Exploitation of pangolins around Kahuzi-Biega National Park

Pangolins are the only mammals with scales in the world. These animals live only in Asia and Africa. Their by-products, especially their scales, are often used in traditional medicine. Especially in Southeast Asia the demand for these scales is increasing, so that the populations of these animals are declining in many areas. This makes that the South Asians, especially the Chinese, extend the area of demand. This is how African countries entered the dance.The DRC is one of the countries where these animals exist, and therefore does not escape this reality of high demand. Nevertheless, data on the exploitation of these animals in the DRC is almost non-existent. However, record seizures in some international airports of pangolin scales from this country are worrying. It is in this perspective that preliminary studies on the exploitation of pangolins and their scales have been launched in the Maiko-Tayna-Kahuzi-Biega landscapes, in the east of the DRC.In this case, this document only reports data on pangolin exploitation around the KBNP.