Tomorrow marks World Pangolin Day as conservationists around the planet step up the campaign to stop these fascinating, docile animals being plundered from the wild.

The hunger for pangolin flesh and their horny scales across the Far East as quack Oriental medicine cures has put a heavy price on their heads, with one of the animals poached in Africa or Asia every five minutes.

Such is the onslaught to satisfy a black market where a pound of internationally-protected pangolin scales can sell for £1,000, has seen all eight species placed on the extinction Red List.

To date, the four endemic Asian pangolins have been classed as either Endangered or Critically Endangered, while the four African species are listed as Vulnerable.

Tragically, the demand for pangolin parts in China and Vietnam is now so intense that the African species are coming under increasing pressures.