An adult pangolin (Manis culionensis) was surrendered to the local environmental authorities by a concerned citizen on Tuesday.
The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), in a statement issued Tuesday evening, said that a certain Julito Miraveles, a resident of Barangay Sta. Lourdes in this city surrendered the adult pangolin through the 2nd Special Operations Unit-Maritime Group.
Locally known as balintong, it was first rescued by Miraveles on May 31 after it was chased by a dog.
The pangolin, which was dubbed as the world’s most trafficked mammal, measured 89 centimeters from snout to tail, and 43 centimeters wide. Its health condition was checked by a veterinarian from PCSDS-Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit (WTMU).
Pangolin was recently linked to being a carrier of the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) due to its prolific trafficking for its continued demand in the exotic food market, according to certain reports.
The pangolin is classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) banning their commercial trade.
This is the fifth pangolin rescued in Palawan since the onset of lockdowns.
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