20 pangolins released back to wild in Palawan

Pangolins, which were rescued late last month, were released back into the wild last weekend in El Nido town, Palawan.
(Photo courtesy of Palawan Council for Sustainable Development)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — The 20 live pangolins (Manis culionensis), which were rescued from a “notorious” wildlife trafficker last month, were released back into the wild last weekend in El Nido town, Palawan.

Jovic Fabello, spokesperson of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, said on Tuesday that they could not disclose the release site to protect the rescued pangolins.

But he pointed out that the Council intends to enforce stricter patrol measures on the “porous” borders to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Wilter Tenorio, 33, who was apprehended in Barangay Pasadeña on January 25 by the joint environmental task force, was now facing charges in violation of the Philippine Wildlife Act.

The Council also intends to involve the local community in ensuring ground-level conservation effort for the “most trafficked wildlife in the world.”

The Philippine pangolin faces an “extremely high risk of extinction” as the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species reclassified it as a critically endangered species on December 2019. It was formerly listed as endangered for the past seven years./lzb