Hi everyone! I am Qingpei.
The reason why i chose to focus my blog on pangolin conservation in Southeast Asia is because i have a soft spot for them. To me, pangolins are the underdogs of the conservation world. No one i knew seemed particularly interested in them and if they were, the interest was fleeting. These animals are frequently mistaken to be armadillos and often overlooked in conservation efforts. Usually when we think of endangered animals, we think of tigers, pandas, rhinoceroses or even sharks. Very seldom does anyone remember the poor pangolin. Even I didnt have a clue that pangolins were endangered when I first fell in love with them at the Singapore Night Safari. This disregard is alarming because pangolins are native animals to Singapore! Yet many of us are ignoring them in favour of other bigger and more eye catching animals.
Pangolins are just quiet, unassuming animals who go about their daily lives acting as natural pest control agents for humans. I believe that it is unfair they don’t get the credit they deserve simply because they aren’t ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’ enough. Instead, these poor animals are slaughtered for what is essentially something that can be found in each and everyone of us. Pangolins are killed by the masses mainly for their scales, believed to contain special medicinal properties. If only the consumers knew that such so called “medicinal properties” could easily be achieved if we swallowed our hair or fingernails. They are made up of the same thing- Keratin, a naturally occurring protein found in our bodies.
I started writing this blog with the aim of learning more about the situation the pangolins are facing, particularly with the illegal wildlife trade, and I think i am now more informed now about what is going on. I hope this blog will also help someone to learn more about pangolins, and if even one person is convinced after reading to stop buying pangolin products, I would feel very honored to have done something to help the pangolins.
