One of the world’s greatest illegally trafficked rare mammals is one that borders on nobody has heard of, the pangolin or as others may know it as the “scaly anteater.” “The pangolin could go extinct before people realize it exists. Or, more to the point: It could go extinct because of that,” (Sutter). Due to being trafficked for their meat and scales, the overarching pangolin species are being driven to extinction slowly but surely starting in Asia and moving across Africa. This simple fact breeds the question of why pangolins are dying off and why exactly pangolins are hunted significantly worse in Asia in comparison to Africa. Looking at how pangolins are continuously surviving against the odds in the wild gives a spectacular overarching perspective on why pangolins are going extinct due to their scales being used in traditional medicines and their meat being considered by bountiful amounts of peoples in Asia as a …show more content…
The four located within Asia are all between the categories endangered to critically endangered with their names being; Chinese Pangolin (critically endangered), Sunda Pangolin (critically endangered), Indian Pangolin (endangered), and Philippine Pangolin (endangered). This contrasts greatly in comparison to the African pangolins populations; their four different types of pangolins are entirely classified as vulnerable. The African pangolins are called; Cape or Temminck’s Ground Pangolin, White-bellied or Tree Pangolin, Giant Ground Pangolin, and the Black-bellied or Long-tailed Pangolin. Due to the overarching differences between the two varying countries pangolins, there is speculation of why both groups are threatened by extinction. The fact is, pangolins are much further hunted in Asia and there is little to no knowledge of why they are being threatened in Africa other than for their meats