rate at which they are being seized is growing significantly.
Between 2014-2018 the average weight of scales per seizure has more than doubled (see Table 1). This means that in 2018 the weight of a shipment containing pangolin scales averages at under ¾ of a tonne, compared to around 200 kg in 2014.
This increase indicates that the smuggling of pangolin scales is happening on a greater scale and is more organised, but also that the detection and reporting of smuggling may be improving.
| Year | Average weight per seizure (kg) |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 207.9 |
| 2015 | 201.7 |
| 2016 | 468.3 |
| 2017 | 855.9 |
| 2018 | 723.2 |
Seizure hotspots
Geographical displacement of crime appears apparent. Hong Kong SAR and China continue to be persistent hotspots for seizures of pangolin scales, recording 28.3 and 27.5 tonnes of seized scales respectively between 2014-2018. However, during the last three years, Vietnam and Nigeria have moved into the third and fourth slots and account for more seizures than previously reported, particularly during the last 12 months (see Table 2).
| Seizure Country/territory | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong SAR | 1000 | – | 13949 | 7513 | 5933 | 28395 |
| China | 3 | 1278 | 5013 | 13484 | 7783 | 27561 |
| Nigeria | – | – | 381 | – | 19850 | 20231 |
| Vietnam | 263 | 2212 | 518 | 890 | 14652 | 18535 |
Wildlife Justice Commission – Operation Pluto
The Wildlife Justice Commission seeks to address the organised criminality facilitating this ongoing, illegal trade. We gather information, analyse threats and inform enforcement agencies to target the criminals whose removal from the trade will affect the greatest impact upon crime.
In April 2017, we launched Operation Pluto to investigate the organised trade in pangolins and their parts with a focus on the most relevant countries, including Vietnam. In September 2018, we provided intelligence to the Vietnamese Environmental Police that led to the seizure of 780 kg of pangolin scales and the arrest of a prominent trader. A seizure such as this one, beyond a port, seldom occurs and it was the first such seizure by the Environmental Police in Vietnam.
During Operation Pluto, our investigators have been offered substantial amounts of pangolin scales.
Watch this undercover video, where traders take Wildlife Justice Commission investigators to a location where they story large volumes of pangolin scales. They show the scales to the investigators and tell them price per kg and payment methods.
The Wildlife Justice Commission continues to investigate this nexus with a focus on identifying the source of the scales and those key facilitators operating across the supply chain in order to target, remove and disrupt transnational organised wildlife crime that is driving pangolins to the verge of extinction.