Conservation Status
M. crassicaudata is suspected to be in significant decline due to hunting for traditional medicine and food. Although these pangolins are protected by national legislation in many protected areas throughout their range, they are heavily exploited for their meat and their supposed magical or medicinal properties. The scales are used as an aphrodisiac, or made into rings or charms. The skins are used to manufacture leather goods, including boots and shoes. Although this pangolin is mainly consumed locally, it may soon be at risk to international trade when it becomes the more available option. The two other Asian species of pangolins, Manis javanica and Manis pentadactyla, are declining due to the market for them in Chinese traditional medicine.
Read more about this topic: Indian Pangolin
Famous quotes containing the words conservation and/or status:
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Anthropologists have found that around the world whatever is considered “men’s work” is almost universally given higher status than “women’s work.” If in one culture it is men who build houses and women who make baskets, then that culture will see house-building as more important. In another culture, perhaps right next door, the reverse may be true, and basket- weaving will have higher social status than house-building.”
—Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. Excerpted from, Gender Grace: Love, Work, and Parenting in a Changing World (1990)