The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China
Wildlife conservationists are increasingly concerned about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) due to the demands it places on many threatened species. In particular, pangolin populations in both Asia and Africa have experienced drastic declines driven by illegal trade. However, few studies have atte...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pensoft Publishers
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Conservation |
| Online Access: | https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/95916/download/pdf/ |
| _version_ | 1797851972735336448 |
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| author | Yifu Wang Samuel T. Turvey Nigel Leader-Williams |
| author_facet | Yifu Wang Samuel T. Turvey Nigel Leader-Williams |
| author_sort | Yifu Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildlife conservationists are increasingly concerned about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) due to the demands it places on many threatened species. In particular, pangolin populations in both Asia and Africa have experienced drastic declines driven by illegal trade. However, few studies have attempted to determine the level of this demand for traded species. In this study, we use social science approaches to investigate the pangolin scale trade within China, based upon interviews with informants from hospitals and pharmaceutical shops in two Chinese provinces (Henan and Hainan). Doctors from 41 hospitals and shop owners or shop assistants from 134 pharmaceutical shops were interviewed between October 2016 and April 2017. We show that pangolin scales are under heavy demand and products are available in 34% of the shops and 66% of the hospitals included in this study. Sale quantities were found to vary substantially amongst sellers and no significant factors were found to correlate with sale quantity. Moreover, quantities of products traded by permitted legal sellers are estimated to greatly exceed the supply capacity of legal sources. There is an urgent need to reduce demand from TCM on pangolin scales and revise the current legal pangolin scale trade system. We also highlight the importance of incorporating the TCM sector into combating illegal wildlife trade and species conservation beyond pangolins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:25:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-460fe358881649068359abbf9f2e783e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1314-3301 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:25:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-460fe358881649068359abbf9f2e783e2023-04-05T08:11:04ZengPensoft PublishersNature Conservation1314-33012023-04-0152476110.3897/natureconservation.52.9591695916The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in ChinaYifu Wang0Samuel T. Turvey1Nigel Leader-Williams2IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist GroupInstitute of ZoologyUniversity of CambridgeWildlife conservationists are increasingly concerned about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) due to the demands it places on many threatened species. In particular, pangolin populations in both Asia and Africa have experienced drastic declines driven by illegal trade. However, few studies have attempted to determine the level of this demand for traded species. In this study, we use social science approaches to investigate the pangolin scale trade within China, based upon interviews with informants from hospitals and pharmaceutical shops in two Chinese provinces (Henan and Hainan). Doctors from 41 hospitals and shop owners or shop assistants from 134 pharmaceutical shops were interviewed between October 2016 and April 2017. We show that pangolin scales are under heavy demand and products are available in 34% of the shops and 66% of the hospitals included in this study. Sale quantities were found to vary substantially amongst sellers and no significant factors were found to correlate with sale quantity. Moreover, quantities of products traded by permitted legal sellers are estimated to greatly exceed the supply capacity of legal sources. There is an urgent need to reduce demand from TCM on pangolin scales and revise the current legal pangolin scale trade system. We also highlight the importance of incorporating the TCM sector into combating illegal wildlife trade and species conservation beyond pangolins.https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/95916/download/pdf/ |
| spellingShingle | Yifu Wang Samuel T. Turvey Nigel Leader-Williams The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China Nature Conservation |
| title | The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China |
| title_full | The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China |
| title_fullStr | The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China |
| title_short | The scale of the problem: understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in China |
| title_sort | the scale of the problem understanding the demand for medicinal pangolin products in china |
| url | https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/article/95916/download/pdf/ |
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