Caught red-handed! Chinese ship carrying illegal pangolin meat hits protected coral reef

A Chinese vessel transporting 22,000 pounds of illegal pangolin meat crashes into coral reef in Tubbataha National Marine Park, located in the Philippines.

After the crash, the Filipino coastguard discovered 400 boxes of pangolin meat while inspecting the ship.

The Chinese pangolin is the most common mammal in international trade, and is being taken from all throughout Asia to meet the demand for use in traditional medicines and meat in China.

“It is bad enough that the Chinese have illegally entered our seas..and crashed recklessly into a national marine park,” Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, head of WWF-Philippines, told the Associated Press. “It is simply deplorable that they appear to be posing as fishermen to trade in illegal wildlife.”

A live pangolin confiscated in Sumatra from a smuggler. Unfortunately the pangolins found aboard the ship were already dead. Photo by: Jefri Tarigan.

 

These “fishermen” are facing dozens of years in prison and fines up to $300,000, however wildlife criminals are rarely sentenced to the full extent of the law.

Read more about the Chinese pangolin here: The unfamiliar pangolin is the biggest mammal victim of the wildlife trade

Read the original article here: Double bad: Chinese vessel that collided with protected coral reef holding 22,000 pounds of pangolin meat

 

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