Obey the pangolin

In the thick of Covid, some researchers suggested that pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are the probable animal source of the coronavirus outbreak.

Because of the possible connection between pangolins and Covid-19, in France, pangolins suddenly became a hot topic.

Famous French media including Charlie Hebdo and Le Monde published cartoons and stories discussing a cruel fact that pangolins have been the most trafficked mammals in the world due to high demand for their scales and claws in traditional medicine, and their meat is considered a delicacy in some Asian countries and consumed as bushmeat in some African countries.

Another factor led to some pangolin species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered, including four species in Asia — Chinese, Sunda, Indian and Philippine pangolins — is that, when they are in danger, pangolins do not fight back but curling up into a ball to protect their soft abdomen with hard scales.

This habit seems effective to protect themselves. But, actually, when pangolins curl into a ball, it is easy for humans to bring them home and for some animals, such as stray dogs, they can attack pangolins' exposed tails. The injury and bleeding, in many cases, will take the pangolins' lives.

According to reports, in the 1950s, Taiwan was one of the well-known pangolin leather-exporting countries because, back then, it was easy to find the native Formosan pangolins in the mountains and people did not consider it as illegal or cruel to hunt pangolins.

Researchers said that, in the old days, pangolin leather was considered tough with a beautiful texture, priced higher than crocodile skins:

"At that time, the processing and export of pangolin skins was legal. In the beginning, they were mainly exported to Japan and, later, to the United States and Australia. Some exporters even received certificates from the Ministry of Economic Affairs as an encouragement."

During "the era of great hunting" from the 1950s to 1970s, it is said that around 60,000 pangolins were killed each year. In the factories, "pangolin hides were piled higher than people."

Due to pangolin-leather consumption in richer countries and cruel and indiscriminate killings for more than 20 years, locals told researchers that the number of Formosan pangolins in 1989 was only one thousandth of the number back in the 1950s.

Forced by international pressure, the United States invoked the Perry Amendment to impose trade sanctions on Taiwan in 1994. The Taiwan government started to severely punish hunting and selling of pangolin products, and locals and indigenous tribes have also been learning the significance of pangolin conservation.

Local communities also joined the protection of pangolins. For instance, the tribal Luanshan Village in Taitung County, located on the Taiwan's southeastern coast, formed a patrol group by locals in 2008 to prevent hunting.

Eventually the Luanshan pangolin population has grown to an average of 12.8 pangolins per 100 hectares, which may be the highest population density recorded in the wild around the world.

The Taipei Zoo, the largest in Taiwan, has also been devoted to pangolin conservation. The first pangolin baby was born in captivity in the zoo in 1997, and the pangolin lived for 23 years and nine months, much longer than the 15 to 20 years average life span of pangolins.

Also, "Little Cone", whose parents came from the Taipei Zoo and currently live in the Prague Zoo, was born this year and became the first pangolin baby born in captivity in Europe, marking an important milestone and achievement for pangolin conservation in the world.