SINGAPORE — A cloud of condensation rises as Shangari Sekar, the assistant laboratory manager for Mandai Wildlife Group, carefully lifts a ladle filled with vials from the center of a cryo tank. She moves slowly as the cargo is precious: within the vials are the genetic building blocks for pangolins, the most trafficked mammals on Earth. With the future looking bleak for these scaly anteaters, scientists have launched a pangolin biobank to help ensure they live on. Dr. Sonja Luz, CEO of Mandai Nature, the wildlife group’s conservation arm, says they’ve taken this step to create a safety buffer: “We are really worried we are getting too many ‘too little, too late’ scenarios.” There are four known pangolin species native to Asia and four to Africa, and all populations are declining. Poaching and habitat loss have pushed all eight species into the threatened category on the IUCN Red List. Singapore is home to the critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), which is also found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam. “The Sunda pangolin has seen its population decline by over 50% in the last 15 years due to high levels of poaching driven by the illegal wildlife trade,” says Uma Sachidhanandam, director of conservation and science for WWF in Singapore. Demand for their scales, which are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, has made pangolin the world’s most trafficked mammals. Image courtesy of Mandai Wildlife Group. The international trade in wild pangolins is banned under CITES, the global wildlife…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Singapore biobank offers backup plan for pangolins
