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The tides may finally be turning for Pangolins, often referred to as one of the most exploited creatures on Earth. In a move that's sending waves through conservation communities, China has announced that it will remove Guilingji, a traditional medicine containing pangolin ingredients, from its official 2025 Pharmacopoeia. The decision, confirmed in the revised edition released on the 25th of March, signals a significant step forward in wildlife protection and aligns with a growing global push to end the use of endangered animals in medicine.

Wildlife trafficking in Việt Nam has grown increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect in recent years as traders shift their operations to digital platforms. According to a Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network's (TRAFFIC) report, Việt Nam recorded approximately 22,500 online advertisements for wildlife and wildlife products from June 2021 to July 2023. Facebook dominates as the primary platform, accounting for 51.3 per cent of the activity, followed by Zalo at 35.5 per cent.

Demand for pangolins in Asia, where populations of these scaly mammals have dwindled, hasdriven traffickers to Africa, the only other continent where the increasingly endangered animals canbe found. Nigeria has become a hub for pangolin trafficking and other illegal trading of wildlife. Butauthorities have been cracking down, recently arresting a Chinese national suspected of being ahigh-level pangolin trafficker and targeting a supply network in a market in Lagos this month.

Number of smuggling cases involving ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn has 'dropped significantly' since 2021, government says. Hong Kong has seen no "significant seizures" of smuggled ivory and pangolin scales since 2021, the government has said, attributing it to heavier penalties while animal rights groups pointed to international efforts in tackling the illegal wildlife trade as also helping.

Speaking to journalists, the Customs Area Controller, MMA command, Micheal Awe, said the operation, which was with the support of the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), led to the arrest of five suspects involved in the illegal wildlife trade. According to the Customs boss, the 3,765kg pangolin scale seizures mark the first major global seizure of its kind in 2025. He argued that the seizure highlighted both the persistent threat to pangolin species and the heightened vigilance of the NCS in dismantling these criminal networks.

People have asked us, "why pangolins?" We answer: they are the most trafficked mammals in the world - they matter, and need our help. But what does trafficking mean? It means pangolins are stolen - stolen from their habitats, stolen from the people whose traditions depend on them, stolen from the fabric of nature and culture. Driven by greed, ignorance and depravity, trafficking is a crime without mercy. The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP)'s Paul Hilton has published his account of a recent bust of pangolin smugglers in Indonesia.

The frequent seizure of Pangolin scales from smugglers by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) further reinforces Nigeria’s notoriety as a place where illicit wildlife trade thrives with minimal checks. Available reports indicate that the collaboration between the NCS and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) has led to the seizure of about 25,000 tonnes of pangolin scales in the last four years. Last Friday, the NSC Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, announced the arrest of a notorious trafficker in possession of 9,493 kg of pangolin scales believed to be about 7.2 tonnes…

According to the report, three Namibians were arrested on 15 October at Katima Mulilo for being in the possession of a live pangolin. Chika Ilukena, Mayuni and Nicky Mundia were charged with illegal possession and dealing of controlled wildlife products. At Witvlei, three Namibians were arrested on 16 October when they were caught with an oryx carcass.

Mangochi Police have arrested Group Village Headman Maundu aged 49 and Rashid White Jusa, 55, over possession of pangolin.

According to the latest wildlife crime report, Petrus van Rensburg was arrested at Ariamsvlei on 9 October with 10 oryx carcasses. He was charged for the illegal hunting of huntable game. In another incident, Kaserandu Tjiumbua was arrested at Kamdesha on 10 October for poisoning four lions and two spotted hyenas. He was charged with illegal hunting of game and for administering poison. At Rundu, Dominikus Ndara was arrested on 11 October for being in the possession of a python skin. He was charged for the illegal possession and dealing of controlled wildlife products.

The connections between poaching and human-wildlife conflict in conservancies are a significant local conservation concern. Meanwhile, poaching is compromising the ability of local communities to legally use natural resources to support local livelihoods, and reduces wildlife available for local economic development. This is according to the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Alka Bhatia. She was speaking at a signing ceremony of the 'integrated approach to proactive management of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife crime in hotspot landscapes in Namibia' project…

At least 369 alleged poachers have been arrested in the last nine months, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism says. "Of these cases, 100 are related to pangolin poaching and trafficking, 64 to elephant poaching and trafficking, while 113 are related to rhino poaching and trafficking," ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda says. Over the last five years, elephant poaching has declined from 50 cases in 2017 to five thus far this year, while rhino poaching declined from 81 cases in 2018 to 14 this year. Ministry officials last week discovered two carcasses…

The Nation in August reported the arrest of three Guineans and a Nigerian, and the recovery of N22 billion worth of pangolin scales, claws and elephant tusks from the suspects. Addressing reporters at the Customs Training School, Ikeja, where the seized items were displayed, National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Deputy Controller Joseph Attah, said experts from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Department of Forestry, would conduct a DNA test on the pangolin scales to know the country where the animals were killed.

Rustenbrug: A 25-year-old man, arrested for allegedly selling a pangolin for R200 000, was released on warning at the Kuruman Magistrate's Court, the Hawks in Northern Cape said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Nomthandazo Mnisi said Sipho Bosman appeared in court on Monday, facing a charge of illegal possession of endangered species, in terms of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004. "The suspect was arrested on Friday, October 1, 2021, after information surfaced about someone who was allegedly selling a pangolin for R200 000".

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that its officers have again, for the second time in two months, intercepted a huge catche of Pangolin scale worth N1.7billion in Lagos. This is even as the NCS revealed that findings have indicated that Nigeria is a conduit pipe being used by a yet to be identified international cartel in this illegal trade. Recall that the NCS in August had intercepted a huge catche of Pangolin scales worth N22billion in Lagos.