Crew of Chinese boat held as meat from protected animal the pangolin is found on board

The Chinese boat, Min Long Yu, at the Tubbataha Reef area off the coast of Palawan province, Western Philippines. 12 crew members ran it aground on 08 April at a northern islet of the Tubbataha Marine National Park off Palawan province. (EPA)

A Chinese vessel that ran into a protected coral reef in the south-western Philippines held evidence of even more environmental destruction inside: more than 10,000kg of meat from a protected species, the pangolin or scaly anteater.

The steel-hulled vessel hit an atoll on 8 April at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a Unesco-designated World Heritage Site on Palawan island.

A coast guard spokesman said that some 400 boxes, each containing 25 to 30kg of frozen pangolins, were discovered on the boat on Saturday. The vessels’s 12 Chinese crewmen are being detained on charges of poaching and attempted bribery.

AP