US nature service wants endangered status for more pangolins

STIFFER PENALTIES

- SIMON NEEDHAM

THE US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it plans to declare seven species of pangolin endangered, a move meant to stiffen penalties for those who poach and smuggle “the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal”.

The pangolin, which looks like a cross between an anteater and an armadillo, holds the distinction of being the only mammal on Earth covered head to tail in scales.

But that scaly shield, and people's quest for it, has led to the undoing of pangolin populations. Demand for both pangolin scales and meat has driven the animal to the edge of extinction - and may have played a role in instigating the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fish and Wildlife Service posted a Federal Register notice this week proposing to add all species of pangolins to the endangered species list.