On Tuesday, navy officers seized 104 pangolins from wildlife traffickers who were trying to smuggle the animals along the Mekong River into Laos, from which they would eventually be smuggled to China.
Pangolins, also referred to as “scaly anteaters,” have become heavily endangered as collectors continue to prize them for their scales, meat and relative rarity.
Two men were arrested in connection with the smuggling operation as they tried to load their pangolins onto a boat.
The Bangkok Post reports that the pangolins most likely originated in southern Thailand or Malaysia.
