A shipment from Nigeria was seized on Monday after Hong Kong Customs found it to contain 7.2 tons of suspected scales from endangered pangolins on Monday.
The shipment, which was declared to be charcoal, arrived at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in a 20-foot container from Africa earlier this week. Officials inspected the container as part of a risk assessment, and found around 7,200kg of suspected pangolin scales, with an estimated market value of HKD4.6 million.
Under Hong Kong law, anyone found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a license could face a maximum fine of HKD5 million and two years’ imprisonment.
Pangolins are the most illegally trafficked animal on earth, surpassing the trafficking of even rhinoceroses and elephants. The endangered animals, which are also known as scaly anteaters, are valued in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine as their keratin-rich scales are believed to have healing properties — and are literally being eaten out of existence.
Learn more about these elusive animals and the fight to save them in the Coconuts TV documentary “Guardians of the Pangolin”:
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