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Pangolins
Kalyani Soorya Swamy [ 8E ]
- An Unfamiliar beauty
GLOBAL PUBLIC SCHOOL 2021
30
When asked the question , “ What is the most trafficked mammal in the world ?” many of us would not stop to think and our answers would either be tigers , rhinos , or elephants , right ? However , the truth is that none of these answers is correct because the most trafficked animal in the world is none other than the pangolin . The pangolin is just one of the rare beauties in the world that gets trafficked .
Two out of eight pangolin species are endangered and , these poor creatures are trafficked by the thousands ; for their meat , which is a high-end delicacy in many Southeast Asian and Asian countries , for their scales , which are boiled off their bodies for use in traditional medicine , and for their blood , which is seen as a healing tonic .
Despite being used for so many medicinal purposes , science proves that none of the pangolin ’ s body parts is medicinal and it is used as tonic only because of beliefs that they heal diseases .
A scientist or a researcher , when asked the questions , “ How many pangolins remain in the wild now ? or what do they eat and how much ? or even , how long they live ”, would not be able to answer because the reality is he / she does not know .
The reason for such a small amount of information on pangolins is because they are such shy , solitary creatures that when kept in captivity to study or research , they often die . These beautiful creatures are also rarely found in zoos for this reason .
More than 10,000 pangolins are trafficked each year and taking the life of such an innocent and harmless creature because of human greed and avarice is far from right and is illegal . However , the sad reality is even after a great deal of effort by international organisations to stop this inhumane practice , it persists even today .
No one knows for sure how many pangolins dwell on this earth , but scientists are sure of one thing , their numbers are shrinking fast . This unfamiliar beauty and the brutal and tragic struggles it goes through is so unheard of that the pangolin could go extinct before most people realise it exists or ; it could go extinct because of that .