The scales act as armor to protect them from being harmed by predators, but these scales cannot protect them from being captured by human beings. The turning point was 2017, Su Fei, a member of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, told the Global Times. Public interest in pangolins in China sharply increased in 2017. Two groundbreaking conservation measures for pangolins were launched in China in 2020. China announced in June 2020 it will upgrade all species of pangolins from second-class to first-class protected animals.

Source: Manila Times November 13, 2020 16:30 UTC