The Pangolin is the most trafficked animal in the world. Despite an international agreement making it illegal to trade in this endangered species, poaching has continued, and it is believed as many as one million Pangolins have died at the hands of poachers in the last decade.

Governments can make penalties harsher in order to provide a greater deterrent for poaching and trading Pangolins. We, at Northway Primary School, are appealing to Barbara Woodward, British Ambassador to China, to lobby the Government of China to set a precedent by setting a minimum prison sentence for people arrested for the illegal trade of Pangolins.

Scientific research has found a possible link between Pangolin meat and the spread of the Coronavirus, Even if this hasn't occurred on this occasion, the potential for Pangolins to be an intermediary between bats and humans in spreading dangerous viruses is a real and present threat. Therefore, the illegal trade of Pangolins needs stopping altogether, right now, and one of the best means of achieving this is through longer prison sentences for those responsible for this illegal trade.