China raises protection for pangolins by removing scales from medicine list

Beijing, China

China has removed pangolins from its official list of traditional Chinese medicine treatments, in a move lauded by animal protection groups as a key step in stamping out trade in the scaly anteater, the world’s most trafficked mammal.

The scaly mammals have been pushed to the brink by illegal hunting for their scales and meat.

As many as 200,000 pangolins are consumed each year in Asia for their scales and meat and more than 130 tonnes of scales, live and dead animals were seized in cross-border trafficking busts last year, a figure estimated to represent up to 400,000 animals, according to conservation group WildAid.

Also read: Novel coronavirus emerged from gene shuffling across bats, pangolin: Study

All eight species of pangolin are threatened with extinction. Trade in all eight species are protected under international law and three of the four native to Asia are included on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered species, including the functionally extinct Chinese pangolin.

Conservation charities have welcomed the move towards greater protection. Paul Thomson of Save Pangolins said it was a breakthrough moment for pangolins.

"China's move to phase out pangolin scales from traditional medicines could be the game changer we have been waiting for," he said.

"We hope China's next move will be to enforce the regulations and work to change consumer behaviour."

The news of the delisting from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacopoeia, comes after the country’s State Forestry and Grassland Administration (SFGA) raised the protected status of pangolins to the highest level last week, with immediate effect.

“I am very encouraged,” said Zhou Jinfeng, secretary general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), who has long pushed for better protection of pangolins and for stopping the use of their scales. ''Our continuous efforts for several years have not been in vain.''

Pangolins are covered with a layer of scales, which are designed to protect them against predators. The scales are highly coveted by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, while pangolin meat has been seen as a delicacy.

China banned the consumption of live wild animals for food in the wake of the outbreak, but there are certain exemptions, such as for medicine or fur.

Pangolins are in the spotlight as they have been found to carry strains of coronaviruses similar to COVID-19. Scientists are investigating whether trafficked pangolins might have played a role in the virus moving from animals to humans, but the evidence is unclear.