China Reportedly Removes Pangolin From List Of Traditional Medicines

China reportedly removed pangolin as one of its traditional medicines.

China on Tuesday reportedly removed pangolin as part of its official list of traditional medicines, according to a state media.

This, as Health Times, a state-owned media, reported that pangolins in China were already left out of its official Chinese Pharmacopoeia in 2020. Also, a pill formulated with bat faeces were also reportedly removed from its official Chinese Pharmacopoeia.

The pangolin — the most heavily-trafficked mammal in the world — was thought by some scientists to be the “possible host” of now-called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that emerged in 2019 at a market in Wuhan City in China.

Pangolin
Pangolin | Photo from AFP News

The pangolin’s body parts were being sold at a higher price on the black market as they’re commonly used as traditional medicine in China, yet scientist said that pangolins as a traditional medicine have no therapeutic value.

Due to pangolins’ threatening status in China, according to a report, the forestry authority gave pangolins the “highest level” of protection in the country.

Photo from AFP News

In a report on Health Times, “depleted wild resources” — including pangolins — were being withdrawn from the official Chinese Pharmacopoeia, adding that the exact reason for the removal of pangolins remained unclear.

Meanwhile, the World Wide Fund for Nature previously said that it “strongly welcomed” China’s move to upgrade its protections for pangolins and called it an “important respite” from the illegal trade in the country.

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