China upgrades pangolins' protection to highest level after coronavirus outbreak

China has accorded highest level of protection to pangolins, which is believed to be intermediate host of vel coronavirus, on par with endangered species. Pangolin has been one of most trafficked mammals, mainly due to its medicinal properties, and use of its scale is currently permitted in China from officially approved government stockpiles. 

According to wildlife tre monitoring network TRAFFIC, tonnes of pangolins and ir parts are trafficked internationally every year which has caused its numbers to dwindle. Pangolins are listed in Appendix I of Convention on International Tre in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) under which all international commercial tre is banned.

Chinese Pangolin is listed under critically endangered species in IUCN Red List, primarily threatened by indiscriminate hunting and poaching. China’s National Forestry and Grasslands ministration (NFGA) anunced on June 5 that pangolins have been upgred to new Class I Protected Species classification. 

state ncy reportedly said committed to enhanced monitoring of pangolin populations, with ditional field patrols to prevent poaching and improve and restore pangolin habitats. TRAFFIC welcomed enhanced pangolin protection status alongside proposed actions to restore wild pangolin populations and improve law enforcement measures.

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Pangolin as an intermediate host

origin of SARS-CoV-2 is t kwn but preliminary studies suggested that bats could be source since coronavirus present in bats has a geme that is 96 per cent identical to vel coronavirus. It is believed that wildlife market in Wuhan caused virus to transmit through ar host, possibly pangolin, because bat coronavirus cant bind to receptors in human cells, however, re has t been any concrete evidence.

According to a recent study published in Science vances, vel coronavirus first infected both bats and pangolins and n pathogens jumped to human beings. researchers said that it is too early to blame pangolins for coronavirus outbreak and y believe that a third species of an animal might have played host to virus.

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