![\"Giraffe,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-06-17_19-06-12-087-e1750212544466.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n WASHINGTON D.C.\u2013\u2013<\/strong>The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on June 17,\u00a0 2025 formally proposed in the Federal Register<\/em> to protect pangolins under the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n Pangolins are the first vertebrate species to be proposed for an Endangered Species Act listing since the January 2025 inauguration of U.S. president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Because pangolins are not native to the U.S.,\u00a0 listing them as endangered does not oblige the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to do anything to protect pangolin habitat.<\/p>\n Because pangolins are believed to be poached and trafficked mainly for their scales,\u00a0 an ingredient in some traditional Chinese medicines,\u00a0 a U.S. Endangered Species Act listing for pangolins would embarrass China.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Believed to be \u201cthe world\u2019s most heavily trafficked mammal,\u201d\u00a0 Fish & Wildlife Service media contact Christine Schuldheisz explained a day earlier,\u00a0 \u201cpangolins are small, nocturnal mammals,\u201d\u00a0 resembling tree-dwelling armadillos, \u00a0\u201ccovered in tough, \u00a0protective keratin scales,\u201d\u00a0 who \u201cuse their long, \u00a0sticky tongues to eat ants, termites and other insects.<\/p>\n \u201cPangolins have a single pup annually and live in a variety of habitats, \u00a0including savannas, woodlands, \u00a0and forests,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz said in a media release.<\/p>\n The proposed Endangered Species Act listing of pangolins prompted immediate questions,\u00a0 not because there seems to be any serious doubt that pangolins are endangered worldwide,\u00a0 but because the move \u201ccomes despite Trump\u2019s efforts to weaken the act, \u00a0aligning with ongoing conservative criticism that it stifles economic growth,\u201d\u00a0 summarized Alexa St. John for The Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On November 20,\u00a0 2024,\u00a0 for instance,\u00a0 Schuldheisz announced that \u201cThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing federal protections for several giraffe species.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz said,\u00a0 \u201cthe Service proposes listing all three subspecies of northern giraffe from west, \u00a0central and east Africa as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. \u00a0The Service also proposes listing two giraffe species from east Africa as threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n That proposal was immediately opposed by trophy hunters,\u00a0 an affluent and influential Trump constituency.\u00a0 One hundred twenty days after the 90-day public comment period on the giraffe listings expired,\u00a0 which should have allowed the listings to go into effect,\u00a0 the giraffe listing proposal remains pending.<\/p>\n Arctic foxes, polar bears, and Antarctic penguins are also hard-hit by global warming.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cPolar bears, \u00a0as well as penguins,\u00a0 not found in the U.S.,\u00a0 have also been in discussions for listing over the years,\u201d\u00a0 St. John mentioned,\u00a0 but \u201cTrump\u2019s executive order declaring an \u2018energy emergency\u2019 in the U.S. says the Endangered Species Act can\u2019t stand in the way of energy development, \u00a0signaling that protections could be rolled back.\u201d<\/p>\n Polar bears,\u00a0 like giraffes,\u00a0 are coveted by trophy hunters.\u00a0 Polar bears also inhabit\u2013\u2013among other places\u2013\u2013parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n Although two previous offers of oil drilling leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drew no interest from major oil companies,\u00a0 Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on March 20,\u00a0 2025 announced that the entire coastal plain portion of the refuge is to be opened to drilling leases.<\/p>\n Burgum,\u00a0 added Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post<\/em>,\u00a0 \u201chas previously said the endangered list is too long and is an ineffective way of conserving many species.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe slowness to list pangolins, \u00a0however, \u00a0preceded this administration,\u201d\u00a0 Grandoni noted.\u00a0 \u201cEnvironmental groups petitioned the government to list the pangolins a decade ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Pangolins may not have been previously listed under both the first Trump administration and under the Joe Biden administration as a political concession to China.\u00a0 Pangolins may now be proposed for an Endangered Species Act listing simply as a continuation of the present Trump administration trade wars with China.<\/p>\n China has long been perceived as the major destination of poached and illegally trafficked pangolin scales,\u00a0 though some very recent research,\u00a0 in combination with Chinese government actions,\u00a0 suggests this may no longer be true.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn response to declining pangolin populations caused by illegal wildlife tracking, habitat loss and poor genetic health, \u00a0the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is proposing to list seven species of pangolin as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz said in a media release.<\/p>\n \u201cThe four Asian species proposed for listing are Chinese, \u00a0Indian, \u00a0Sunda, \u00a0and Philippine. \u00a0The three African species are white-bellied, \u00a0black-bellied, \u00a0and giant.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the main threats to pangolins is wildlife trafficking, \u00a0a crisis that includes the poaching, \u00a0smuggling and illegal trade of endangered species,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz continued.<\/p>\n \u201cPangolins are particularly vulnerable to wildlife trafficking due to their slow and peaceful demeanor,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz explained. \u201cWith limited defenses beyond their scaly exteriors, \u00a0they often roll into a ball when threatened.<\/p>\n Pangolins hopes cops will come.<\/strong><\/em> \u201cPangolins are heavily targeted by poachers and criminal organizations. \u00a0The proceeds from the illicit sale of pangolins and other imperiled species often fund serious crimes, \u00a0including drug and arms trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cPangolins are currently protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora [CITES],\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz added.<\/p>\n \u201cInternational trade of this species is permitted only under exceptional circumstances, \u00a0and international trade for commercial purposes is prohibited,\u201d\u00a0 which makes the U.S. Endangered Species Act listing somewhat redundant.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Federal Register <\/em>publication of the proposal to list pangolins as endangered opened a 60-day public comment period.<\/p>\n The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service \u201cwill review and consider all comments received by August 18, \u00a02025,\u00a0 before publishing a final rule. Please go to\u00a0www.regulations.gov<\/a>, docket number FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0028,\u201d\u00a0 Schuldheisz concluded.<\/p>\n African pangolin. (Johnny Rodrigues\/Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe case for protecting pangolins is not merely strong; \u00a0it\u2019s urgent,\u201d\u00a0 responded Humane World for Animals president Kitty Block and Humane World for Animals Action Fund president Sara Amundson in a joint blog posting.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2016,\u201d\u00a0 Block and Amundson recalled, \u00a0\u201cour delegation to CITES worked to secure the support of 183 member nations\u00a0to give the highest level of protection\u00a0to all eight pangolin species, banning the international commercial trade in pangolin parts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have organized public awareness campaigns to reduce demand for pangolin parts in China and\u00a0Viet Nam\u00a0and supported the\u00a0rescue\u00a0and rehabilitation of pangolins in South Africa,\u201d\u00a0 Block and Amundson said.<\/p>\n Chinese demand for pangolin scales,\u00a0 used in traditional medicines,\u00a0 was at that time almost universally believed to be the major cause of pangolin poaching worldwide.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Reported Shubhobroto Ghosh,\u00a0 wildlife research manager at World Animal Protection,\u00a0 on December 13, \u00a02023,\u00a0 \u201cA review of pangolin seizure incidents in India between 1991 and 2022 has put the focus back on the continuing illegal trade of the species.<\/p>\n \u201cThe analysis by World Animal Protection, Monitor Conservation Research Society, Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Wildlife Protection Society of India and Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of Oxford University collated 426 seizures involving an estimated 8,603 pangolins.<\/p>\n \u201cInvestigations by the Wildlife Protection Society of India indicate that the escalating poaching and trade in live pangolins is led by market demands from outside India.<\/p>\n \u201cWildlife crime enforcement efforts in India were undermined by low prosecution rates, \u00a0as only 1.4% of recorded pangolin seizures resulted in successful convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n Pangolin range map.<\/strong><\/em> As pangolins became scarce in Asia,\u00a0 traffickers turned toward Africa.<\/p>\n The Dutch organization Wildlife Justice Commission reported that 17% of the pangolins and pangolin scales confiscated in 52 seizures by U.S. authorities between 2016 and 2019 came from a single African nation,\u00a0 the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n But pangolin population surveillance begun in 2018 at 44-square-mile Yangmingshan National Park,\u00a0 the largest of the nine Taiwanese national parks,\u00a0 found that dog attacks rather than poaching accounted for more than half of all documented injuries to pangolins.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In November 2021,\u00a0 reported Boris Ngounou for the African Elephant Journal,<\/em>\u00a0 the 7th Forum for China-Africa Cooperation,\u00a0 held in Dakar, \u00a0Senegal,\u00a0 resolved that \u201cAfrica and China will strengthen their cooperation in wildlife protection and\u00a0support the improvement of the conservation capacity of African countries,\u201d\u00a0 including \u201cto raise public awareness\u00a0and jointly combat illegal wildlife trade,\u201d\u00a0 by \u201cestablishing an anti-smuggling cooperation\u00a0mechanism to crack down on crimes of smuggling endangered species and\u00a0their products.\u201d<\/p>\n Trafficking in elephant tusk ivory and pangolin scales were mentioned as subjects of special concern.<\/p>\n World Animal Protection in April 2025 reported that \u201cChina has removed Guilingji, a traditional medicine containing pangolin ingredients, from the upcoming 2025 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/em><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGuilingji is not just any traditional remedy,\u201d\u00a0 World Animal Protection explained.\u00a0 \u201cIt has held a prominent place in Chinese medicine since it was classified as a first-level national secret prescription in 1957.<\/p>\n \u201cDelisting it from the pharmacopoeia suggests a shift in regulatory priorities, \u00a0especially as pangolins are now protected under the highest level of international and domestic conservation laws.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile this does not constitute a ban on Guilingji\u2019s sale or production, the removal makes it harder to promote and prescribe.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Chinese Pharmacopoeia<\/em> is the official standard for clinical prescriptions,\u201d\u00a0 World Animal Protection added.\u00a0 \u201cIf a medicine is no longer listed,\u00a0 it indicates that it no longer meets criteria for safety, \u00a0efficacy, \u00a0or ethical acceptability, \u00a0and healthcare providers may reduce or avoid its use altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cambridge University Department of Zoology Ph.D. candidate Charles Emogor meanwhile won his doctorate with a study published in the June 13,\u00a0 2025 edition of the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution<\/em>,\u00a0 citing ten co-authors,\u00a0 finding that \u201cPangolin hunting in southeast Nigeria is motivated more by local meat consumption than international demand for scales.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing data collected from questionnaires distributed to 809 hunters and meat vendors in Nigeria, \u00a0the world\u2019s biggest hub for pangolin trafficking,\u201d\u00a0 Emogor et al<\/em> learned,\u00a0 \u201c97% of pangolins are captured opportunistically or during general hunting, \u00a0with 98% of these caught for meat and mostly either eaten by hunters (71%) or traded locally (27%).<\/p>\n \u201cMeanwhile, \u00a0around 70% of scales are discarded, with less than 30% sold,\u201d\u00a0 Emogor et al<\/em> wrote.\u00a0 \u201cIn addition, \u00a0local [pangolin] meat prices are three to four times higher than those for scales.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSince most pangolin scales are discarded,\u201d\u00a0 Emogor et al<\/em> concluded,\u00a0 \u201crelying on data on the trade in scales to assess the species\u2019 conservation status is likely to vastly underestimate pangolin exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n Further,\u00a0 Emogor et al<\/em> suggested,\u00a0 \u201cLaw enforcement efforts targeting traffickers are unlikely to reduce pangolin hunting substantially,\u201d\u00a0 at least \u201cin this part of Africa. \u00a0Instead, \u00a0priority should be given to site-level interventions, \u00a0such as anti-poaching patrols and community-based actions, \u00a0including initiatives to improve food security and behavior change programs for hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Also long nominated for Endangered Species Act protection,\u00a0 but not yet proposed for protection by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, \u00a0is the common hippopotamus,\u00a0 sharing much African habitat with giraffes and pangolins,\u00a0 but also in trophy hunting demand.<\/p>\n Summarized The Wildlife Society on February 14,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 \u201cSeveral conservation groups petitioned the Fish & Wildlife Service to add the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius<\/em>) to the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2022 due to the trade of its parts in the U.S. for meat, leather and other products.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of poaching in Africa and other issues, \u00a0hippos are declining in many parts of their historical range. \u00a0A federal judge has now ordered the USFWS to decide about listing hippos by July 27, \u00a02028,\u201d\u00a0 in effect postponing any significant action until near the scheduled end of the Trump administration.<\/p>\nGiraffes,\u00a0 hippos,\u00a0 & polar bears are in trophy hunting demand.\u00a0 Pangolin demand is believed to come chiefly from China.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWorld\u2019s most heavily trafficked mammal\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nEndangered listing for giraffes on hold<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat about polar bears?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPangolin listing also long delayed<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe federal pangolin listing proposal<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cHeavily targeted by criminal organizations\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n60-day comment period<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cCase is urgent\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPangolin poaching in India<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nTraffickers turned to Africa<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nChina pledged to fight the traffic<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nChina delisted pangolin scale medicine<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nStudy finds pangolins are poached more for meat than scales<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nEstimates of pangolin loss based on scale traffic may be far low<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNo action on hippo listing<\/h2>\n