Economies of scale risk extinction - 18th March 2022

Pressures are mounting on the pangolin, the world's most trafficked animal, as poaching and habitat loss push them to the edge of extinction.

Caring for pangolins at Liberia's Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, Juty Deh Jr points the blame squarely at humans.

Juty Deh Jr: So naturally the pangolin don't have any predators – except we the humans. Because when he get afraid, he will roll into a ball. Rolling into a ball would actually save the pangolin, but it also make it easier for we the human to just pick it up and do anything to it."

Outlawing all hunting and trade in pangolins has put Liberia's government on a collision course with local bushmeat customs. Although on the menu for countless generations, hunting of this armoured anteater's increasingly driven by demand for its scales, which are a highly sought after ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

Traders from China and Vietnam are offering over 350 dollars for a kilogramme of scales in a country where the population routinely subsists on two dollars a day. Liberia's economy's still reeling from its recent civil wars and the Ebola pandemic, meaning that legislation protecting pangolins is paid little heed.

In response, Liberia's Forestry Development Authority's deployed its Wildlife Crime Task Force, which raids markets offering pangolin products for sale. These duties are undertaken in tandem with outreach programmes. Assistant Coordinator Edward Appleton's in a battle for hearts and minds.

Edward Appleton: The message is getting through to everybody. There were a lot of workshops, lot of awareness, and we've been saying this for a long, long time. For over three years we've been saying this. But, you know, the people are so stubborn, you know. If, there will always be law breakers, so, for us to do our job."

Confiscating and incinerating pangolin products is met with vociferous objections from hunters and sellers, who rely on the trade to survive. Speaking anonymously, one hunter articulated that if the government wanted the ban, it was incumbent upon them to create alternative employment opportunities.

Hunter: "It because of poverty – me go to hunt. Then they, when the government is saying that they, we boy stop killing any bear or this animal, they have to open a avenue for to get a job, so can get money to sustain our home."