Threats to Pangolins & Pangolin Conservation

[Lisbeth]

it is conservatively estimated that between 436 and 1190 pangolins are electrocuted in southern Africa every year.

Numbers with such a gap between min. and max. could give rise to doubts on the correctness of the numbers

[Richprins]

Very interesting about the mines and fences...

The problem with the electric fence strands is that pangolin naturally curl up when attacked, and can curl around the fence strand and prolong the electrocution.

[Klipspringer]

it is conservatively estimated that between 436 and 1190 pangolins are electrocuted in southern Africa every year.

Numbers with such a gap between min. and max. could give rise to doubts on the correctness of the numbers

The opposite, Lisbeth. This is serious and the wide range is due to data unavailable such as exact number of electrified fences and pangolin population.

[Lisbeth]

Well, IMO better not to publish numbers

[Klipspringer]

There is not a single population which is monitored, so all population estimates and also trends (declining?) are estimates based on anything else but hard data.

[Klipspringer]

Three arrested for possession of pangolin
Posted by Anita Froneman on 27 July 2020

Three Malawian citizens were arrested on Thursday, July 23 in Rustenburg for being in possession of a pangolin. The men, aged 32, 43 and 45 were apprehended at the Waterfall Mall and will appear in court Monday, July 27.



The provincial organised crime unit followed up on information received about a pangolin that will be sold at the mall, according to TimesLive. ‘The vehicle was approached for a search. Consequently, the pangolin worth R1.4m was found inside the vehicle,’ said North West police spokesperson Lt-Col Amanda Funani.

The African Pangolin Working Group congratulated authorities for the successful interception. ‘Congratulations, superb operation executed,’ they wrote on Twitter.



Pangolins are endangered and trafficked for its demand in the East for use in traditional medicine.

https://www.getaway.co.za/travel-news/t ... -pangolin/

[Lisbeth]

Hopefully it can be released into the wild

[Klipspringer]

information received about a pangolin that will be sold at the mall

This does not sound as if it was part of a trading ring that will sell scales to Asia

[Lisbeth]

For the meat! That's why it was still alive. Probably

[Klipspringer]

THE SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE IN PANGOLINS

Total number of pangolins retrieved out of the illegal trade in 2019 was 36, the vast majority of cases were recorded in Limpopo Province.

The trade in 2019 was down from 45 pangolins in 2018 to 36 in 2019

Source: African Pangolin Working Group

Pangolin trade SA.jpg (59.8 KiB) Viewed 618 times

Law enforcement in South Africa:
Prior to 2016, a person trading in pangolins had yet to be sentenced to a jail term in South Africa. In October 2016 the magistrate in Mankweng regional court sentenced an accused to a jail term of three years. In January 2017, a Zimbabwe national was sentenced to a term of seven years. Since that first jail sentence, there have been another seven jail terms handed down, including three of seven years each.

Temminck’s Ground Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) are locally protected by the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, Act 10 of 2004 (with 2013 revisions). The Temminck’s Ground Pangolin is nationally listed as a Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS). A fine not exceeding ZAR 10 million (or three-times the commercial value of the specimen in respect of which the offense was committed, whichever is greater) or imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years, or both such a fine and prison sentence may be imposed.