日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Melting pot

The pangolin is in need of a PR campaign

By Rosemary Bogler | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-26 08:06
Share
Share - WeChat

The Chinese pangolin is said to be extinct in the wild. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Do you know what a pangolin is? An instrument, guessed one friend. Term for a baby panda, perhaps? A tropical fruit grown in Indonesia, was another oddly specific response.

I've been conducting this haphazard survey ever since I came across the pangolin in a story about an illegal wild animal trafficking operation.

While having a low profile with the general public, it seems the pangolin is well-known in the black market trade in dead or live animals. That's right, the pangolin is an animal. Imagine an aardvark with an even more impressive suit of armor and an endearing habit of curling up into a tight ball.

The very scales designed to protect it from predators are exactly what has made it a target for illegal hunting. Their defense mechanism of rolling up in a ball may be enough to confuse lions, but, in a cruel twist, it makes it easy for hunters to simply pick them up.

All eight variations of the pangolin from Asia and Africa are now among the most endangered mammals. Wildlife organizations estimate 100,000 pangolins are captured each year, fetching up to $3,000 a kilogram. Pangolin meat is a delicacy and their tough scales are either turned into decoration or dried for use in traditional medicine in Asia.

So why hasn't anyone who doesn't want to eat them know about them?

Clearly, this scaly critter needs better PR.

Infographic: Saving pangolins

Hampering their cause is that you're unlikely to see a pangolin in a zoo. No wild animal enjoys being caged, but it seems the pangolin really can't hack it, becoming stressed, depressed and dying early. It's hard to mount a successful for campaign for an animal that 99 percent of the population will never see in real life, let alone have your photo taken with one.

Perhaps part of the reason they don't farewell in captivity is because not much is known about them. We know they eat ants, but their diet may include all kinds of other bugs. We don't know how long they live in the wild or much about their breeding habits. They are mammals of mystery.

It's a vicious cycle, without much love for the creature, there's little pressure to throw precious scientific research funding dollars at it.

They haven't been completely forgotten. There are admirable and hardworking people dedicated to shutting down the illegal pangolin trade and running rehabilitation centers in Asia on shoestring budgets. There is World Pangolin Day and you can buy a "save pangolins" T-shirt online.

But without a significant increase in support, these mammals of mystery are at serious risk of disappearing entirely before most people even know they exist.

It may not be as cute and cuddly as a panda, or as strong as a rhino, but it only takes an online image search to see this peculiar creature has potential. They're shy, nonaggressive and their bizarre scaly shell has earned them cute nicknames such as "walking pinecone" and "modern day dinosaur".

And I haven't even mentioned their super sticky tongue can be longer than their body, ideal for scooping up ants.

So now the panda is off the endangered list, let's dedicate some of our animal love and social media space to this bizarre, misunderstood creature.

 

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产精品吹潮在线观看中文 | 亚洲精品一区二区三区在线 | 国产精品综合网 | 亚洲蜜桃AV色情精品成人 | 人人爱免费在线观看 | 99动漫| 激情一区 | 免费自拍偷拍 | 欧美不卡 | 色综合综合色 | 日本高清视频www夜色资源网 | 亚洲ci网| 久久精品视频5 | www.久久久.com| 亚洲永久| 欧美aⅴ| 日韩欧美视频一区二区三区 | 久久精品美女 | 欧美无乱码久久久免费午夜一区 | 97在线 | 亚洲 | 久久好在线视频 | 99国产精品| 欧美专区视频 | 色在线视频网站 | 97av在线 | 国产午夜精品理论片 | 久久免费看少妇高潮A片JA小说 | 日韩精品第一页 | 毛片免费观看完整版 | 午夜寂寞影院在线观看 | 丝袜诱惑中文字幕 | 欧美激情xxxx| 国产成久久免费精品AV片天堂 | 国产激情一区二区三区四区 | 亚洲国产日韩欧美综合久久 | 久久久久久亚洲 | 欧洲免费在线视频 | 久久人人爽人人爽人人 | 男女全黄做爰视频免费看 | 手机在线看片国产日韩生活片 | 欧美特级黄色 |