Sure enough, right after I left the country,police and wildlife officials intercepted the
shipment and arrested six people. The pango-
lin scales had arrived by truck from the Central
African Republic, where it’s likely that traffick-
ers had amassed them from many smaller- scale
traders there, as well as from traders in Camer-
oon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The plan, said Eric Kaba Tah, of Last Great Ape,
was to drive the shipment to Douala, where the
smugglers would sell it up a level on the supply
chain. Often, the next destination for the scales
would be Nigeria, Tah said, then on to China,
Malaysia, or Vietnam.
“More and more we are seeing wildlifeproducts leave the central African subregion,
passing through Cameroon to Nigeria, where
traffickers believe wildlife law enforcement
is not as strong,” Tah said.
It helps traffickers that Africa-to-Asia smug-
gling routes already exist for other wildlife prod-
ucts. Shipments of pangolin scales have been
discovered alongside ivory, hippo teeth, and
other illicit animal parts.
The organized criminal networks that move
ivory also move pangolin scales, according to
the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a
Washington, D.C.-based research group that
focuses on illicit networks, including organized
wildlife crime. Such crimes are typically associ-
ated with money laundering, tax fraud, illegal
arms possession, and other offenses.Save Vietnam’s
Wildlife is caring for
this youngster until
it’s strong enough to
be released. Although
demand for pangolin
meat and scales exists
in Vietnam, many
pangolins rescued
there were destined for
China, where pharma-
ceutical companies sell
commercial traditional
medicines containing
scales. Experts say
practitioners and buyers
must be taught about
alternatives in the Chi-
nese medicine pharma-
copoeia to reduce
demand for these dis-
appearing animals.
100 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC