TRAFFIC Pangolin Seizure Database
Definition
A compiled database of documented pangolin trade seizures maintained by TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network), used to establish trade routes, source populations, and species composition trends for prosecutions and conservation policy.
- Maintained by
- TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network
- Content
- Documented pangolin trade seizure records
- Use
- Trade routes, source populations, species composition
- Application
- Prosecutions and conservation policy
Common questions
How does seizure data support an individual prosecution case?+
Pattern data compiled from prior seizures can corroborate trade route and species claims made in a specific case, strengthening expert testimony about the trafficking network involved.
Why is species composition tracked specifically for pangolin seizures?+
Several pangolin species are traded under visually similar scale products, so composition data helps identify which species and source populations face the greatest trafficking pressure.
Related terms
- DNA Barcoding
- Species identification using a short, standardised region of the mitochondrial genome. For animals, the primary barcode marker is a 648-base-pair segment of...
- Keratin
- The structural protein that forms pangolin scales, human fingernails, and bird feathers. In scales it is arranged in a layered matrix whose...
- LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry)
- An analytical workflow in which proteins or peptides are separated by chromatography and then identified by their mass-to-charge ratios. Used for pangolin...
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
- The smallest number of distinct individuals required to account for all skeletal elements present in an assemblage. Determined by identifying the element...
- Scale Microstructure
- The internal and surface architecture of a pangolin scale visible under light microscopy or scanning electron microscopy, including ridge pattern, cross-section shape,...