Stop buying pangolin scales – you’re killing them off

A 2017 file photo of a pangolin in a cage after a raid in Indonesia's Riau province that netted more than 100 critically endangered pangolins, a haul conservationists said was worth about US$1.5mil (RM6mil). Photo: Filepic

There are alternatives to pangolin scales that have similar medicinal qualities, Chinese medicine professors say, urging the public not to believe the exaggerated effects touted by illegal vendors.

Their call, made at an international conservation conference on Sept 5, comes after reports that the amount seized in the first seven months of this year had reached a five-year high, with most of the contraband being sourced from Africa.