VietNamNet Bridge – Pangolins have become hot products because it is rumored that pangolins can help improve men’s sexual ability.




The latest pangolin trafficking case was detected on the night of December 26, 2012, at Cau Treo border gate in Ha Tinh province. About 100 live pangolins weighing nearly 450kg were transported in a black car without number plates. The driver escaped in the night with the car.

The next morning, the pangolins were handed over to the Forest Department of Ha Tinh province. After that, the pangolins were transferred to the province's Auction Center, where 416 kg of pangolins were sold to a business at the price of VND2.1 million per kilo on the same day. The proceeds from the sale of pangolins were added to the public fund.

According to a source, the pangolins were then sold to another customer, not being released back to the forest. The price for pangolins in the black market is VND3-4 million per kilo.

This is not the first auction of pangolins in Ha Tinh this year. According to Mr. Hoang Quoc Huan, vice director of the Forest Protection Department of Ha Tinh, in 2012, his department transferred four shipments of pangolins to the Auction Center for sale. The largest shipment seized in September 2012 is up to 420 kg, not including two living tigers.

Mr. Tran Viet Hung, from the Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), said it is estimated that each year 100,000 pangolins are illegally trafficked, mainly for the Chinese market. The price for pangolins is high because it is rumored that pangolines can treat many diseases, and especially can improve men’s sexual ability.

However, herbalist Vu Quoc Trung, from the Vietnam Oriental Medicine Association, affirmed that traditional medicine and medical documents do not note that the meat and scales of pangolin work as a tonic or help strengthen men’s sexual ability.

Tien Phong