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A key motion under consideration at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress would create guidelines for managing the wildlife pet trade, and that’s key because across the world, millions of live animals - mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians - are taken from the wild every year. The illegal and unsustainable wildlife pet trade depends on the appeal of live animals whose capture leaves forests and grasslands silent, stripped of the pollinators, seed dispersers and predators that keep ecosystems functioning.

Four men were arrested after allegedly being found in possession of perlemoen and diving equipment near Port Alfred on Tuesday. An off-duty Port Alfred police officer apprehended four men after allegedly catching them with about R13,000 worth of perlemoen. Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said the officer, based at a unit in Port Alfred, received information about possible perlemoen poachers in the Kasouga area.

Pangolins (Order: Pholidota) are considered a very rare and threatened group of mammal taxa, and are widely recognized as the most trafficked mammals globally. In recent years, Africa has become an increasingly important source to supply demand, particularly from Asian markets. However, the extent and scale of the trade within South Africa remains poorly documented. Our study aimed to investigate the extent of the illicit trade in the Temminck’s pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in South Africa between 2016 and 2024.