Episode 65: Safeguarding Central Africa’s Crocodiles and Pangolins with Matthew Shirley

The Think Wildlife Podcast

Meet the Pangolin. The world’s most trafficked mammal. Pangolins are also known as scaly anteaters due to the protective keratin scales covering their skins. Unfortunately, these protective keratin scales are leading to the pangolin’s downfall. Keratin is in high demand in China and Vietnam (the usual suspects) for traditional Chinese Medicine and as a luxury food. Moreover, pangolins are also often consumed as bushmeat and traditional medicine across Africa, though at a relatively smaller scale. It is for this reason, pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world, with over a million animals poached between 2004 and 2014. This is proving catastrophic, with the illegal trade of pangolins often associated with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is still no global consensus regarding the origins of the deadly virus.

Currently, there are eight extant species of pangolins, with four species being found in Africa and Asia each. Out of the eight species, three are listed as “Critically Endangered” and three are classified as “Endangered” by the IUCN Red List. Meanwhile, the remaining two species are considered “Threatened. As of September 2023, there have been nine reports of extinct species of pangolin

In this episode of The Think Wildlife Podcast, I interview Matthew Shirley, the co-chair of the IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group. We talk in-depth about the conservation of the pangolin and the works of the IUCN PSG. Matthew is also one of the leading conservationists working with crocodiles, having discovered the Central African slender-snouted crocodile. During the episode, Matthew elaborates upon his extensive work on these ancient reptiles in West and Central Africa.

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