China's "Arsehole"

The long border between China and Myanmar has always been porous.  A variety of illegal goods find safe passage between to two countries.  On the Myanmar side, the town of Mongla typifies the nature of the illicit and unrestrained cross-border trade.  Although in Myanmar, Mongla is far more connected to China.

The town - virtually an independent fiefdom operating on Chinese currency, electricity and mobile phone networks - is run by Sai Leung, also known as Lin Min Xiang, who has his own 3,000-strong National Democratic Alliance Army.

Through its Chinese connections and the lack of central government control, Mongla has become a border town where anything goes.

Pangolin skins for sale in Mongla

Every day thousands of Chinese tourists pour over the border to Mongla… a haven for gambling, transvestite shows and illicit drugs. Fondly known as the “arsehole of China” (中国的肛门), this former backwater has also become the centre of the region’s booming illegal wildlife trade.

The most ubiquitous representative of the illegal animal trade in Mongla is the pangolin.  Sold both live and dead by the roadside and in open air markets.  Pangolin fetuses soaked in wine are sold in shops, where dressed out pangolin bush meat is also for sale.  Higher end shops sell pangolin scales at prices approaching rhino horn levels.

The pangolin is the world’s most widely poached and illegally traded animal.  Pangolins represent an estimated 20% of the global wildlife black market.

Unfortunately, the pangolin has been the world’s most anonymous extinction candidate.  Pangolins are reclusive, mostly nocturnal insectivores that once ranged across Southeast Asia, India and Africa.  Today, there are eight species of pangolins still extant in the wild.  Of those, the four Asian species have been hunted close to extinction.  With the supply of pangolins in Asia depleted, poachers and smugglers are turning to Africa to fill the void.

Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China and Vietnam.  Often, at a meal to celebrate the close of big business deal, a panolin is slaughtered at table side. Pangolin fetuses pickled in wine are sold both as curatives and as displays of ostentation. 

Unfortunately for the pangolin its most distinctive characteristic is the protective scales that cover its body.  Made of keratin, the same material as human hair or nails, its covering of scales make the pangolin unique among mammals.  Pangolin scales are considered to have the same sort of curative power as rhino horn and are coveted by the same market.  

A recently published study pointed to the centrality of Mongla to the pangolin trade.

There have been a few seizures in other parts of northern Myanmar around Mandalay and across the border in Yunnan province in southwest China, but no real action to stem the daily flow over the border.  Between 2010-2014, pangolins and their parts worth US$3.09 million in Myanmar were seized according to CITES data, but the authorities have not reported a single case to the international body. Seizures only reflect a fraction of the total trade, indicating the size of the problem.

Myanmar and China are both signatories of the CITES treaty banning the international trade in wildlife.  Myanmar has virtually no control over its border area with China.   And, despite commitments to stop the trade, China has done little to crack down on the illegal trade in Mongla. Nor has China (or Vietnam) made enforcement of existing laws against trafficking in either country. Until China steps forward, pangolins will continue to be sacrificed in the markets and shops of Mongla.

The pangolin has some strong advocates, here is a list of some of them.  They could use your support.

The Tikki Hywood Trust.

Save Pangolins.

IUCN SCC Pangolin Specialist Group.

African Wildlife Foundation.

Here's an example of the effort made to save just two pangolins.    It's the hope behind this blog.