Over 2,900 skinned anteaters found in Chinese ship

MANILA, Philippines - More than 2,900 skinned anteaters were found in the Chinese fishing vessel F/B Min Long Yu that ran aground in Tubbataha Reef last month, according to the inventory of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

PCSD legal officer lawyer Adelina Villena said yesterday the council submitted to the Palawan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 51 Executive Judge Jocelyn Dilig the result of the inventory.

Out of the 431 sacks recovered from the cargo hold, 427 sacks contained 2,870 anteaters in addition to the 42 taken from the five boxes submitted as samples last April 9.

In all, the ship contained 2,912 anteaters, which is also known as pangolins and locally called balentong. These are known as a delicacy in China.

In the initial inspection, the Philippine Coast Guard said they found around 400 boxes believed to contain skinned pangolins. They took five boxes to be examined by the PCSD.

Due to the deteriorated condition of the boxes from the cargo hold, the dead pangolins were put in the sacks.

Authorities also recovered 34 pieces of snake-like meat, a sack containing five kilograms of dried seaweed-like material, a sack with seven kilograms of dried squid-like material, and another sack with five kilos of assorted fish.

Villena, who is also the PCSD Ecological Critical Areas Network (ECAN) Zones Management and Enforcement chief, said that the items found in the ship will be used to strengthen the possession of protected species charges filed against the 12 Chinese.