Protecting the Pangolin is Difficult
Pangolins Don't Survive in Captivity
In the case of many endangered species, captivity is used to enhance the population quickly and securely. Unfortunately, pangolins are unable to survive longer than a couple years in zoos and often without successfully breeding. This means that the appearance and general information of pangolins is greatly unknown by many, since they are mostly only seen in the wild (Chinese Pangolin Wikipedia, 2021).
image depicting a pangolin trapped in a crate (Wix, 2022)
Economic Incentives Drive Decline
image depicting money (Wix, 2022)
Even though more than 80% of the Chinese population is in favor of protecting these creatures, there is a lack of government enforcement. Their sought after scales and meat can sell for over $200/kg, and with the Chinese government holding a large reserve, it’s not in their economic favor to lock down the trade (Chinese Pangolin Wikipedia, 2021).
Medical Myths Persist
Until a few years ago, hospitals were able to prescribe pangolin “medicine” despite science proving that it's completely ineffective (Ching-Min et al., 2019). The health care systems preyed on civilians' belief in the medical effects of pangolin products as a way to make profit. In 2020 a study concluded that 71% of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believed that pangolin scales could be replaced in most or all treatments (Wang et al., 2020). This distribution only reinforced the general public's acceptance of this cruel practice.
