Pangolin Stories
An estimated 1 million pangolins were trafficked in the last ten years, though this number may be conservative given the volume of recent pangolin scale seizures. Learn what WWF and partners are doing to stop the extinction of this elusive mammal.
Historically pangolins were poached primarily for bushmeat, with their scales cast aside as byproducts. Over the last decade, however, the price fetched for skins, scales and the whole animal in countries like Vietnam and China, as well as in the US, has resulted in decimated populations. All eight species of pangolin are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the highest level of international law.With an increase in connectivity and ease of sharing content around the world, the trafficking of these animals has been exacerbated by an unlikely culprit; the Internet. And they aren’t alone. The world’s most endangered species, from elephants, to rhinos and tigers, can all be found with a scroll or a swipe across everyday apps. Criminals now have access to the world’s biggest marketplace through e-commerce, social media and search platforms, enabling them to advertise illegally traded species and process transactions with minimal risk.
Bringing together the largest online companies to fight illegal online trade of wildlife
WWF, along with partners TRAFFIC and IFAW, launched the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online in 2018 to unite the tech sector in shutting down this open route for illegal trade. Companies work together with wildlife experts to strengthen and harmonize wildlife policies, train enforcement staff to better detect endangered species and their products, educate billions of users about wildlife trafficking and how to report illegal products, enhance automated detection systems such as image recognition, and share learning across the industry. In March 2020, Coalition companies reported blocking or removing more than 3.3 million listings that violated wildlife policies. The full progress report can be accessed here.
Given the scale and ever-evolving nature of the Internet, Coalition activities aim to be inclusive and focused on long-term, sustained impact. With this thinking, the Cyber Spotter Program was launched in 2017 to catalyze citizen science to help detect and report illegal wildlife products across the web. To date, a conservation and tech company volunteers have flagged nearly 10,000 endangered species listings that have been removed by company partners. And this is just the start.
