Editing Pangolin (section)

==Threats==
{{see also|Pangolin trade}}
[[File:Pangolin scale burn in Cameroon. Credit- Kenneth Cameron - USFWS (2) (32575640450).jpg|thumb|Confiscated black market pangolin scales, which are in high demand in [[Chinese traditional medicine|traditional Chinese medicine]],<ref name=cnnchangethelist>{{cite web |publisher=CNN |title=Change the List: The Most Trafficked Mammal You've Never Heard Of |last=Sutter |first=John D. |url=http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-change-the-list-pangolin-trafficking/ |date=April 2014}}</ref> set to be destroyed by authorities in [[Cameroon]] in 2017]]

Pangolins are in high demand in southern China and [[Vietnam]] because their scales are believed to have medicinal properties in [[Traditional Chinese medicine|traditional Chinese]] and [[Traditional Vietnamese medicine|Vietnamese medicine]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sexton|first1=Rebecca|last2=Nguyen|first2=Trang|last3=Roberts|first3=David L.|date=2021-01-01|title=The Use and Prescription of Pangolin in Traditional Vietnamese Medicine|journal=Tropical Conservation Science|language=en|publication-place=[[University of Kent]], [[WildAid]]|volume=14|pages=1940082920985755|doi=10.1177/1940082920985755|s2cid=233919533|issn=1940-0829|doi-access=free}}</ref> Their meat is also considered a delicacy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=van Uhm |first1=D.P. |title=The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders (Studies of Organized Crime) |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Over a million pangolins slaughtered in the last decade |url=http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0729-hance-pangolins-iucn-update.html |newspaper=[[Mongabay]] |date=29 July 2014|access-date=7 August 2014 |first=Jeremy |last=Hance |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141208082730/http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0729-hance-pangolins-iucn-update.html |archive-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="javanica">{{cite iucn |author1=Challender, D. |author2=Willcox, D.H.A. |author3=Panjang, E. |author4=Lim, N. |author5=Nash, H. |author6=Heinrich, S. |author7=Chong, J. |name-list-style=amp |title=''Manis javanica'' |page=e.T12763A123584856 |year=2019 |access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151220-wildlife-trafficking-crime-blotter/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103917/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151220-wildlife-trafficking-crime-blotter/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 December 2015 |title=Crime Blotter: Pangolin Scales, Tiger Skins, and More |first=Jani |last=Actman |magazine=National Geographic |date=20 December 2015 |access-date=1 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151218-malaysia-endangered-wildlife-tiger-pangolin-crocodile-smuggling/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220170620/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151218-malaysia-endangered-wildlife-tiger-pangolin-crocodile-smuggling/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2015 |title=Tiger Eyes, Crocodile Penis: It's What's For Dinner in Malaysia |last=Cruise |first=Adam |date=18 April 2015 |access-date=1 May 2016 |magazine=National Geographic}}</ref> 100,000 are estimated to be trafficked a year to China and Vietnam,<ref name="Haenlein-2018">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45784627 |title=What's the secret to saving this rare creature?|last1=Haenlein |first1=Alexandria |last2=Reid |first2=Cathy |last3=Keatinge |first3=Tom |date=10 October 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> amounting to over one million over the past decade.<ref name="pangolinsg"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ingram |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Coad |first2=Lauren |last3=Abernethy |first3=Katharine A. |last4=Maisels |first4=Fiona |last5=Stokes |first5=Emma J. |last6=Bobo |first6=Kadiri S. |last7=Breuer |first7=Thomas |last8=Gandiwa |first8=Edson |last9=Ghiurghi |first9=Andrea |last10=Greengrass |first10=Elizabeth |last11=Holmern |first11=Tomas |date=March 2018 |title=Assessing Africa-Wide Pangolin Exploitation by Scaling Local Data: Assessing African pangolin exploitation |journal=Conservation Letters |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=e12389 |doi=10.1111/conl.12389 |doi-access=free|hdl=1893/25549 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This makes them the most [[Wildlife trade|trafficked animal]] in the world.<ref name="pangolinsg"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Fletcher |first=Martin |date=5 February 2015 |title=The world's most-trafficked mammal – and the scaliest |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30833685 |access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> This, coupled with [[deforestation]], has led to a large decrease in the numbers of pangolins. Some species, such as ''[[Chinese pangolin|Manis pentadactyla]]'' have become commercially extinct in certain ranges as a result of overhunting.<ref>{{cite iucn |last1=Challender |first1=D. |last2=Wu |first2=S. |last3=Kaspal |first3=P. |last4=Khatiwada |first4=A. |last5=Ghose |first5=A. |last6=Ching-Min Su |first6=N. |last7=Suwal |first7=Laxmi |year=2019 |title=''Manis pentadactyla'' |page=e.T12764A123585318 |access-date=30 January 2020}}</ref> In November 2010, pangolins were added to the [[Zoological Society of London]]'s list of evolutionarily distinct and endangered mammals.<ref>{{cite news |author=Agence France-Presse |date=19 November 2010 |title='Asian unicorn' and scaly anteater make endangered list |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/asian-unicorn-and-scaly-anteater-make-endangered-list-20101119-180sa.html}}</ref> All eight species of pangolin are assessed as threatened by the [[IUCN]], while three are classified as [[critically endangered]].<ref name="IUCN Manidae"/> All pangolin species are currently listed under Appendix I of [[CITES]] which prohibits international trade, except when the product is intended for non-commercial purposes and a permit has been granted.<ref name=CITES>{{cite web |title=The CITES Appendices |website=Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora |publisher=CITES |url=https://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php |access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref>

China had been the main destination country for pangolins until 2018, where it was surpassed by Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam was reported to have seized the largest volumes of pangolin scales, surpassing Nigeria that year.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sen|date=February 18, 2020|title=First ivory, now pangolin scales: Vietnam remains wildlife trafficking hotspot|work=[[VnExpress]]|url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/first-ivory-now-pangolin-scales-vietnam-remains-wildlife-trafficking-hotspot-4055838.html}}</ref>

Pangolins are also hunted and eaten in Ghana and are one of the more popular types of [[bushmeat]], while local healers use the pangolin as a source of traditional medicine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boakye |first1=Maxwell Kwame |last2=Pietersen |first2=Darren William |last3=Kotzé |first3=Antoinette |last4=Dalton |first4=Desiré-Lee |last5=Jansen |first5=Raymond |date=20 January 2015 |title=Knowledge and uses of African pangolins as a source of traditional medicine in Ghana |journal=PLOS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0117199 |pmc=4300090 |pmid=25602281 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1017199B |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=e0117199|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Though pangolins are protected by an international ban on their trade, populations have suffered from illegal trafficking due to beliefs in East Asia that their ground-up scales can stimulate [[lactation]] or cure cancer or [[asthma]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Wassener |first=Bettina |date=12 March 2013 |title=No Species Is Safe From Burgeoning Wildlife Trade |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/world/asia/no-species-is-safe-from-burgeoning-wildlife-trade.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222182549/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/world/asia/no-species-is-safe-from-burgeoning-wildlife-trade.html?_r=0 |archive-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> In the past decade, numerous seizures of illegally trafficked pangolin and pangolin meat have taken place in Asia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sutter |first=John D. |date=3 April 2014 |title=The Most Trafficked Mammal You've Never Heard Of |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-change-the-list-pangolin-trafficking/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202055005/http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-change-the-list-pangolin-trafficking/ |archive-date=2 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=17 March 2008 |title=23 tonnes of pangolins seized in a week |publisher=Traffic.org |url=http://www.traffic.org/home/2008/3/17/23-tonnes-of-pangolins-seized-in-a-week.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126034922/http://www.traffic.org/home/2008/3/17/23-tonnes-of-pangolins-seized-in-a-week.html |archive-date=26 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Watts |first=Jonathan |date=25 May 2007 |title='Noah's Ark' of 5,000 rare animals found floating off the coast of China |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/26/china.conservation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003122422/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/26/china.conservation |archive-date=3 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=27 May 2012 |title=Asia in Pictures |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303674004577431140183065720#slide/7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222184723/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303674004577431140183065720#slide/7 |archive-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> In one such incident in April 2013, {{convert|10000|kg|lb|abbr=in}} of pangolin meat were seized from a Chinese vessel that ran aground in the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese vessel on Philippine coral reef caught with illegal pangolin meat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/15/chinese-vessel-philippine-reef-illegal-pangolin-meat |newspaper=[[Associated Press]] |date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416213335/http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/15/chinese-vessel-philippine-reef-illegal-pangolin-meat |archive-date=16 April 2013 |access-date=16 April 2013 |location=London |first=Damian |last=Carrington}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Molland |first=Judy |date=16 April 2013 |title=Boat Filled With 22,000 Pounds Of Pangolin Hits Endangered Coral Reef |publisher=Care2 |location=London |url=http://www.care2.com/causes/boat-filled-with-22000-pounds-of-meat-from-the-protected-pangolin-hits-endangered-coral-reef.html |access-date=17 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130418114310/http://www.care2.com/causes/boat-filled-with-22000-pounds-of-meat-from-the-protected-pangolin-hits-endangered-coral-reef.html |archive-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> In another case in August 2016, an Indonesian man was arrested after police raided his home and found over 650 pangolins in freezers on his property.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 August 2016 |title=Indonesian man arrested as 650 pangolins found dead in freezers |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37196635 |access-date=27 August 2016}}</ref> The same threat is reported in [[Nigeria]], where the animal is on the verge of extinction due to [[overexploitation]].<ref>The ''[[Media Trust|Daily Trust]]'' (Nigeria), Saturday 18 February 2017</ref> The overexploitation comes from hunting pangolins for game meat and the reduction of their forest habitats due to deforestation caused by [[Logging|timber harvesting]].<ref name="Sodeinde-2009">{{cite journal |last1=Sodeinde |first1=Olufemi A. |last2=Adedipe |first2=Segun R. |title=Pangolins in south-west Nigeria – current status and prognosis |journal=Oryx |date=24 April 2009 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=43–50 |doi=10.1017/S0030605300028283|doi-access=free }}</ref> The pangolin are hunted as game meat for both medicinal purposes and food consumption.<ref name="Sodeinde-2009"/>