The health crisis global caused by the Covid-19 has had the pangolin (order of which there are eight different species) among its passive protagonists.
The possibility, so far not demonstrated, that specimens of these placental mammals covered with scales were transmitting agents (vectors) of the new coronavirus It has been shared by the suspicion, also to be confirmed, that the intermediary animals were the bats.
In both cases, if any of them is confirmed, the truth is that neither pangolins nor bats could be to blame for transmitting the coronavirus because in reality this responsibility should be attributed to people who could have captured, held in captivity, slaughtered and consumed any of these wild animals.
One of the paradoxes caused by the pandemic due to Covid-19 is that prevention measures against this coronavirus (with the technical name SARS-CoV-2) will help the survival of pangolins, one of the groups of animals most affected at scale. worldwide for trade (legal and illegal) of exotic species.
Pangolin scales are highly prized by traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine
(EIA-Singapore Customs)
The sale and purchase of pangolins, for consumption as meat and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, has registered a notable decrease in recent months and now, the tip to this trade (or illegal traffic) may come with the decision announced this week by the China Famacopea (official book or registry of commonly used medicinal substances) to remove pangolin scales from the compendium of products that can be used in the practices of traditional Chinese medicine.
The update of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia also eliminates the use of Huanglian Yanggan pills, in this case because the recipe of this traditional preparation contains Yemingsha (bat feces), according to an article published by the official Chinese specialized magazine.
Health times
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More protection measures
On June 5, the Chinese State Forestry Administration approved a notice on new pangolin protection measures, including new controls on trade in live specimens and derived products such as scales.
“Improving the level of protection for pangolins is an urgent situation and a general trend.” Professor Sun Quanhui, Senior Scientific Adviser of the China Office at the World Association for Animal Protection has indicated, according to the magazine Health times.
Chinese regulations aim to strictly adapt the protection standards contained in the international species trade agreement (CITES).
The order of the folidotos, popularly known as pangolins, includes eight living species
(2630ben / Getty)
The pangolin trade is now banned in China, which is good news for endangered pangolin species, according to this official Chinese medical journal.
Wu Shibao, a professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences at South China Normal University, once said that the number of pangolin populations in China has decreased by 90% since the 1970s, and even more so which means pangolins are very rare in nature and just one step away from extinction. From a protection perspective, it is beneficial to protect pangolins in China and the world, indicates this official source.
Species control background
Despite being a magazine dedicated to medicine, in this article on Pharmacopoeia, Health Times recalls that “there are precedents for the cancellation of uses of wild animals in traditional medicine.” “In 1993, the State Council’s” Notice on the Ban on Trade in Rhinoceros and Tiger Bones “proposed that all commercial activities related to rhino horn and tiger bone be banned,” recalls this article in the Chinese medical magazine.
More information in ‘la Vanguardia’:
China’s social security stops paying for medicines with pangolin scales.
How the coronavirus can contribute to the salvation of the pangolin.
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