Critically endangered pangolin captured on camera in SW China

A Chinese pangolin was captured on camera roaming in Tongbiguan Nature Reserve of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The scale-covered mammal has suffered a drastic population decline due to habitat loss and poaching and is believed to be the most trafficked animal around the world. Most of the eight species are endangered, and Chinese pangolins have been listed as "critically endangered" on the Red List by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A Chinese non-governmental organization on environmental protection claimed in June 2019 that Chinese pangolins were "functionally extinct" on the Chinese mainland. 

In June 2020, it became listed as species under top-class state protection in China, instead of the previous second-class state protection. 

China has also removed pangolins from the list of animals that can be used for preparing traditional Chinese medicine, a major step in the country's wildlife protection efforts.

Editor: John Li