An endangered pangolin has been taken hostage by a group of rebels in the the Democratic Republic of Congo who sent a ransom request to conservationists for the animal’s release. It sparks fears that the kidnap could lead to a trend in using wildlife as bargaining power, the activists negotiating with the kidnappers are attempting to rescue the pangolin without payment. "This is something new and alarming," Adams Cassinga, founder of Conserv Congo, said after "proof of life" photographs of the prized animal were sent to community conservationists. "If we pay them, then we are doomed, the whole park and all the apes would be taken hostage." "They have seen how much money is spent on conservation issues and that rare animals are prized by the international community, and they would say even more so than the poor communities who live in the same area," he added, after the pangolin was captured on the border of the eastern rainforests of the DRC.