January 22, 2016 Working paper Open Access

Hunting and sale of pangolins across Sub-Saharan Africa: A preliminary analysis

Ingram, Daniel J; Coad, Lauren; Scharlemann, Jorn P W

Data collector(s)

Gill, David; Noss, Andrew; Thibault, Marc; van Vliet, Nathalie ; Willcox, Adam ; Abugiche, Samuel ; Colell, Montserrat ; Kümpel, Noëlle ; Muchaal, Pia ; Rist, Janna; Mbete, Pierre; Mockrin, Miranda ; Anadu, Pius ; Pailler, Sharon ; Dupain, Jef ; Crookes, Douglas; Okorie, Peter; Puit, Marielle; Yasouka, Hirokazu; Fargeot, Christian; Hodgkinson, Chloe; Fusari, Alessandro; Rija, Alfan; Olupot, William; Osaki, Masakazu; Ichikawa, Mitsuo; Asibey, Emmanuel; Kitanishi, Koichi; King, Sadie; Okiwelu, SN; Tee, Terver; Okeke, John; Hitchcock, Robert; Amubode, FO; Cowlishaw, Guy; Falconer, ; Martin, GHG; Hennessey, A Bennett; Swensson, John; Greengrass, Elizabeth; Hofer, Heribert; Fimbel, Cheryl; Jeffrey, Sonia; Fa, John; Riddell, Michael; Schleicher, Judith; Ziegler, Stefan; Terashima, Hideaki; Roth, HH; Opare-Ankrah, Yvonne; Seino, RA; Shada, Kofimaya; Bersacola, Elena; Blake, Stephen; Bobo, Kadiri; Nielsen, Martin; Gandiwa, Edson; Minhós, Tânia; Coad, Lauren; Wilfred, Paulo; Holmern, Tomas; Kakeya, Makoto; Hayashi, Koji; Kamgaing, William; Dethier, Marc; Dounias, Edmond; Wilkie, David; Rieu, Linda; Whitham, Charlotte

Pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) are hunted and traded for their meat and scales. We conducted preliminary analyses on the hunting and sale at markets of four species of pangolin across Sub-Saharan Africa based on data from the OFFTAKE database. Our analyses show that all four species of African pangolin are hunted and sold at markets throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of pangolins as part of the total vertebrates hunted has increased significantly during the 43 years, from 1972-2014, for which we have data.