The Chinese government has removed pangolin scales from its 2020 list of approved ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine, a move campaigners describe as a "critical step" towards saving the world's most trafficked mammal.
Pangolins are highly valued in Asia for scales, which many people believe can improve blood circulation and reduce inflammation. Last year alone, authorities confiscated more than 130 tons of illegal pangolin related products. There are eight species of pangolin found in Asia and Africa. To date, three species are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, while the remaining five are listed as either vulnerable or endangered.
According to Chinese media, the latest edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia - an official government list of drugs covering approved traditional Chinese and Western medicines - no longer includes pangolin scales. The decision to remove the pangolin from the official list comes just days after China's State Forestry and Grassland Bureau announced that the Chinese pangolin would be upgraded to a “first-level protected wild animal,” the highest possible protection status alongside pandas and tigers.
While conservationists from China and other countries have praised the actions of Chinese authorities, some still felt that they came a bit too late. “Many years have passed. How many pangolins have already been hunted and killed?” said Sophia Zhang, director of the Pangolin Working Group at the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.
(Adapted from edition.cnn.com)