China using pangolin scales in traditional medicine despite claiming the contrary, says environment report

Pangolins are the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal

Credit: AFP

China is still allowing the use of pangolin scales in traditional medicine despite pledging to crack down on wildlife trade given concerns that close contact between humans and animals could lead to another devastating pandemic. 

A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency has found that 221 companies in China remain licensed to sell products using pangolin scales, including leading traditional medicine company Beijing Tong Ren Tang.

Such goods are also being actively advertised and are available to domestic and international consumers via online shopping sites, according to the report.

The watchdog group is urging the Chinese government to close the loopholes that have allowed the pangolin trade to continue. One step the EIA is calling on Beijing to implement is to change the country’s wildlife protection law to fully prohibit the sale or possession of pangolin parts.

“Amid mounting concerns about the role of wildlife trade in causing the coronavirus pandemic, it is critical that the Chinese government ends all legal use of pangolin scales, instead of allowing the multi-billion dollar TCM industry to carry on as usual,” said Chris Hamley, senior pangolin campaigner with EIA.

China is the primary destination of pangolin scales being trafficked

Credit: AFP

“By keeping the door open for the TCM industry to exploit pangolins, the Chinese government is undermining international efforts to end the global pangolin trafficking crisis and fueling transnational organised crime.”

Pangolins are the world’s most heavily trafficked mammals, and have been identified by scientists as a potential intermediary host for the coronavirus to transmit from animals to humans. 

China is the primary destination of pangolin scales being trafficked, where they can be dried and ground up for use in alternative remedies. While the scales have no proven medicinal value, they continue to be promoted as traditional Chinese cures for ailments ranging from lactation issues to arthritis. 

An estimated equivalent of 745,000 pangolins have been trafficked to supply all the scales seized over the last decade, with 80 per cent of those scales seized in just the last few years, a sign of increasing demand, according to EIA.  

All eight pangolin species are classified as being at risk of extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.