Pangolins being removed from plastic bags before safe release in protected habitats
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, June 30, 2011 – On buses in rural areas of Southeast Asia, you will come across people loaded up with all kinds of goods, from bags of herbs like ginger and galangal to live animals like pigs and chickens. But those bulky sacks can hide a more sinister – and illegal – cargo, from Asia’s rampant illegal wildlife trade.
On the morning of June 29, 2011, responding to a tip from a local informant, the government-run Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT), operating with financial and technical assistance from Wildlife Alliance, halted a bus heading south on National Road 5 to Phnom Penh and busted a passenger traveling with seven live Sunda pangolins packed in a suitcase under his seat. The pangolins weighed a total of 46 pounds (21 kg), and were released in appropriate habitats after their health was checked.
The Sunda Pangolin is a scaly ant-eating mammal, listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, with a pointy nose and a long tongue used to probe deep in anthills or termite mounds. From the head to the tip of the tail, they can reach almost 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, but being quite timid, they roll up into a tight ball when threatened. Throughout Asia, the illegal wildlife trade is threatening the survival of this species, as pangolins are highly prized for their scales and blood – used in traditional Asian medicine – or as a luxury meat valued at over 45 U.S. dollars per kilogram.
The offender, a 49-year old man, was arrested and charged according to Cambodian Forestry Law with illegal wildlife trading. While he alleged that he didn’t know what was in the bag and was just paid to bring it to Phnom Penh, he was found in possession of the animals and charged with the illegal trafficking of an endangered species. He will be fined, according to Forestry Law, three times the estimated market value of the pangolins.
According to the Pangolin Conservation Support Initiative, “The illegal trade is driving pangolins to the brink of extinction. We applaud the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team for its swift and diligent response to address these unacceptable and illegal activities.”
Contacts or Photos:
Cambodia: Amy Van Nice, International Development Manager, +855 23 211 604, Mobile +855- 92 725 423, avannice@online.com.kh (Please note, Cambodia is 12 hours off Eastern Standard Time)
USA: Michael Zwirn, Director of U.S. Operations, +1 202-223-6350, Mobile +1 202-315-8976 zwirn@wildlifealliance.org
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About Wildlife Alliance (www.wildlifealliance.org)
Wildlife Alliance’s mission is to protect and preserve forests and wildlife for future generations. Our field operations train and equip forest rangers to fight crimes against nature and prevent poaching and habitat destruction in Southeast Asia and the Russian Far East through collaboration with governments and communities. We improve the management of protected areas, rescue wildlife victimized by the wildlife trade, and support sustainable development and environmental education initiatives.
About the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team:
The WRRT, created in 2001, is a government law enforcement unit cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade throughout Cambodia. The WRRT is composed of four Forestry Administration officers and seven Military Police, assisted by one Wildlife Alliance Advisor. Since its creation, WRRT has rescued more than 46,000 live animals and confiscated tons of wildlife meat, tens of thousands of dead animals, and 200 tons of pelts, bones, and products made from wildlife. In 2010 the WRRT became Cambodia’s official wildlife crime task force under the regional ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network. In 2009 alone, the ASEAN Network reports 26,261 live animals recovered, over 268 tons of wildlife confiscated, and 150 arrests were made in Southeast Asia.
Wildlife Alliance provides technical assistance and financial support to the WRRT with funding from international donors including the Wallace Research Foundation, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the John Aspinall Foundation, and generous individuals around the world. Efforts to stop pangolin trafficking are supported in part by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.
About the Pangolin Conservation Support Initiative:
The Pangolin Conservation Support Initiative directly supports the efforts of the key stakeholders involved in pangolin conservation throughout Southeast Asia. Our mission is to raise awareness of an illegal trade that is largely still under investigation, and for which initiatives to address the issue are still in their infancy. Learn more at savepangolins.org.
About Asia’s Illegal Wildlife Trade:
According to the Congressional Research Service, the international illegal wildlife trade is valued between $5 and $20 billion annually and contributes to the extinction of 30,000 species a year, or 3 species per hour. The illegal wildlife trade involves hundreds of millions of individual plants and animals and tens of thousands of species. Smuggling ranges from live animals and plants to supply the pet and horticulture trades, to wildlife meat for supplementing poor diets and/or to cook up ‘luxury’ foods for the wealthy, to smuggling wildlife derivatives like ivory, pelts, and bones to make curios, clothing, and medicines.
Southeast Asia is considered the world hub of the illegal trade of protected wild animals and plants. Because the area is rich in biodiversity and law enforcement is relatively weak, it has become the world hub for the illegal wildlife trade as source, transit and destination region for endangered species in transit. In Cambodia’s forests and national parks, wildlife poachers and traders trap, hunt, and remove body parts of endangered wildlife to sell as pets, food, and derivatives to make traditional Asian medicine and luxury goods.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 2:13PM 
