WILDLIFE CRIME

WILDLIFE TRADE, TRAFFICKING AND REGULATION IN HONG KONG
Currently, all eight pangolin species 101
are listed under Appendix II of CITES,
and while a zero quota has been set for
the four Asian species 102 , the four African
species can still be traded 103,104,105,106,107 . All
four Asian species are already classified
as either endangered or critically
endangered by the IUCN. With a focus of
the illegal trade shifting towards the four
African species (currently classified as
‘vulnerable’), and with the recent seizures
in China and Hong Kong of African pangolin
scales, it is reasonable to conclude that
they too will be categorized as endangered
in the near future 108 .
Permitting a regulated trade in pangolin
products of some species sends a
complicated message to consumers, and
opens a legal loophole through which
prohibited trade may be disguised as
legal. Without DNA testing, consumers and
law enforcement officials have difficulty
detecting the origin of pangolin scales 109 . It
is also relatively easy to forge, duplicate or
misrepresent documentation stating that
the scales are ‘legal stock’, as has proven
to be widespread practice in Hong Kong’s
ivory trade 110 . Slow to reproduce, pangolins
will not be able to withstand a prolonged,
dual-market trade at the current rate.
Based on seizures reported by the media,
it is estimated that 105,410 - 210,820
pangolins were killed in less than three
years from 2011 - 2013 111 . The exact volume
of pangolin smuggling is unknown,
as much of it goes undetected 112,113 .
In particular, the Chinese Pangolin
(indigenous to Hong Kong) was listed as
endangered by the IUCN in 2008 and up
listed to critically endangered in 2014.
The IUCN states that the cause of the
species’ rapid decline is international
trade, driven largely by market demand
in China 114 . In the past five years (July
2010 to June 2015), 89 cases related to
seizure of pangolins were recorded 115 . A
total of about 7.2 tonnes (plus 358 heads)
of carcasses and 12.4 tonnes of scales
were seized from these cases. In 2014
alone, more than three tonnes of pangolin
scales were intercepted by Hong Kong
CED and demonstrated the increasing
appearance of African pangolins in illegal
trade; this was one of the biggest such
seizures since 2009. The scales originated
in Uganda, and traveled via Kenya and
Malaysia, to mainland China 116 . Another
2,000 kilograms of pangolin scales were
intercepted in Kwai Chung Cargo Terminal
in March 2015 117 .
(d) The totoaba has been listed in Appendix I
of CITES since 1976 and cannot be traded
internationally for commercial purpose.
Recent evidence 118 however has found
the swim bladder of the totoaba being
illegally trafficked into and through Hong
Kong to satisfy growing Chinese demand
for high-end dried sea food products. The
trade in this endangered species is also
having a significant impact on diminishing
populations of the world’s smallest
porpoise, the vaquita 119 . In the past three
years, half of the vaquita’s tiny global
population has been killed by fishing nets;
many of them set illegally to capture the
totoaba. Research published in June 2015
estimates the wild vaquita population at
less than 100 individuals 120 . The species
is expected to go extinct by 2018, unless
drastic steps are taken to protect the
population 121 . Both the totoaba and vaquita
are critically endangered according to the
IUCN Red List.
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