Ivory Coast burns 3 tonnes of pangolin scales

An officer of the Ivory Coast’s Water and Forests ministry lstands next to bags of pangolin scales seized from poachers in 2017 and 2018 and burnt on March 3, 2020 in the suburb of Abidjan. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP)

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AFP) — Ivory Coast officials on Tuesday burnt three tonnes of scales of the pangolin, the most trafficked mammal on Earth.

The scales were seized in raids in 2017 and 2018, following which some 20 people were arrested.

Beijing announced a total ban on the sale and consumption of the pangolin after the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The scaly mammal — listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) as threatened with extinction — is a traditional delicacy across China and much of southeast Asia.

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 22, 2019 shows a Formosan pangolin at the Taipei Zoo. – The endangered pangolin may be the link that facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China, Chinese scientists said on February 7, 2020. Researchers at the South China Agricultural University have identified the scaly mammal as a “potential intermediate host,” the university said in a statement, without providing further details. (Photo by Sam YEH / AFP)

“It was an international trafficking network that was dismantled and 3.6 tonnes of scales were burnt,” Minister of Forests Alain Richard Donwahi said after setting three lots on fire in the economic capital Abidjan.

He said the scales were worth “millions”, adding: “We are fighting poaching and also trafficking in protected species.”

A picture taken on March 3, 2020 shows pangolin scales seized from poachers in 2017 and 2018 and burnt by the Ivory Coast’s Waters and Forests ministry in the suburb of Abidjan. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP)

“Pangolin scales are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine … and in Vietnam.

“In Asia, the price can go up to $ 1,000 per kg,” he said.

The international sale of pangolins was outlawed in 2016 under the CITES convention against species exploitation.

The illegal trafficking of wild species is estimated by the WWF to be worth around $15 billion annually, particularly among booming Asian markets.

© Agence France-Presse