More than a million pangolins are believed to have been poached from the wild in the past decade. At the CITES meeting in Johannesburg, conservationists will discuss moving pangolins into the highest protection category, which bans all international trade. “The pangolin today is regarded as the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world,” CITES chief John Scanlon said. A complete international trade ban is needed now,” said Heather Sohl, WWF-UK’s wildlife advisor. India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria, Senegal and the United States are co-sponsoring the proposal to impose a total ban on pangolin trade.

Source: The Hindu September 26, 2016 10:18 UTC