Ethnomedicinal use of African pangolins by traditional medical practitioners in Sierra Leone

Abstract

BackgroundPangolins (Manidae) have long been used for traditional medicinal purposes in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. However, very little is known about the extent of this use, the body parts that are used and the ailments these practices are attempting to cure or alleviate. Pangolin body parts are used extensively and frequently by traditional medical practitioners in Sierra Leone.MethodsA total of 63 traditional medical practitioners consented and were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires on the traditional medicinal use of pangolin body parts. The use value, informant agreement ratio and use agreement value for each pangolin part was calculated to ascertain the most sought after body part, the level of knowledge dissemination among traditional medical practitioners about body parts and the most culturally significant body part.ResultsIt was found that 22 pangolin parts are used to treat various ailments and conditions under 17 international categories of diseases. The highest use value was recorded for scales while eyes had the highest level of consensus among the traditional medical practitioners. The highest use value and informant agreement ratio for scales were recorded for spiritual ailments. Scales were the most culturally significant body part according to the use agreement value.ConclusionThis study indicates a high importance value for pangolins as part of these communities’ spiritual, cultural and medicinal beliefs. However, the numbers of individuals harvested from the wild remains unknown and unregulated even though pangolins have been listed under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1972, of Sierra Leone, which prohibits any person from hunting or being in possession of pangolins. It is likely that this unregulated harvesting and poaching of this threatened species, for medicinal purposes, is unsustainable and there is an urgent need to determine pangolin population abundance within this region to ensure their sustainable harvesting for cultural use and conservation.

Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

“…; Soewu & Ayodele ; Soewu & Adekanola ; Boakye et al . , ; Soewu & Sodeinde ). In this context, our mtDNA‐typing approach can concretely provide the necessary tools to identify traded body parts of African common pangolins (notably because DNA can be extracted from skin residues found on scales; Zhang et al .…”

The brain of the tree pangolin (Manis tricuspis). I. General appearance of the central nervous system

“…Pangolins exhibit a range of typically mammalian behaviors (Mohapatra & Panda, ), but several highly derived morphological characteristics, such as the scales that cover their dorsal surface, the lack of teeth, and the extremely long, protrusable tongue (Doran & Allbrook, ; Mohapatra & Panda, ), make them unique mammals. All species of pangolin are becoming progressively rarer throughout their range due to large‐scale indiscriminate hunting and a rising demand for their body parts, which are considered either a delicacy or are used for ethnomedicine (Boakye, Pietersen, Kotzé, Dalton, & Jansen, ; Setlalekgomo, ; Soewu, ). Several interesting behaviors of pangolins have been reported, associated with the extremely long and protrusable tongue, curling behavior in defense, backing of baby pangolin and suckling, resting in a straight posture in hidden places, bathing, digging with the forelimbs, bipedal walking, and copulation (Ganguly, ; Mohapatra & Panda, ).…”

Myth debunked: Keratinous pangolin scales do not contain the analgesic tramadol

“…Some reports further suggest that demand for pangolin scales is driven in part by the purported presence of tramadol (Friedman & Kriel, 2016;Naveen, 2016). The use of pangolin scales and other animal products in traditional medicines is common in many cultures (Bensky & Gamble, 1993;Boakye et al, 2014;Pantel & Chin, 2008), but it is unsustainable on a global commercial scale. We were unable to confirm the existence of this Interpol report (see also Ewudolu, 2019).…”

“…Pangolin meat is consumed in many countries as a delicacy, and the scales are often used in traditional medicines in Africa and Asia (Bensky & Gamble, 1993;Boakye, Pietersen, Kotzé, Dalton, & Jansen, 2014;Pantel & Chin, 2008). Pangolin meat is consumed in many countries as a delicacy, and the scales are often used in traditional medicines in Africa and Asia (Bensky & Gamble, 1993;Boakye, Pietersen, Kotzé, Dalton, & Jansen, 2014;Pantel & Chin, 2008).…”