At Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary in Liberia, West Africa, Juty Deh Jr is bottle feeding an orphaned baby pangolin. These small, scaly creatures are believed to be the most trafficked mammal in the world.
Pangolins are found throughout Africa and Asia, but all eight species are at risk of extinction, killed for their meat and for use in traditional medicine.
In Liberia, they are commonly known as “ant bears” due to their very particular diet of ants and termites, and this sanctuary is a haven for them.
“Since I started working with Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, I feel like the animals are a part of me,” Deh Jr told CNN . “So whenever I see someone hurting (an) animal, I feel like they are hurting me personally.”
Deh Jr joined the sanctuary when it opened five years ago and says that at the time he cared for more than 70 pangolins, most of whom were brought here by the Liberian Forest Development Authority after being confiscated, handed over or orphaned as a result of the bushmeat trade.
Liberia is the most forested country in West Africa — with more than two-thirds of its land mass made up of forests.
Rich in fauna and flora, these forests are part of the “Guinean Forests of West Africa” biodiversity hotspot, which, according to a 2018 USAID report, contains a quarter of all mammal species found on the continent, including 30 species. of primates and three of the world’s eight pangolin species.
Many people also live in forested areas. In Liberia, there is a long history of bushmeat consumption, from primates to civets (a cat-like mammal), and the pangolin is considered a delicacy. Deh Jr grew up eating the animal — something he is ashamed of today.
“As a child living with your parents, you don’t have a choice because you can’t provide food for yourself,” he explains. “So even if you don’t want to eat bushmeat, you just have to.”
An international trade
But in recent years, another threat to local pangolins has emerged. Susan Wiper, director of Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, says some people are killing the animal to meet demand in China and Vietnam, where its scales are used in traditional medicine.
Between 2014 and 2018, the number of shipments of pangolins seized globally increased tenfold, according to a 2020 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Most of the seizures took place in Asia, with the animals largely originating in Africa. Uganda and Togo were the biggest sources of pangolins, with the report noting that there have recently been major seizures in Côte d’Ivoire, involving Liberia as a country of origin.
Prior to 2009, most pangolin scales originated from Asia, and the report noted that the growth in African imports may be due to a decline in Asian populations.
While the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that globally more than one million of pangolins been hunted in the last decade, Wiper says exact statistics are hard to come by. “No one has any idea of the numbers in Liberia, so every pangolin that goes is really a disaster,” she adds.
Their scaly armor protects them from almost all predators—except one. “Pangolins have no natural enemies except humans,” says Deh Jr. just take it and do what we want with it.”
The trade in these animals has been banned internationally, and in 2016 the Liberian government introduced a law that makes it illegal to hunt, buy, sell, capture, transport or eat protected species — including pangolins. But enforcing this law remains a challenge.
Wiper explains that many people just don’t know it exists and says that education and awareness play a critical role in the future of conservation in Liberia.
However, she remains hopeful that things are changing. She says the Liberian Forest Development Authority is playing an increasingly active role in confiscating protected species that have been taken from the wild.
Over the past four years, Wiper says the sanctuary has taken in nearly 600 animals — from pangolins to dwarf crocodiles, monkeys and others. She says the main objective is to rehabilitate and return as much Liberian wildlife to the forest as possible.
For Deh Jr, there are few rewards greater than this. “Putting it back in the wild, you really feel proud,” he says. “You feel like you’re moving forward because you’re really saving little animals.”
Source: CNN Brasil
