This wildlife sanctuary is caring for pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammal

July 28, 2022

Pangolins are discovered throughout Africa and Asia, however all eight species are vulnerable to extinction, killed for his or her meat and to be used in conventional drugs. In Liberia, they’re generally referred to as “ants bears” owing to their very specific weight-reduction plan of ants and termites, and this sanctuary is a haven for them.

“Since I’ve began working with Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, I really feel like animal(s) are a part of me,” Deh Jr tells CNN. “So at any time when I see somebody hurting (an) animal, I really feel like they’re personally hurting me.”

Deh Jr joined the sanctuary when it opened 5 years in the past and says in that point he has cared for over 70 pangolins, most of which have been introduced right here by the Liberian Forestry Improvement Authority after being confiscated, surrendered or orphaned because of the bushmeat commerce.

Many individuals additionally reside in forested areas. In Liberia, there’s a lengthy historical past of consuming bushmeat, from primates to civets (a cat-like mammal), and pangolin is taken into account a delicacy. Deh Jr grew up consuming the animal — one thing he’s ashamed of at present. “As a child residing together with your dad and mom you have no selection, since you can not present any meals for your self,” he explains. “So even when you do not need to eat bushmeat, you simply need to do it.”

A global commerce

However lately, one other menace to native pangolins has emerged. Susan Wiper, director of Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, says that some individuals are killing the animal to provide demand from China and Vietnam, the place its scales are utilized in conventional drugs.

Between 2014 and 2018 the variety of pangolin shipments seized globally elevated tenfold, in response to a 2020 report from the UN Workplace on Medicine and Crime. Most seizures have been in Asia, with the animals largely originating from Africa. Uganda and Togo have been the largest sources of pangolins, with the report noting that there had lately been massive seizures in Ivory Coast, involving Liberia because the supply nation. Earlier than 2009, most pangolin scales have been sourced in Asia, and the report famous that the expansion in African imports could possibly be due to a decline in Asian populations.

Whereas the WWF estimates that globally over a million pangolins have been poached prior to now decade, Wiper says actual statistics are arduous to return by. “No person’s bought any thought of the numbers in Liberia, so each pangolin that goes is a catastrophe actually,” she provides.

Their scaly armor protects them from virtually all predators — besides one. “Pangolins haven’t got pure enemies, besides people,” says Deh Jr. “In the event that they get a fright, they roll right into a ball, and no different animal can budge by means of the scales. However (that) additionally make it simple for people to simply decide it up and do no matter we need to do with it.”

The industrial commerce of those animals has been banned internationally and in 2016 the Liberian authorities launched a legislation making it unlawful to hunt, purchase, promote, seize, transport or eat protected species — which incorporates pangolins. However implementing this legislation stays a problem. Wiper explains that many individuals merely do not know it exists and says schooling and consciousness play a vital position in the way forward for conservation in Liberia.

Nonetheless, she stays hopeful that issues are altering. She says the Liberian Forestry Improvement Authority is enjoying an more and more lively position in confiscating protected species which have been taken from the wild.

Up to now 4 years Wiper says the sanctuary has taken in virtually 600 animals — from pangolins to dwarf crocodiles, monkeys and others. She says the primary goal is to rehabilitate and return as a lot Liberian wildlife to the forest as they will.

For Deh Jr, there are few larger rewards than this. “Placing it again within the wild you really really feel proud,” he says. “You are feeling you might be transferring ahead since you are actually saving little animals.”