Illegal pangolin trade in the Philippines

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TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 30 No. 1 (2018) 37
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preliminary study of the pangolin trade in the Philippines
by Schoppe and Cruz (2009), much of the trade in the
Philippine Pangolin is localised to meet demand for food
and for use in traditional medicine. They also revealed,
to a lesser extent, some international trade which is
suspected to be destined for Malaysia, from where it
then enters tracking chains to East Asia. However,
in general, there is very little documented data on the
exploitation of animals in Palawan, or to what extent
trade feeds a domestic or international market, let alone
the impact trade is having on the species’s population
(Cruz et al., 2007). The Philippine Pangolin is protected
in the Philippines which means no trade or hunting of
the species is allowed, not even by indigenous groups
for food or traditional medicine (Schoppe and Cruz,
2009). Similarly, as an Appendix I-listed species under
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) all international
commercial trade in wild-caught specimens is prohibited.
This study documents all known illegal trade of the
Philippine Pangolin through an analysis of seizures that
have occurred between 2001 and 2017 as well as through
anecdotal observations of trade in the country.
Methods
Seizure data for the period 2001–2017 were extracted
from a variety of sources, including unpublished PCSD
apprehension reports, Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR), TRAFFIC publications, open
source media, the CITES Trade Database, grey literature
and from several non-governmental organisations in
the Philippines. All records involving the Philippines
as a known origin, transit point or end destination were
Introduction
Pangolins are currently among the most heavily-
tracked mammals in the world (Newton et
al., 2008; Challender and Waterman, 2017).
Persistent demand continues to put pressure on
all eight extant pangolin species (Challender,
2011; Challender and Hywood, 2012; Gomez et al.,
2016a; Nijman et al., 2016; Xu et al., 2016). At least
67 countries and territories across six continents were
implicated in the tracking of pangolins between 2010
and 2015 indicating the global scale of illegal trade
and the associated threat to pangolins (Heinrich et al.,
2017). Pangolins are especially sought after in Africa and
Asia for their meat and scales, with the latter used for
traditional medicinal purposes (Wu et al., 2004; Wu and
Ma, 2007; Zhang and Yin, 2014; Nijman, 2015; Gomez
et al., 2016a, 2016b), while their meat is consumed as
a luxury dish or local source of protein (Mohapatra et
al., 2015; Shairp et al., 2016). As pangolin populations
in China and in neighbouring countries in South-east
Asia have dwindled over recent decades, harvesting
for the trade has moved southwards across the Asian
continent, with Malaysia and Indonesia currently among
the most important regional suppliers in international
tracking (Semiadi et al., 2009; Sopyan, 2009; Tuuga,
2009; Challender, 2011, IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist
Group, 2016; Gomez et al., 2017). Increasingly there has
also been some shift in trade from Asian species (likely
due to dwindling populations) to African species, with
intercontinental trade records involving large quantities
of pangolin scales (i.e. several tonnes) (Challender and
Hywood, 2012; Challender et al., 2016; Gomez et al.,
2016a; Heinrich et al., 2017; Hung and Chung, 2018).
The Philippines is home to one species of pangolin,
the Philippine or Palawan Pangolin Manis culionensis,
so named due to its restricted range on Palawan and
adjacent islands (Gaubert and Antunes, 2005; Lagrada
et al., 2014). According to Schoppe and Cruz (2009),
pangolins are unevenly distributed across the Palawan
faunal region, where they are considered more common
in the northern and central parts and rare in the south,
though further research on the status of the species is
needed. It is currently listed as Endangered on the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species as wild populations are
believed to have declined by more than 50% over a
period of 21 years. However, since 2015, the Palawan
Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) has listed
M. culionensis as Critically Endangered through the
issuance of PCSD Resolution No. 15-521. Aside from
its restricted range and habitat loss, subsistence hunting
and exploitation for trade (national and international) are
the biggest threats causing population declines (Schoppe
and Cruz, 2009). The full extent of illegal trade in the
Philippine Pangolin is unknown, but reportedly has
increased over the past decade (CITES, 2016). Based on a
An adult male Philippine Pangolin Manis culionensis
that was rescued from a street in Metro Manila, 2018.
EMERSON Y. SY / TRAFFIC
ILLEGAL PANGOLIN TRADE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Lalita Gomez and Emerson Y. Sy
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S H O R T R E P O R T
38 TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 30 No. 1 (2018)
included in this analysis. Unsubstantiated seizure records
were removed from the dataset. For this study, a “seizure
country” is dened as the country where the seizure took
place, a “source country” is dened as the rst known
point of a trade route, a “transit country” a country which
has functioned as both an importing and a re-exporting
country in the trade route, and a “destination country”
the last known point of a trade route. It should be noted
that the reported seizures likely represent an unknown
fraction of illegal trade, and therefore underrepresent its
true extent. In addition, due to inherent biases in the way
seizure data are reported (given varying levels of law
enforcement, reporting and recording practices, language
biases, NGO eorts and advocacy in dierent countries,
for example), this dataset should be interpreted with
caution and not presumed to be representing absolute
tracking trends or volumes.
Based on seizure data, a minimum number of
pangolins recorded in trade from parts seized was
estimated by either: counting whole or near-whole
specimens observed/seized (e.g. live animals, skins,
carcasses); or tallying quantities of body parts per seizure
(e.g. scales and meat) that form one whole individual.
Where the weight of an animal was given (e.g. meat in
kg), but no count, a minimum and a maximum gure of
whole estimated animals of the Philippine Pangolin was
calculated using 1.3–5.5 kg/animal (juveniles and adults)
(estimates based on data from Schoppe and Cruz, 2009,
and a seizure of three pangolins in which a combined
weight of 16.6 kg was reported). For scales, the authors
used 0.361 kg of scales per animal, following Zhou et
al. (2012) for the Sunda Pangolin as this is assumed to
be the closest value to the Philippine Pangolin, for lack
of any other reference. In all incidents, the minimum
and maximum estimated number of individual animals
was calculated, and a rounded average was used for
subsequent analysis.
Results and Discussion
A total of 39 seizure incidents were found in which the
Philippines was either implicated as a source country or
place of seizure. The total tracked volume was estimated
to be 3,537 pangolins. However, this number was largely
attributed to one incident in which 2,870 pangolins
were seized from a vessel that ran aground in a coral
reef in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (PCSD, unpubl.
report). The vessel was manned by Chinese nationals
and according to the arrested crewmen, the pangolins
were from Indonesia en route to China (Gomez et al.,
2017). The animals involved were later conrmed to be
Manis javanica based on molecular analysis (Luczon
et al., 2016) and this particular seizure has therefore
been omitted from further analysis considering that
the Philippines was not a source, transit or destination
country. Tracked volumes of pangolins in the remaining
38 incidents amounted to 667 individuals (Fig. 1).
Based on these data, seizures in the Philippines
appear to have increased slightly after 2010, peaking in
2012 and 2014. Similarly, the volume of pangolins seized
on average increased from 2010 onwards. Commodities
seized were individual specimens (it is uncertain whether
these were of live or dead animals) (n=12 incidents),
dead whole animals (n=12 incidents), meat and scales
(n=9 incidents) and live animals (n=5 incidents) (Fig. 2).
The majority of the seizures occurred within Palawan
province (n=29 incidents), with the remaining incidents
occurring on Luzon (n=5), Mindoro (n=2), Negros (n=1)
and Tablas (n=1). Fig. 3 shows the main trade hotspots
and volumes involved.
In most cases, the Philippines was implicated as a
source country as well as an end-use destination. Based
on the seizure incidents that occurred outside Palawan
province, there appears to be a local demand for pangolin
meat as a luxury food item and scales for traditional
medicine, particularly in Metro Manila. There were
at least ten seizures that implicated Manila as a major
market for pangolins, including a mixture of live and
Fig. 1. Total no. of seizures and total estimated no. of
animals seized involving the Philippines, 2001–2017.
Fig. 2. Pangolin trafcking volumes by commodities
seized, 2001–2017. Note: n = 667 animals seized; whole
animals, comprising live, dead and individuals = 323 animals;
meat and scales involving estimated number of whole
pangolin as described in the methodology = 344 animals.
No of seizures
No of seizures
No of animals
No of animals
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
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TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 30 No. 1 (2018) 39
S H O R T R E P O R T
frozen animals, presumably for the exotic food industry.
More recently, between January and March 2018, there
have been a further seven incidents of pangolins found
roaming the streets of Metro Manila and an additional
seizure of two live pangolins that were oered for sale,
but no arrests have been made to date in any of these
cases (TRAFFIC, 2018; Sy and Gomez, unpubl. data).
Foreign nationals (for example from mainland China
and Taiwan) residing in the country have also been
implicated in several seizures (Anon., 2012; Arcellaz,
2016; Palatino, 2017; DENR, unpubl. data). Whether this
feeds a local market catering to visitors and/or foreign
nationals residing in the country or an international
market remains uncertain. Live or frozen pangolins and
cooked pangolins, based on recent market observations
sell for PHP12,000 (USD233) and PHP14,000 (USD272),
respectively, in Metro Manila (Sy, unpubl. data).
International trade routes could not be determined
from the seizure data. This is due to the fact that many
of the records are without background information aside
from location of seizure and type and quantity of pangolin
parts seized. Most of the seizures occurred within cities
or municipalities in the Philippines, barring ve incidents
at the Puerto Princesa International Airport in Palawan
and two at the Palawan ports of El Nido Seaport and
Liminangcong Pier, respectively. However, the seizure
data demonstrate that the Philippine Pangolin is actively
being sought for local, national, and likely international
tracking, to meet demand for its meat and scales,
despite being a Critically Endangered endemic species
and one that is protected in the Philippines.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Considering its threatened status, the Philippine
Pangolin may be facing as perilous a fate as its other
Asian counterparts if immediate action is not taken
to clamp down on poaching and tracking of this
species. While there are scant data on wild populations,
available evidence suggests they are increasingly rare
and in decline. This is supported by decreasing catch of
pangolins by poachers in some areas, from an average
of 12 individuals a month in the 1990s to only one
a month, if at all, in 2013 (Challender and Waterman,
2017). Such declines are expected to continue if demand-
driven poaching of the species persists. This is further
exacerbated by their extremely restricted range to only
six islands in the Palawan faunal region and the loss of
suitable habitat occurring here (CITES, 2016). While
the PCSD and the Philippine Operations Group on Ivory
and Illegal Wildlife Trade (POGI) have been enforcing
applicable laws, many regional wildlife oces are
relatively inactive. The authors urge the national and
regional wildlife authorities to enhance enforcement
eorts and to take immediate and appropriate action
against anyone found hunting, selling or in possession
of pangolins and to prosecute them to the full extent
of the law. Greater resources should also be allocated
to investigate and identify primary traders, poachers
and corrupt practices at seaports and airports involved
in pangolin tracking, and appropriate charges led
in court. Conservation organisations should continue
to monitor the trade in pangolins and assess the scale
of the threat, including its impact on local and national
populations, and inform authorities of emerging trends
in order to secure the long-term survival of this species.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Chris R. Shepherd, Kanitha Krishnasamy
and Dan Challender for providing valuable input to improve
a previous draft of this paper, Adelina Benavente-Villena
(PCSD) and Mundita Lim (Biodiversity Management
Bureau-DENR) for providing unpublished apprehension
reports on pangolin seizures in the Philippines, and local
contacts, who shall remain anonymous, for providing
critical information. They also thank Hauser Bears and
an anonymous donor for their support and generous funds
that make their work on pangolins possible.
Fig. 3. Key locations of pangolin seizures in the
Philippines and quantities seized between 2001
and 2017 based on available data.
Note: the locations represent the general region where
the seizures took place.
◄
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