Pangolin: The Most Trafficked Animal in the World

Pangolins, sometimes called scaly anteaters, (though they’re not closely related to anteaters), are the only mammals with their own body armor. There is a good chance you’ve never heard of this animal even though it is, sadly, the most trafficked animal in the world.

First, Jennifer and Amber talk about cloning endangered animals. Is it a good idea? Cloning can be used to introduce new genes into a population, which is great, but will it lead to lax conservation or the introduction of animals that went extinct years ago, like the woolly mammoth?

This week’s topic, pangolins, comes from the Malay word pengguling, meaning "one who rolls up", because they literally roll up into a heavily armored ball when threatened. Their armor is so strong they’ve been known to survive being hit by cars.

Pangolins are threatened by poaching (for their meat and scales), which are used in Chinese traditional medicine, and because of heavy deforestation of their natural habitats. As of January 2020, all eight species of pangolin have a conservation status listed as threatened, and some critically endangered.

New research has shown that maybe we got COVID-19 from pangolins, who got it from something that got it from bats. But if that is the case, (which we don’t know for sure), it would still be human’s fault for trafficking these adorable Pokémon like creatures.

Listen now to learn about pangolins and why they’re Better Than Human
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