(MY) Wildlife Department seizes pangolins in Malaysia

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Wildlife Dept seizes pangolins

 

2009/09/09

 

*KOTA BARU:* Nearly 100 live pangolins were saved from the cooking pots in

Thailand by the state Wildlife Department on Monday.

 

The 93 pangolins, packed in individual plastic boxes and worth about

RM70,000, were seized around noon in Kampung Cherang, Bachok.

 

The department had received a tip-off, said director Pazil Abdul Patah, and an

enforcement team found a man loading the pangolins into a car. But he took off

on foot when he spotted the officers.

 

The animals weighed three to 12kg each, and with restaurants in Thailand

paying RM150 per kg, the suspect would have made a tidy profit. Pazil said the

seizure was the biggest made so far this year. The animals will soon be released

in a national park.

 

Pangolins are protected under the Wildlife Act, but their meat is considered a

delicacy.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/21pgo/Article/index_html