Table of contents:
- Stop eating pangolins
- Eating pangolins makes them extinct even faster
- Pangolins are said to be the "cause" of the novel coronavirus
- Come on, stop consuming wildlife
Pangolins are one of the animals that are often consumed in China and several countries in Africa because they are believed to have health properties for the body. Even though these animals are increasingly rare and have recently been alleged to be transmitters of covid-19 or the novel coronavirus. It is time for pangolin consumption to stop.
Stop eating pangolins
Source: Wikipedia
Pangolins are mammals that are active at night and live in tropical areas such as Africa and Asia. These scaly animals are known to have fairly dense protein, aka keratin. When pangolins feel threatened, these animals will roll themselves into a ball.
Pangolins are protected animals because of their limited population and are threatened with extinction. The number is decreasing due to being hunted by humans. Many believe that pangolin meat can have health effects on the body.
For example, people in Vietnam believe that consumption of pangolin scales can be used to treat blocked milk ducts. In fact, there has been no scientific research on this matter.
To change people's perceptions, students majoring in traditional medicine at several universities in Vietnam are now being taught that pangolin consumption is not an effective traditional medicine.
Not only that, the researchers also do not support people's claims that there are benefits of pangolin scales for kidney health.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Apart from Asia, another country that believes that eating pangolins has good health effects for the body is Africa. According to research from PLoS One, The 13 pangolin body parts are used as one of the traditional healing methods, especially their scales and bones.
Pangolin body parts are consumed to treat seizures and rheumatism. This traditional medicine continues to this day even though its health benefits have not been scientifically proven.
Eating pangolins makes them extinct even faster
Many people believe that eating pangolin meat has good health effects for their bodies. Without realizing it, consumption of these mammals makes pangolins extinct faster.
In 2019, there was the largest increase in demand for pangolin meat in East Malaysia. According to media outlets, authorities found about 30 tonnes of pangolin products, including 1,800 frozen pangolin meat and 316 kilograms of pangolin scales.
In addition, in January 2019, the authorities also found around 8 tonnes of pangolin scales, possibly from 14,000 pangolins in Hong Kong. The trafficking of endangered animals is said to have originated in Nigeria and is valued at US $ 8 million.
Due to the increasing demand for pangolin meat, especially in countries in Asia, pangolins are threatened with extinction.
Therefore, for some people who may believe that eating pangolins has a good health effect, it may be time to stop.
This is because there is no research that really proves that pangolins have benefits for your health. What's more, stopping the consumption of these dry scaly animal meat also aims to protect them from extinction.
Pangolins are said to be the "cause" of the novel coronavirus
Already considered an endangered animal, researchers suspect that pangolins are "suspect" animals that transmit the novel coronavirus to humans.
The coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed more than 1,000 lives and caused around 40,000 cases globally, is not yet known how it spreads.
Coronavirus is a zoonosis, namely diseases and infections originating from vertebrate animals that can be transmitted to humans.
Transmission of the virus from animals to humans is actually quite rare. However, in some cases, such as SARS and MERS-CoV, zoonoses are the masterminds behind the disease outbreak.
Similar to SARS and MERS-CoV, the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV is thought to have originated from bats. The virus cells in these bats are thought to have moved to pangolins and eventually eaten by humans.
It is no longer a secret that pangolin meat and scales are traded in Wuhan, China. This is because Asian people, especially in China, believe that eating pangolin meat provides good benefits for their bodies.
Therefore, pangolins are suspected to be one of the “masterminds” behind the novel coronavirus outbreak. However, further research is still needed whether the viral molecules found in pangolins are the cause of the novel coronavirus.
Come on, stop consuming wildlife
Pangolins are not the only wildlife that is threatened with extinction due to human exploitation. Whether it's eating pangolin meat and other animals for health effects or just following trends.
This is because, not only does it accelerate the extinction of wildlife, the consumption of these exotic animals can cause various diseases. One source of disease that is quite worrying is the coronavirus cells that are found in some animals, such as bats.
Therefore, by reducing to stopping the consumption of wildlife, you are already contributing to preventing the extinction of these animals and reducing the risk of transmission.
Public belief in several countries about the health effects of eating pangolin meat creates new problems for the environment. Not only the environment, consumption of wildlife is also at risk of being infected with viruses that may be found in the animal's body.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to stop the consumption of wild animals in an effort to prevent the extinction of these animals and maintain your health.
