Malaysia: The Pangolin and the Dark World of Trafficking

An investigative storybook by R.AGE

Criminal syndicates in Africa and Asia are working together — and competing — to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for pangolins in China and other markets.

Over nine months this year, over 30 journalists across 14 countries and territories investigated how illegal pangolin trafficking is leading the species to become extinct.

Today, our partners at R.AGE in Malaysia published an incredible investigative storybook on their reporting on the pangolin trade.

Here’s how they describe the effort:

Once there was a group of journalists who set out to expose the illicit pangolin trade in Malaysia with hard-hitting videos and sharp news copy. But they returned with a collection of stories that would not sit inside the neat black-and-white columns of news publication, so they just wrote stories and made them less about accuracy and more about truth, and kissed them with pretty paintings and hoped they would speak to everyone young and old.

The result is just great. Please give it a read.

They also published a great short video explainer that we’d like to share:

Please share these fantastic productions with interested friends and colleagues.

If you’re in Malaysia, consider buying The Star newspaper over the next days. Collect all six pages of their report from Dec. 10-14 to make a pangolin poster. If you do get all of them, snap a photo and tag them on Instagram @thestar_rage.

Our reporters in Myanmar just returned to the newsroom in Yangon after weeks in the field, looking for poachers and traders in the Southeast Asian country. Soon, we’ll send you the result of their work.