Pangolin, an endangered species, is listed as one of the most trafficked animals in the world. (Photo : Getty Images)
To gain more mileage in media in its campaign to save the pangolins, WildAid, an environmental organization, got Chinese actress Angelababy as its spokesperson. She is a Hong Kong model, singer and actress and is 12th on Forbes China Celebrity 100, indicating her influence.
WildAid has partnered with Wunderman Shanghai to launch the integrated activation campaign to boost public awareness of the pangolins. It is the most trafficked animal on Earth because of its scales, believed by Chinese medicine to cure a wide range of ailments such as back pain, stomach ulcers and mental illness.
Dubious Medicinal Value
Despite the dubious medicinal value of the animal’s scales which is just made of keratin, before 2016 ended, Chinese authorities confiscated 3.1 tons of pangolin scales with an estimated value of $2 million on the black market. The scales were attempted to be smuggled into China by hiding it in a container supposed to be full of large logs from Nigeria.
Besides the scales, pangolin meat is also in high demand in China and East Asia. It has resulted in killing and illegal shipment of more than 1 million pangolins in the last 10 years, according to Campaignbriefasia.
Interactive WeChat Platform
There are two components of the campaign created by Wunderman Shanghai. One is advertising in the airport and metro in big cities in China. The second one is the launch of a interactive platform in WeChat to encourage conservation of the pangolin through an interactive game.
It involves players looking for pangolins in a forest. Those who find one have the option of selling the gentle animal, cooking it or bringing the pangolin home. Whatever is their choice, Angelababy would send the gamers a personal reply to encourage them to stop the killing of the pangolins.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has recently uplisted all eight global species of the pangolin to appendix 1 status. Being in that list means it is prohibited to trade pangolins. Despite the ban, a lot of attempts to smuggle the animal continues.
After the China confiscation, 58 species of pangolins, along with dried sea horses and sea dragons were seized on Jan. 13 by the Philippine Coast Guard from the vessel M/V Francis Xavier at the Port of Manila. The 2GO Group owns the ship which runs the Manila-Bacolod/Iloilo route, the Manila Bulletin reported.
