People in possession of pangolin (Lugave in Luganda) scales now have all reasons to smile as a kilogramme of its scales costs 2.5 million shillings.

The pangolin scales have a big market in China and India where the manufacturers there use them to make jewelries, ornaments and hand-held weapons. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Spokesperson Ms Lilian Nsubuga says that because of the high demand for pangolin scales in Asia, China and Europe the pangolin population in Uganda and Africa at large is under threat.

In China and Asia the remains of pangolin population are reportedly used in the manufacture of traditional medicine that prolong a man’s erection, and prolong love.

Pangolins are small, squirrel-size animals whose bodies are covered with big scales which are as hard as ivory, tortoise cell or rhino horn.

In Uganda a kilogramme of pangolin scales costs between 50,000 to 100,000 shillings and at the world market the same kilogramme costs $1,000 (about 2.5 Uganda million shillings).

Walakira Nyanzi