CHANGSHA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- When social media posts of pangolin being eaten at banquets triggered public fury in China last week, a wildlife protection specialist saw a ray of hope.
"I hope the scandal will become a turning point in our search and rescue for the critically-endangered animal," said Zhou Canying, head of the wildlife protection association in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.
Zhou and her pangolin protection team have trekked the mountains of Hunan for more than a year but not spotted a single pangolin.
Earlier in February, a screenshot of a microblog post went viral allegedly showing officials in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region inviting investors from Hong Kong to eat pangolin at a banquet. Guangxi authorities immediately launched an investigation amid public outcry.
"The public rarely pays so much attention to pangolins, and I hope the crisis will lead to new breakthroughs in its protection," Zhou said Saturday, the sixth annual World Pangolin Day.
The ancient species, which has evolved over 80 million years, was once abundant in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, including Hunan Province.
In Pingjiang County, many people told Zhou that until the 1990s could see pangolins feeding on termites on pine trees .
But things changed drastically in the last two decades: people used excessive pesticides; pines were replaced with firs that produced more expensive lumber; and the remaining pangolins were caught and sold to illegal dealers. Their meat is believed to be a delicacy, and their scaly skin an ingredient in traditional medicine.
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