Endangered, Devoured

(Sunda Pangolin)

Year:

2016

Original Size:

11" x 17" at 300dpi

Media:

Digital Illustration

Software Used:

Adobe Photoshop CS6

Description:

Pangolins (also known as scaly anteaters) are the world's most trafficked mammal. There are 8 species of pangolin, with the Sunda pangolin being the most critically endangered. This is because their keratin scales are used in Chinese medicine and their flesh is considered a delicacy. A burgeoning middle class in China (and other East Asian countries) is driving demand to serve exotic pangolin meat in restaurants, leading to many restaurants counterfeiting the meat with chicken. To prove that their pangolin meat is authentic, restaurant workers will bring a live pangolin to the patron's table and slaughter it in front of them. Pangolins cannot be bred in captivity and are sourced from the wild.