Dozens Of Pangolins Snakes Returned To Their Habitat

Bengkulu, May 15 (Antara) - The Bengkulu Provincial Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) on Wednesday returned dozens of seized pangolins (Manis javanica) and snakes to their habitat in the Seblat Nature Park, North Bengkulu District. "We released 24 pangolins and dozens of snakes this morning. All of them are in good health and returned to the wildlife," Head of Bengkulu BKSDA Anggoro Dwi Sujiarto said here on Wednesday. The endangered animal species were seized after the Kepahiang police foiled an attempt to smuggle them from Bengkulu to neighboring Jambi province on Monday (May 13). The animals were delivered to the BKSDA and later returned to their habitat around the Seblat Elephant Training Center in North Bengkulu. A total of 25 pangolins were seized. However, one of them died due to lack of food during the poacher`s captive, BKSDA official Supartono said. The police also seized ten snakes of various species from the poacher`s vehicle. The suspect is now being held in police custody. The little-known mammal has become one of the much-sought commodities in the black market as its meat and scales have high economic value. Earlier, in December last year, the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation at the Forestry Ministry destroyed and buried at least 7.4 tonnes of illegal pangolin meat in the Dramaga Cifor Conservation Forest in Bogor, West Java. Another smuggling attempt had also been foiled in Juanda Airport, Surabaya, where the authorities secured 288 pieces of frozen pangolin meat to be sent to Hong Kong by a freight agent. One kilogram of live pangolin is priced at Rp350,000 while its keratin scale is priced at Rp175,000 by local collectors. However, in the international market, "one kilogram of live pangolin can fetch Rp5 million (around US$500), while the dead meat ranges from Rp2 million to Rp3 million", a researcher and supervisor of pangolin captive breeding at the Dramaga Research Conservation and Forestry Development Center, Mariana Takandjandji, said. One keratin scale may be valued at US$4, Takandjandji said adding that most of the pangolins were illegally traded in Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China to meet demand for use in traditional medicines, and for meat, largely in China.