2021/01/01 by Rebecca Sexton, Trang Van Nguyen, David L. Roberts · 19 citations
Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #HIV Research and Treatment #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research #Pangolin #Vietnamese #Business #Wildlife trade #Medical prescription #Law enforcement #Fencing #Wildlife #Environmental health #Geography #Medicine #Traditional medicine #Political science #Ecology #Biology #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/1940082920985755
published in Tropical Conservation Science 14 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2021/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
It is now acknowledged that demand stemming from traditional medicine stimulates a continued market for illegal wildlife trade globally. Increasing demand for pangolin fuels widespread unsustainable extraction and an illicit international trade that is threatening pangolin populations worldwide. Vietnam is an important transit country in this trafficking network and a significant consumer country, particularly due to their longstanding tradition of consuming wildlife products as traditional medicine. We conducted 51 semi-structured, questionnaire-based interviews with traditional Vietnamese medicine practitioners in Hanoi, Vietnam to explore the factors influencing their prescription of pangolin. The results show that traditional Vietnamese medicine practitioners are important drivers of pangolin use and that prescription continues despite prohibitive legislation. The main influencing factors were money, illegality (as a deterrent) and supply. Wealthier patients were more likely to use pangolin as medicine and patients generally trusted a doctor’s prescription. Awareness of regulations related to pangolin use in traditional medicine was low and pangolin use continued without fear of the law. Lactation, abscesses and circulation were the most prescribed uses for pangolin scales. All respondents believed that pangolin can be substituted, however, a belief remained that substitutes are inferior to pangolin. This study provides a unique perspective of pangolin use in one of the main pangolin consumption countries in the world. The results suggest that the law is not being implemented effectively and that increased enforcement efforts are necessary. Furthermore, these insights serve to inform future demand-reduction campaigns whereby the most common uses and substitutes for pangolin scales may be targeted.