Abstract
Abstract All eight pangolin species are threatened with extinction, largely through demand for their products including scales, meat and body parts. The demand for pangolin scales has gained attention from many conservation groups due to the large volumes involved in illegal trade. Market demand in China is one of the major drivers for international illegal trade according to confiscation reports, and many conservation interventions have been attempted to reduce this demand. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) community plays a key role in regulating legal trade and combating illegal trade in pangolin scales. However, this community has been largely overlooked by previous conservation interventions directed at the pangolin scale trade. There has also been little research into the involvement of the TCM community in pangolin scale trade in China. To fill these knowledge gaps, we interviewed TCM doctors from 41 hospitals, shop owners/assistants from 90 TCM shops, two TCM wholesalers, and 2,168 members of the general public in Henan and Hainan provinces, China. Respondents' knowledge of and attitudes towards the pangolin scale trade were investigated using semi‐structured and structured questionnaires, with a total of 2,301 respondents. Our results show that TCM practitioners generally have poor awareness of the illegal nature of their behaviours and pangolin scale products involved. Awareness is particularly poor among participants at the end of the trade chain (i.e. end sellers). The public also generally lacked understanding of pangolin products in markets. Results also show that 20 (71%) of 28 doctors believed that the use of pangolin scales in at least some, if not all, treatments could be substituted by other ingredients. These findings suggest that raising awareness of the legality of pangolin scale products and petitioning TCM communities to use alternative substitutes for these products could constitute feasible and effective pangolin conservation interventions. This study provides the first insights into the knowledge of and attitudes towards the pangolin scale trade from the perspective of TCM practitioners, and suggests that collaborating with the TCM community is necessary to combat this illegal trade. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Highlights
Pangolins (Mammalia: Pholidota) are a highly specialised order of mammals covered with scales instead of fur
Our results show that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners generally have poor awareness of the illegal nature of their behaviours and pangolin scale products involved
This study provides the first insights into the knowledge of and attitudes towards the pangolin scale trade from the perspective of TCM practitioners, and suggests that collaborating with the TCM community is necessary to combat this illegal trade
Summary
Pangolins (Mammalia: Pholidota) are a highly specialised order of mammals covered with scales instead of fur. They feed mostly on ants and termites, and play an important role in tropical and subtropical ecosystems across Asia and Africa by regulating populations of these insects (Cabana et al, 2017; Ofusori & Caxton-Martins, 2008). All eight species of pangolins are threatened with extinction by illegal harvesting and trading of wild populations, which often involves confiscated pangolin products measured in tons (Aisher, 2016; Challender & Hywood, 2012; Challender, Waterman, & Baillie, 2014). Products involved in the illegal pangolin trade can be grouped into three types: meat, scales and body parts. China has been identified as one of the major demand countries, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (hereafter TCM) has been shown to be linked with illegal trade in pangolin scales through illegal products found in markets and shops (Xu, Guan, Lau, & Xiao, 2016; Yin, Meng, Xu, & Liu, 2015)
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