Pakistan has witnessed the loss of more than 80 pc of its pangolins due to their illegal killing for scales and meat.

“We know persecution by farmers has always been there. But we have seen a very sharp decline due to their illegal trade especially in China where demand by the growing middle class for their scales and meat has increased significantly in the last ten years,”World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Senior Director (Biodiversity) Rab Nawaz was quoted as saying by Dawn News.

The WWF official made the remark while speaking at an awareness session on the Scale and Scope of Illegal Trade of Endangered Indian Pangolin, its Ecological and Economic Benefits and Conservation Efforts in Pakistan.

WWF and Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) had organized the session.

“We are trying to get a message across how important not only pangolins but other species are in Pakistan. We have lost a lot of species and we are losing more. We have lost 80pc of pangolins and perhaps more than 80pc of our fresh water turtles, all due to the same issue of illegal smuggling and we are losing more species than we know about,” Nawaz pointed out, adding trade in wildlife itself was the third biggest black market trade in the world.

“We have been working with the customs departments who take this issue seriously. It’s a good thing and a bad thing that we have seen confiscations of pangolin scales in the last six to seven years. It’s a good thing that they are failing smuggling attempts.

"It’s not a good thing because it is still being smuggled out of Pakistan. We need to stop the collection because once the customs catch them, the animal is already dead so that is no good,” Nawaz said.

The WWF official said the wildlife body cannot stop the illegal trade of the animal alone.

“If you can get it to Hong Kong, the money from these derivatives of wildlife is huge,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn News, adding the message is being spread that pangolins are vital for the ecosystem and we need stricter measures at our borders.

“Pangolins walk strange and look like dinosaurs. But that’s the good thing, once you sit down with farmers and show them movies about the role the animal plays, how they eat all the termites and ants free of cost, their situations will change. We have had success with the markhor and with the Indus dolphins. There is no reason why we can’t save the pangolin. But everyone has to be on board,” Nawaz said while explaining that it is important to convince farmers that pangolins are harmless creatures.