In southeast Nigeria, pangolins hunted for meat, not scales, study finds
news.mongabay.com
When headline after headline highlights tons of pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria, it’s easy to presume that most pangolin poaching in the country is driven by the international demand for the scales. A recently published research, however, finds that in Nigeria’s Cross River state, pangolins are hunted for their meat — much-prized locally — rather […]
  • African pangolins are heavily hunted to meet the international demand for scales as well as for their meat in the local bushmeat trade. But how much each contributes to the hunting of these beleaguered mammals in various parts of Nigeria, a trafficking hub, is unclear.
  • For a recent study, researchers interviewed more than 800 hunters and meat vendors in southeast Nigeria, a poaching hotspot, and found that hunters almost always hunt pangolins opportunistically, mostly for their meat rather than their scales.
  • Hunters ranked pangolin meat highly for its palatability, and told researchers they ate most of it themselves, or sold it. Because local demand for scales is limited, nearly 70% of the scales are simply discarded.
  • Conservationists say understanding the local drivers of demand helps design targeted conservation strategies, such as providing alternative livelihoods and food security.

archived (Wayback Machine):