18 million USD worth of African elephant tusks, pangolin scales and other wildlife skulls and bones have been seized by Malaysian authorities at Port Klang - their biggest seizure to date.
The container of poached goods was discovered behind sawn timber following checks on a ship on July 10, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department has confirmed. Officials did not give further details and it was unclear if the container was meant to be shipped to other parts of Asia.
The size of the haul is unprecedented in Malaysian history. It included 6,000kg (13,227 pounds) of elephant tusks, 100kg (220 pounds) of pangolin scales, 25kg (55 pounds) of rhino horns and 300kg (661 pounds) of animal parts including bones and horns.
“This medley of threatened species in a single consignment is concerning,” Kanitha Krishnasamy, director for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, said in a statement. “It certainly verifies the suspicion that criminals continue to use Malaysian ports to move contraband wildlife.”
It is important to understand that these illegal trades are still on-going because there is still a demand for these goods. Although trades in the world’s eight species of the pangolin is completely banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), it is still said to be the world’s most trafficked mammal. Their scales are often used in Traditional Chinese Medicines for their “otherworldly medical efficacy”. Yet, people are not aware that the nutritional value of pangolin scales is equivalent to that of human nails, which are also made of keratin. The demand for pangolin and products derived from them is purely cultural. The same goes with elephant tusks and rhino horns. People have assumed magical medical properties from these animal body parts that are essential to the animals’ survivals, and have exploited the wildlife for very little to none of pseudo efficacy. Is it really worth it to drive these species extinct for superstition?
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Source:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/19/malaysia-finds-contraband-wildlife-items-on-ship