pangolins

pangolin, kyle dunnigan, you tube, sebastian maniscalco, youtube

Kuala Lumpur : More than 300 pangolins waiting to be smuggled to Thailand were seized by the Malaysian police from a mango orchard in northern Perlis state, media reports said Thursday.

A total of 248 adult and 58 young pangolins - worth $20,588 (70,000 ringgit) - were seized by a team of anti-smuggling unit (UPP) of the Malaysian police in Padang Besar, a border town. The pangolins are anteaters. Some people kill them for their meat.

The pangolins were brought from Kulim in northern Kedah state and headed for Thailand.

After a tip-off, the police team led by Ku Yaacob Ku Hamad raided the mango orchard that was being used as a transit point to smuggle the pangolins, an official said.

The pangolins were wrapped in cloths and stacked inside large plastic baskets.

"The team searched the area for several hours but no one was around," New Straits Times quoted Ku Yaacob as saying.

This was the second biggest seizure of pangolins in the state this year, he said. In September, the police seized 330 pangolins, worth $382,353.

"Smugglers have changed their tactics. Now they store these animals in secondary forests or orchards to evade detection," Ku Yaacob said.