China removes pangolin from traditional medicine list

Published June 10, 2020
This file picture taken on July 22, 2019 shows a Formosan pangolin at the Taipei Zoo. — AFP
This file picture taken on July 22, 2019 shows a Formosan pangolin at the Taipei Zoo. — AFP

BEIJING: China has removed pangolin parts from its official list of traditional medicines, state media reported on Tuesday, days after increasing legal protections on the endangered animal.

Pangolins were left out of the official Chinese Pharmacopoeia this year, along with substances including a pill formulated with bat faeces, the state-owned Health Times reported.

The pangolin, the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, is thought by some scientists to be the possible host of the novel coronavirus that emerged at a market in China’s Wuhan city last year.

Its body parts fetch a high price on the black market as they are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, although scientists say they have no therapeutic value.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2020

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