In a rare bit of good news for pangolins, officials at a border post between Laos and Thailand confiscated 81 critically endangered Sunda pangolins last week. The rescues were handed over to the Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre (LWRC) to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
A rescued pangolin is introduced to its temporary home at the Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Destined to be sold on the black market for meat and scales, many of the animals were already very weak after spending several days confined to small shipping crates. Sadly, 17 of the pangolins succumbed to the stress. However, after careful monitoring by veterinary teams from the LWRC and the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), 48 of the surviving pangolins have been released in protected locations. The remaining animals will continue to be cared for at the LWRC in the hopes that they too will be released in the coming days.
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and are widely poached for meat and scales. Reports indicate that the confiscated animals were probably poached on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia before being smuggled to Malaysia, and then onwards though Thailand and into Laos – a key transit country for wildlife on its way to the black markets of China and Vietnam.
Estimated to be worth 19 billion US dollars a year, the trade in pangolins is booming. A kilogram of scales can fetch up to 500 US dollars and as many as a million pangolins are believed to have been captured over the last decade, making them the most trafficked animal in the world.
The Laos bust was one of two pangolin seizures to be reported in local media last week. In one of the largest hauls to date, police also confiscated a staggering 2,674 pangolins when they raided a smuggling ring in China’s Guangdong Province. Sadly, for these animals it was already too late – they were found frozen and already packaged for sale on the black market.
The remaining pangolins from the Laos seizure are in good hands at the LWRC and if all goes well, they too will be released as soon as they’re ready.
The pangolins arrive at LWRC in plastic crates. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
The pangolins arrive at LWRC in plastic crates. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Pangolins are removed from the sacks they were found in by the team at LWRC. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Pangolins exploring their new home at the LWRC. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Pangolins exploring their new home at the LWRC. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Pangolins exploring their new home at the LWRC. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
A pangolin foraging for ants. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
The LWRC team performing a health check on one of the rescued pangolins. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
Sunda pangolins are arboreal and a large part of their life is spent in trees. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
The pangolins settling in at their temporary home at the LWRC. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
The pangolins in crates, ready to be released back into the wild. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre
A pangolin mother and baby heading back into the wild. Image © Laos Wildlife Rescue Centre