Seven species are especially under threat.



"The world's most trafficked animal no one has heard of"



Nature's answer to a medieval knight in armour, a pangolin is a scaly anteater with scythe-like claws that wobbles along on its hind legs and rolls in a ball when threatened. A young pangolin is bottle fed. The illegal live trade of pangolins is a common sight in China. Credit:Getty Images But the pangolin's armoured defence has a cost. The hard scales are considered a skin treatment in Chinese traditional medicine. They can also be fashioned into jewellery, or even fried in oil for breastfeeding mothers to eat and supposedly better their milk supply. "In some Asian culinary traditions, pangolins are presented live before being slaughtered for the meal, so the illegal live trade of pangolins is commonly seen," according to the UN report.

Pangolin in Asia are now classified "critically endangered" or "endangered". But the pressure is shifting to the two species of African pangolin, now considered "vulnerable". This week, a Chinese oil worker in South Sudan was arrested after a sniffer dog at the Juba airport detected 10 kilograms of frozen pangolin meat in his luggage. In an example of lax controls helping the illegal trade, the man was given a warning and released, still carrying his contraband. Authorities have seized an estimated 107,000 of the creatures in the six years – indicating a huge and thriving illegal market. More than 90 per cent of all seizures of pangolins were bound for China or Vietnam. "Massacre in the rainforest"

When household spending in China goes up, so does the number of elephants lost to poaching, according to statistical analysis by CITES – the organisation founded by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. It examined Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, but only the Chinese market was "strongly related" to elephant poaching. Tens of thousands of elephants are estimated to be illegally killed every year for ivory tusks and China is the largest market. Master craftsmen use it to make large ornate carvings or jewellery, buttons, bangles and chopsticks. China's President Xi Jinping has pledged to abolish the ivory trade in China, but products remain highly sought after as a gift, conveying status to the recipient and presenter alike. Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta claims the elephant loss in his country is 70 per cent in the last decade, branding the rising value of ivory trade "a massacre in the rainforest of Africa".

According to the UN report, more than 73 metric tons of ivory was seized in China in the five years to 2014 – another 50 tons in Malaysia, and 35 tons in Vietnam, both key transit countries. To put the size of this haul in perspective, the average elephant tusk weighs about 5.5 kilograms. But even this may underestimate the problem: the report also warns most of the illegal trade escapes detection. "Demand and supply" If elephant ivory is out of reach, "red ivory" is the knock-off version. Red ivory, or golden ivory, is taken from the helmeted hornbill, a large wild bird killed by the thousands for their unique "casques" - a solid lump of fibrous keratin spanning from beak to the skull. Casques can be carved much like ivory, and at times, may fetch an even higher price.

Hornbill casques seized in Indonesia. Credit:Getty Images These birds are mostly found in Indonesia and Malaysia, but have long been sought after in China. A single casque can be worth as much as US$1000, and a recent BBC report estimated more than 6000 are killed each year. Like any product when the supply is restricted, possession offers cachet – the power that comes with special connections. Meanwhile the helmeted hornbill is listed as "critically endangered". "Every part of a tiger has a market" Big cats are highly prized – both in traditional medicine and to consume as a symbol of power and virility.

A tonic known as tiger bone wine can be as simple as a tiger bone left to soak in rice wine for a couple of months, or brewed by a complex recipe. The drink has become an elite indulgence in China. The shocking discovery of a freezer stuffed with 40 tiger cubs at a Thai temple this week has provoked outrage. The Buddhist monks at the temple have been accused of illegally breeding and trafficking the animals and their parts. The carcasses of 40 tiger cubs found undeclared are displayed at Tiger Temple on Wednesday. Credit:Getty Images Tigers have suffered a 95 per cent decline in Asia in the last 100 years. But despite some conservation success, for example persuading Tibetan religious leader to appeal against the use of big cat skins in traditional costumes, almost every part of a tiger has a market. The UN reported seizures of tiger claws, fat, genitals, hair, heads, oil, teeth, whiskers, and more.

"Lost in the coral triangle" Sea turtles' long migration from the beach in search of food makes it extremely difficult to monitor the size of various turtle populations – and makes them vulnerable as a by-catch for deep sea fishing vessels. "There could be turtles coming to lay in Australia that instead get stuffed and mounted on a wall in Asia," says Elizabeth McLellan, head of the Wildlife Crime Initiative at the World Wildlfe Fund. The international trade in sea turtles has been prohibited since the 1980s, but the illegal trade persists, mostly for ornaments – whole stuffed turtles, whole polished shells, and shell products. The price isn't high, up to US$600 for a whole shell – not enough for commercial farming, but worth poaching. The UN report warns of poaching is "most problematic" in what is known as the Coral Triangle, waters around Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. "Multiple seizures have involved Chinese and Vietnamese nationals," the report states.

"A dying business" For a long time, it was more profitable for a fisherman to slice the fins from a shark and cast the still living fish overboard, saving room in the hold. All to put a $100 bowl of shark fin soup on a restaurant table. "A decades-long upward trend in the shark fin trade was driven by economic growth and the expansion of the Chinese middle class," observed a report in February into the global preservation of sharks. The trade included endangered sawfishes, guitarfishes, and wedgefishes. But the report also included a crucial caveat - the shark fin market is declining, one of the rare good news stories. Demand in Hong Kong has dropped especially, and another recent report quoted traders in the southern province Guangzhou complaining "shark fin is a dying business" after activists mounted a long campaign against the practice.

It's not all good news, though: the global trade in shark and ray meat from other parts of the creatures is "on the rise," said the February report. "A majesty lost" Rhino horn, ground down and added like spice to water to drink, is seen as a ostentatious pick-me-up in Asia's nightclub scene, especially in Vietnam. No, the horn is not seen as an aphrodisiac, at least not typically. More like a hangover cure. Or even a miracle cancer treatment, lessening the effects of chemotherapy. Rarity drives demand. Rhino commands a price higher than diamonds, more than $60,000 per kilogram, according to a recent estimate.

"In China, research suggests that while traditional medicine is still one of the main uses - as a fever suppressant or to detoxify the body," says Katherine Johnston from Save the Rhino International in London. But the demand is growing from rhino as a conspicuous display of wealth. "The horn may be displayed whole, or ground and consumed as a social activity, particularly in a business environment," says Johnston. The rhino population was relatively stable in the 1990s and early 2000s but the current poaching crisis drives the rhino ever closer to extinction. Ten years ago only 60 of Africa's majestic rhinos fell to poachers guns in 2006 - but by last year the number had soared to 1338, the highest recorded.

Poachers are estimated to have killed at least 5940 African rhinos since 2008, and while there is a push to legalise captive rhino horn sales (they grow back, very slowly), the ban remains for fear a legal market will simply help launder the black market trade. -- To stigmatise all traditional medicine would be unfair. After all, a Chinese medicine practitioner last year won a Nobel prize. The UN report also notes in a powerful example where modern and traditional medicine converge - bear bile contains an active ingredient ursodeoxycholic acid, a recognised drug in both Western and traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease. But it is crucial to change attitudes. About 118 bears are killed for a kilogram of bear bile, despite a synthetic form being readily available. Luxury fashions can also change. The industrial revolution and spread of European empires in the 19th century drove many species to the brink of extinction - yet it will take a concerted effort to shift perceptions.