Authorities intercepted an estimated 6,894 pangolins from 2018 to 2019 from illegal wildlife traders—-a nine-fold increase representing 90 percent of all pangolins caught in the illegal trade in the country over the last two decades. From 2000 to 2017, only 740 pangolins were seized by authorities.
This is based on a new report released by TRAFFIC, an NGO that monitors the international trade of wild animals and plants.
The Palawan pangolin (Manis culionensis) is a scaly anteater only found in Palawan. It is protected by existing laws such as Republic Act 9147 also known as the Wildlife Act.
Anyone caught trading them faces hefty fines and prison sentence of up to 12 years. But this hasn’t stopped traders from stealing pangolins from Palawan and transporting them to various towns and cities to sell them for meat consumption or medicinal use.
The figures include a record-breaking bust last year in Puerto Princesa City, where authorities confiscated 1154 kilograms of pangolin scales and other wildlife parts from a two-story building.
A Chinese national, who was already known to authorities for a previous attempt to smuggle wildlife, was implicated in the seizure. He may have been preparing to export the pangolin scales to China.
Two years ago, an Elf truck from Brgy. Jolo, in Roxas, Palawan, was intercepted in the checkpoint of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Brgy. Sta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa City for carrying frozen pangolin meat, scales and other wildlife
TRAFFIC researchers also conducted surveys in Metro Manila in 2018 and 2019, and discovered pangolin meat being served in at least five restaurants, although it was not advertised on the menu and only available on a pre-order basis.
Jovic Fabello, information officer of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS), said that although pangolin was removed recently from the list of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) it did not assure that pangolin trade will also stop, but it will only ease a little bit of pressure on Palawan’s pangolin.
He said that they will further strenghten their enforcement to protect the remaining pangolin in Palawan, as well as other threatened and endangered wildlife species.
“Removal of Pangolin in TCM list will not stop the illegal wildlife trade in Palawan and poachers/traders will only shift their poaching activity from one high value wildlife into another illegal wildlife poaching in Palawan is continuous despite of the efforts being taken by the PCSD, it might be lessened during these time of COVID19 pandemic but intelligence gather says a respite for poaching is nonetheless existing,” he said.
Fabello further said that their agency, the PCSDS with Protect Wildlife, has just finished commissioning the study of Palawan Pangolin population estimates in the wild. While comprehensive data isn’t yet available for 2020, the trade doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
The PCSDS said that it intensified its effort to curb and minimize illegal wildlife trade throughout Palawan through the establishment of monitoring units and enforcement.
“We have seriously taken the threat of illegal wildlife trade and established additional wildlife traffic monitoring units (WTMUs) in major ports and airports in the entire province. This is in addition to our continuous deputation of wildlife enforcement Officers (WEOs) to help the PCSDS in combatting the illegal trade, our enforcement team continuously gathers intelligence information, apprehend violators in the field, and case building system was in place,” said Fabello.
The Palawan pangolin is one of the most heavily poached and trafficked of the eight pangolin species, and is currently listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. Due to the shy, elusive nature of the pangolin, its population status is difficult to assess but it’s believed that the subspecies has declined up to 95% over the past 40 years.
TRAFFIC said that the court hasn’t penalized convicted traffickers to the full extent of the law, and this may be one element that is exacerbating the illegal trade.
The DENR recently acknowledged that the current penalties were not helping put a stop to wildlife crime in the country, and officials have suggested that any convicted traffickers be given a mandatory minimum jail term of six years, and not be eligible for probation.
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