Tracking Pangolin Scales

The Problem

Illegal wildlife trafficking is ranked as the second most harmful driver of ecosystem changes (IPBES, 2019). Pangolins are the most frequently trafficked mammals in the world for their unique keratin scales and meat. They are considered the “guardians of the forest” because they protect forests from termite destruction, maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Of the eight known species of pangolins, the IUCN lists two as vulnerable, three as endangered, and three as critically endangered. Pangolins are harvested in their range states, often illegally. Their by-products—most often scales but sometimes whole pangolins—are shipped from ports in Africa to destinations throughout Asia in violation of CITES on which pangolins are listed in Appendix I. Illicit trade in pangolin-derived commodities is arguably the single greatest threat to their genera. The illegal pangolin trade has persisted despite seizures and penalties by law enforcement. Pangolin scales are frequently seized at shipping ports where they are commingled with other products. These include wood chips and plastics, as well as illegal drugs and weapons. Pangolin shipments are often the product of organized crime syndicates. Authorities have noted that agencies lack crucial information revealing the complex cross-border movement of pangolin products. Shipping companies, law enforcement, and governments are largely unaware of how this supply chain operates, making it difficult to monitor and enforce.

Our Proposal

We aim to leverage emerging tracking technologies to identify hotspots in the pangolin supply chain. We look to partner with organizations working to combat this trade and create new collaborations with institutions embedded in this supply chain. Pangolin scales will be discreetly modified with small traceable tags. The modified scales will be introduced at multiple points into the illicit supply chain. Utilizing emerging technologies in low-energy sensors, GPS tracking, satellite mapping, and transponding, we will provide a new system for gathering data about points of origin, transfer, and termination. This system is intended to produce information about actors involved in organized crime and the methods that they employ. We will partner with law enforcement, shipping companies, and local NGOs to support their efforts to halt the illicit pangolin trade. Authorities will become better able to target major crime operators and successfully seize scales, deterring future pangolin exchanges. We look to explore the use of WIDs and passive emitters. These devices have been successfully deployed to track wild pangolins by field technicians working with SPECIES. We plan to build on our working relationship with the Chief Conservation Officer, Anthony Giordano, to partner with agencies integral for deployment. SPECIES has spent years building trust with local communities and law enforcement in regions where pangolins are poached, trafficked, and purchased.

We Assume that...

An appropriate tracking technology can be embedded into pangolin scales that balances stealth, battery time, and the ability to transmit GPS signals in intervals.

Data collected from these trackers can be successfully transmitted into a mapping interface.

Our team and conservation partners can collaborate with law enforcement officials to place the tracking devices into seized large shipments and move that shipment back into the illegal market.

Data mapping illegal wildlife trafficking supply chain routes provides crucial information for building global partnerships across national borders and industries to combat the illegal pangolin trade.

With cooperation and supply chain data, law enforcement agencies can substantially reduce the amount of wildlife trafficked by organized crime networks.

Undermining the pangolin supply chain will ultimately have a protective effect on endangered species of pangolins.

Reducing the market supply of pangolin products will raise their market prices which will decrease demand for these products.

Driving down demand for pangolin products will ultimately result in fewer pangolins being poached, enabling their populations to recover.

This intervention will raise the barriers of entry in the illicit pangolin trade, reducing the number of people who become a part of this network

No covert operation of this type is currently being implemented by international agencies or wildlife organizations.

Constraints to Overcome

Much of the information known about pangolin trafficking has come from successful seizures. However, seizure data may create a detection bias by informing conclusions about common methods for trafficking illegal goods. Through the implementation of our novel solution, enforcement organizations can create a validated set of assumptions about the entire route system and methods used to traffic illegal wildlife. In recent years, leaders from the public and private sectors have made commitments to crack down on this trade. The 2017 Buckingham Declaration was signed by major shipping companies to address this issue. More recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping exclaimed “we can’t be indifferent anymore” referring to the public health risks of consuming wildlife products. However, illicit trafficking in pangolin products has continued undeterred. We believe supply chain data is the key to support groups working to stop the trade and ultimately, remove key stakeholders from the supply chain.

Current Work

First, we plan to build prototypes of wirelessly tracked pangolin scales using diverse, existing technologies. We must keep in mind the technical constraints of battery life, sensor sizes, signal accuracy, and stealth. Our prototype will explore WIDs, a super-scaled RFID/WISPS system, currently used to track pangolins at SPECIES. We will also further explore sensing capabilities in combined GPS and active RFIDs. We will evaluate the feasibility of device satellite connectivity and transmission to telephone towers or cellular devices, followed by prototyping the appropriate mapping interface. Integrating this GPS information into Google Earth Engine could support enhanced data analysis to better understand the unique features of ports and supply routes to determine priority regions and mitigation strategies. Throughout these phases, we will speak with pangolin conservation groups to better understand what locations and partnerships would be key for gaining critical supply chain data.

Current Needs

The immediate need of the project is guidance from sensor technology professionals. This can be provided through accessing professional networks of individuals working with sensor technology. The CTO of SPECIES will be available to advise on the technical aspects of this project, and further guidance may be sought from IEEE, wildlabs.net, and technology vendors. Prototype funding may be supplied by Conservation X Labs. Support for implementing prototypes may become available through SPECIES. The effective implementation of our product will also require that enforcement and conservation agencies invest in larger infrastructure to detect the passive emitters. We intend to seek out these partnerships by reaching out to governmental and non-governmental conservation agencies and organizations.