A pangolin is released into the wild by Natural Resources Conservation Agency officials at a forest in Sibolangit, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Photograph: Jefri Tarigan/AP

Two suspected wildlife smugglers are pictured standing next to their car, along with two plastic crates containing four tiger cubs, and endangered pangolins, after they were arrested, at a police station in the central province of Ha Tinh, Vietnam. TheIUCN-SSC PangolinSG was re-established in February 2012 in recognition of widespread global threats to pangolins and to address the lack of understanding of the species and their conservation needs

Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

(Source: Guardian)

Three people were arrested after a large cache of wild animal parts was intercepted in Nanning, capital of southern China’s Guangxi Provinc, including 343 frozen pangolins, 141 black bear palms (from at least 43 bears), 37 frozen big-headed turtles, and 20kg of suspected black bear meat. According to officers, the body parts would have been sold on the local black market with the estimated value of 20m yuan

Photograph: Quirky China News / Rex Features/Quirky China News / Rex Features

(Source: Guardian)

A pangolin crawls on bags wrapping other pangolins during a news conference on wildlife rescue in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai customs officers rescued 138 endangered pangolins worth about $46,000 that they say were to be sold and eaten outside the country. The animals hidden in a pickup truck were seized at a custom check point in Chumporn province, south of Bangkok, according to the officials

Photograph: Apichart Weerawong/AP

(Source: Guardian)