Vietnam is the world’s second largest destination for the illegal trade in pangolins after China. The Southeast Asian country is also a major transit hub for trafficking of the endangered mammal into China. And yet, there is very little awareness of this issue within Vietnam, and despite numerous seizures of pangolins and pangolin parts, there are few prosecutions. In Malaysia too, loopholes in wildlife protection laws have allowed a thriving online marketplace in exotic pets to develop – it’s not hard to find someone who’ll sell you a pangolin should you want one for your Instagram feed. But there’s an even more serious problem facing the pangolins, which used to be common in Malaysia’s forests – and habitat destruction isn’t just a problem for pangolins – it’s a problem for all of us. 

Guests:

Trang Bui, The Pangolin Reports

Xu Jiaming, The Pangolin Reports

Elroi Yee, R.AGE

Dr Xavier Jayakumar, Malaysian Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources 

Further Listening and Reading:

Pangolin trading routes in Vietnam and across the globe: The Pangolin Reports

R.AGE reporting on wildlife and pangolins in Malaysia (audio used in podcast):

R.AGE video on Malaysia illegal wildlife trade

R.AGE video interview with Dr. XavierJayakumar

Interactive storybook on Pangolins

The Pangolin Reports: https://globalstory.pangolinreports.com/

Production credits:

Executive producer: Marcy Trent Long

Producer: Bonnie Au

Assistant producer: Amber Hou

Sound engineer: Chris Wood

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Teaching Guide for Educators here

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Transcripts in Mandarin and English at chinadialogue and chinadialogueocean.