Abstract
The illegal wildlife trade represents an urgent conservation challenge, but measuring, understanding, and designing interventions to address it is a complex task. As some of the world's most illegally trafficked wild mammals, pangolins are regularly observed in the illegal wildlife trade, but little is known of the intricacies of the trade at local levels, particularly for lesser-known species such as the Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis). This research represents the first range-wide study to concurrently document local use and trade of the Philippine pangolin across Palawan Province, Philippines, and provides new information on trade actors, dynamics, and the conditions that help to facilitate this industry. The study was carried out across 18 Palawan municipalities, covering all mainland municipalities, Araceli Island, and the Calamianes Island group. A mixed methods approach was used, combining 1,277 bean count surveys to investigate consumption and hunting levels, alongside 59 in-depth key informant interviews to better understand trade logistics and dynamics. Our results suggest that local use of the species is geographically widespread, but trade hubs were most frequently reported from northern municipalities. Several enabling conditions help facilitate trade across the province, and our data suggest the species may be contributing to the international pangolin trade at levels considerably higher than seizure records indicate.
Highlights
The illegal wildlife trade is a major threat to wildlife across many parts of the world
We demonstrate that local use of the species is occurring across Palawan Province, and trade in Philippine pangolins is occurring at levels considerably higher than previously thought
With existing knowledge otherwise limited to seizure records (Gomez and Sy, 2018; Sy and Krishnasamy, 2020) and few empirical studies (Schoppe and Cruz, 2008; Bayron, 2014), we provide the first estimates of levels of consumption and hunting for the Philippine pangolin across its geographic range, alongside upto-date insights into key trade hubs, actors and logistics, and the facilitating conditions that enable the trade to continue
Summary
The illegal wildlife trade is a major threat to wildlife across many parts of the world. Only since 2017 have all eight species been listed in Appendix I and all commercial trade in wild caught pangolins officially banned (Challender and O’Criodain, 2020) Today, overexploitation of both African and Asian species is recognised as one of the most significant threats to their conservation (Chong et al, 2020; Mahmood et al, 2020; Wu et al, 2020) and pangolins are thought to be some of the world’s most illegally trafficked wild mammals, with demand for pangolin parts and products driven for use in traditional Asian medicine and as a culinary delicacy (Challender et al, 2012; Xing et al, 2020; Olmedo et al, 2021), alongside the sale in wild meat markets across much of Sub-Saharan Africa (Ingram et al, 2016, 2017). With all eight species threatened with extinction and thought to be experiencing large declines, understanding how the pangolin trade works and operates at local levels will be crucial to design effective conservation strategies and reduce unsustainable exploitation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
