Last year, PAL brought to your attention the plight of the most trafficked animal in the world: the meek pangolin. These shy creatures are on the verge of extinction: more than a million have been killed in the last decade. Their scales and meat sell for high prices in Asia.

The situation is so bad that pangolins are now a rarity in Asia. The trade has now shifted to Africa, where the largest shipments of pangolin bodies and scales come from Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Kenya, Tanzania, Congo and South Africa have all been implicated in the trade.

The majority of pangolins are exported from Nigeria and Cameroon, and end up in China. Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar are also consumers of these endangered creatures.

Andrea Matthee, from the Political Animal Lobby (PAL), said that her organization is deeply concerned that - unless the world takes urgent action - pangolins will be no more. “The opening up of an African trade in pangolins could tip the balance because law enforcement in many of the countries where they are traded is poor and there seems to be an almost complete lack of concern by the governments,” she said. “Pangolins are likely to be extinct in the next twenty years at current poaching and trading rates,” she added.

The consumption of pangolin meat has been linked to the current worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus. In response, the Chinese government has temporarily closed ‘wet’ markets where living and dead pangolins are sold.

But it is not the meat trade alone that is making them disappear: their scales are traded by the ton for use in traditional medicine.

Pangolin scales are seized by the ton in Asian ports, with up to 27 tons amongst the largest hauls. Each ton requires from 300 to almost 1600 pangolins: 27 tons would require anything from 7500 to 43 000 of these shy, affectionate animals. Sanctioned by the Chinese government, 200 different pharmaceutical companies there use the powdered scales in 60 different types of medicine for treating anything from arthritis to rheumatism.

Pangolins are under threat. Their extinction is imminent and once again it’s all thanks to mankind. More than one million pangolins have been poached or trafficked in the last decade alone and this lucrative business is thriving.

In some parts of the world pangolins are beaten and suffocated with smoke, then boiled alive. Some restaurants in Vietnam even go a step further and slaughter live pangolins at the dinner table.

The Political Animal Lobby’s (PAL) is actively involved in global campaigns to get governments to pass stricter laws and mitigate this catastrophe.

“We cannot allow this horrendous slaughter to continue, something has to be done. These solitary and peaceful creatures are one of the most trafficked mammals in the world, accounting for as much as 20% of all illegal wildlife trade,” said PAL’s Andrea Matthee.

Pangolins are mainly traded for their scales, which Chinese medicine incorrectly states can be used to treat several illnesses. The plight of the poor pangolin dates as far back as 1820, where King George III was presented with a coat and helmet made with their scales.

“This trade is still thriving today, 200 years down the line and it has always been driven by money. The scales from a single pangolin can fetch up to $100,000 (£81,000) on the black market,” explained Matthee.

All eight pangolin species are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being threatened or vulnerable. Two of these species are critically endangered.

International trade in pangolins is prohibited in terms of the global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) agreement and yet the trafficking continues unabated.

In April, 2019, Malaysian authorities uncovered 27 tonnes of animals and scales – a record breaking bust to the value of over $2 million (£1.6 million). Moreover, in Singapore 26 tonnes were intercepted and in Vietnam five tonnes were confiscated after being found hidden under a container of cashew nuts.

Beyond unfounded medicinal ignorance, pangolin meat is also treated as a delicacy and forms a big part of the multibillion-dollar bush meat trade.

“It’s time for us to rise up and fight for these voiceless creatures. Authorities around the world continue to turn a blind eye to this scourge but we will continue to fight for the survival of these creatures because if we don’t do it, who will?” said Matthee.

Pangolins, or scaly anteaters as they are otherwise known, are solitary and secretive mammals that live in underground burrows or tree hollows. They are found in parts of Asia and across the African continent and are the only mammals in the world to be covered in scales. They’ve got small heads, long snouts and even longer tongues for slurping up ants from inside ant nests.

The Political Animal Lobby is deeply concerned that the chaos surrounding Brexit is very bad indeed for animals.

80 percent of current animal welfare legislation comes from EU law. If the UK leaves Europe on October 31, as planned by the Conservative government, UK animal welfare may well suffer enormous setbacks. A raft of new legislation will be needed to protect animals at a time when the country will be wrestling with an array of serious legislative issues. There is no indication from the government that animal welfare will be on any priority list.

As just one example of the scope of the problem is that a million pets have travelled with their owners from the UK to Europe on Eurostar since 2013. The UK government’s response to this is to state that pet travel requirements will change on the day Brexit happens, and that it is possible from then on - and we quote: “You must have your dog, cat or ferret microchipped and vaccinated against rabies before it can travel. You must wait three months from the date the successful blood sample was taken before you can travel.”

The hardship for pets and owners, should this happen, is hard to overstate. The tests will be expensive and the paperwork time consuming, holidays will become more difficult to arrange and finance, and pets more likely to be abandoned.

There are massive concerns about the welfare of farm animals. Britain will have to urgently negotiate new trade agreements, which will almost certainly be made with countries with lower animal welfare standards. Britons could be faced with a flood of beef from the USA where cattle are given growth hormones, and pork which is produced from pigs raised in sow stalls, where the sow is barely able to move and unable to turn around and is without proper bedding. Sow stalls have been banned in the EU since January 2013. Then, there is the problem of chickens as many countries still allow battery cages that are inherently cruel to the fowls.

Animal lovers may well have no way of knowing under what conditions animals are raised. Abusing animals is cheaper than raising them under reasonable conditions which means that meat produced by cruel treatment will be cheaper than that produced domestically where rules are stricter. Economists predict financial hard times for the UK after Brexit, and people will naturally lean towards cheaper products. The consequences are obvious: poorer animal welfare and poorer UK farmers.

The UK has always been a key player in the EU on international animal welfare matters to ensure the EU has a block vote in international bodies like the International Whaling Committee, and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has animal welfare and protection at its heart, from elephants to whales. Any change brought about by Brexit must ensure that the UK’s commitment remains unwavering, using its influence to protect endangered animals and their habitats.

PAL is working to support MPs and prospective MPs from any party, who are animal friendly and prepared to fight for laws and regulations that protect animals. In these uncertain times, we urgently need your help to ensure that animals are not casualties in
post Brexit times. Please donate today to ensure that PAL will be in a position to ensure that animal welfare does not become a forgotten issue.

by David Gorin

We have a bond with all animals. But, sharing a 98.5% DNA match, our very essence is closest to chimpanzees.

Our closeness accounts for the similarity of our attributes and expressions. We laugh when we play, we display affection by hugging, and we both communicate with facial and other gestures.

Chimpanzees, together with orangutans and gorillas, are known as our planet’s ‘great apes’. Just 50 years ago, there were about a million chimpanzees roaming the savannas and tropical forests of central and West Africa. Now, tragically, there are only between 170,000-200,000 left in the wild, and they are listed as ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), meaning they face a very high risk of extinction.

Of the four subspecies, Western chimpanzees, inhabiting the corridor from Senegal to Ghana with the largest concentrations in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, are critically endangered. Recent studies calculate just 35,000 remaining. “We’re desperately concerned about the plummeting numbers of all chimpanzee subspecies,” says Andrea Matthee, campaigner at the UK’s Political Animal Lobby (PAL). “But for the Western chimpanzee it’s reached crisis stage.”

People are driving chimpanzees toward extinction. The declines have been dramatic. We’ve lost 80% of the world’s chimpanzees in the quarter century to 2014. The outlook is extremely concerning: the IUCN forecasts ongoing declines of 6% per annum unless threats aren’t urgently averted. In 30-40 years’ time, these wonderful creatures – our physical kin – may no longer ramble the earth.

There are many complex and interlinked threats, all associated with human activities, and often rooted in ignorance or greed. Chimpanzees are losing their natural habitat – rapidly. Industrial-scale logging is being conducted in large swathes of central and Western Africa, as human populations expand and the demand for agricultural land and resources extrapolates. Many logging companies operate with utter disregard for consequences, and environmental degradation is near-total.

The developing nations in which chimpanzees live are some of the poorest in the world, meaning that their citizens do not have economic security. Food supplies are problematic, and short-term human needs are prioritised over wildlife concerns. Many governments adopt only rudimentary wildlife and conservation policies, and lack resources to implement them and enforce regulations.

Where international companies and organisations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) do cooperate with governments, it’s to plan and fund ‘development corridors’ for road and rail links, connecting mines to cities, clearing agricultural land, and creating new residential areas. If this rate of development continues, without holistic ecological policies, by 2030 only 10% of chimpanzees’ natural habitat will remain.

Development, logging and commercial activity is also making poaching easier. Bushmeat is still traditionally eaten in many parts of rural Africa. It’s lucrative for poachers to cater to increasing demand from wealthier urban residents, too. Corruption, widespread availability of firearms, and near-zero enforcement means that the illegal hunting of chimpanzees is increasing. Tragically, when adult chimpanzees are killed, the juvenile and infant animals are captured alive and sold as pets or, through illicit channels, for use in pharmaceutical testing.

Diseases pose a serious threat. Increased proximity to, and contact with humans is exposing chimpanzees to greater risk from infectious diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, pneumonia – even the common cold. And dreadful zoonotic diseases such as Ebola are a constant, deadly concern for people as well as chimpanzee populations in the region.

Strategic solutions are needed, urgently. Primarily, we must protect – and expand – chimpanzees’ habitats. “Preserving and securing their current territories must be the immediate priority,” says PAL’s Matthee. “But in the medium-term we actually need to enlarge their protected areas, because 80% of chimpanzee populations live outside of these zones.”

Nations with great ape populations must generate high-level environmental plans which integrate with economic development strategies and legal frameworks. Policymakers can then make decisions which balance biodiversity concerns with economic growth, to serve the interests of people – as well as the needs of chimpanzees and the other great apes.

An important adjunct is that the international community needs to pressurize companies operating in Africa. Says Matthee: “Africa has long been exploited for its mineral resources, rubber, coffee, palm oil and cocoa. The continent’s natural resources now need urgent protection – prioritising its wildlife.”

“We have a moral obligation to the chimpanzees, our closest animal kingdom relatives,” Matthee urges. “By pushing these beautiful beings to extinction we are shutting the door on discovering our own evolutionary history. We’re barely starting to understand their behaviours. It’s a tragedy, in so many ways.”

Urgent action is needed to protect chimpanzees. You can help by following us on Facebook and Twitter, and by donating here.

In an unprecedented move, all animals have been declared ‘legal persons’ by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in India, meaning that they are now entitled to the same legal rights as human beings.

“The entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic, are declared legal entities having a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person,” Justice Rajiv Sharma said in a 104-page judgement this week.

“We have to show compassion towards all living creatures. Animals may be mute but we as a society have to speak on their behalf. No pain or agony should be caused to animals… Cruelty to animals causes psychological pain to them and in Hindu mythology, every animal is associated with God.”

Sharma issued several further declarations including;

• a ban on using animals to pull vehicles in extreme weather;
• limiting loads and the number of people that animals can carry;
• that no animal shall carry weight or load in excess of the prescribed weights;
• that the weight be halved if the route being travelled on involves an ascent;
• limiting the distances that animals are made to walk;
• a ban on the use of spike sticks and other sharp instruments to avoid injuring animals;
• that animal-driven carts be given the right of way on roads;
• that fluorescent reflectors be attached to animal-driven carriages and the animal to ensure they are visible at night;
• that compulsory shelter of suitable size be provided for horses, bullocks and stray cattle by municipal bodies;
• that veterinarians treat stray animals brought to them;
• that State authorities make sufficient housing and food provisions available for stray animals;
• limiting the use of working animals to nine hours a day and not more than five hours without a break;
• that animals be given water at appropriate intervals; and
• that no animal shall be transported on foot beyond specific periods;

Justice Sharma also provided information on how to tether an animal to a vehicle that it is made to pull. The 104-page order follows a case where 29 cows were crammed together in a cruel manner and transported from Uttar Pradesh to Haryana. It was unclear exactly what kind of vehicle was used.

“Animals breathe like us and have emotions. Animals require food, water, shelter, and medical care,” he said.

Sharma signed off the order stating “Live and let live.”

PAL Spokesperson David Barritt, applauded Sharma for his ruling, saying it was one of a kind.

“We hope that this ruling can be replicated across the world, so that animals can be viewed in the same light as humans. We hope that citizens who own animals in India will observe these orders and ensure they look after their animals as they should be doing,” he said.

“It’s also refreshing to note that the judge has directed veterinarians and the State to treat stray animals and make food and housing provisions for them. We have long been fighting for this cause and it’s fantastic to see a judiciary carrying it out. Well done India!”