Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34490759›Full record

ArticleZoological research2021

Prosecution records reveal pangolin trading networks in China, 2014-2019.

Xiang-Qin Huang, Chris Newman, Christina D Buesching, Mei-Ling Shao, Yun-Chun Ye, Sha Liu, David W Macdonald, Zhao-Min Zhou

Open access · diamondAbstract readLetter
In one paragraph

Article in Zoological research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. China's Legal Protection System for Pangolins: Past, Present, and Future.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Genomic analysis reveals a cryptic pangolin species.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Xiang-Qin HuangKey Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002, China.
Chris NewmanWildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13 5QL, UK.
Christina D BueschingCook's Lake Farming, Forestry and Wildlife Inc. (Ecological Consultancy), Queens County, Nova Scotia B0J 2H0, Canada.
Mei-Ling ShaoKey Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002, China.
Yun-Chun YeKey Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002, China.
Sha LiuKey Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002, China.
David W MacdonaldWildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX13 5QL, UK.
Zhao-Min ZhouKey Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan 637002, China.
China West Normal University · CNNatural Resources Canada · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In a precautionary response to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, China's Ministries permanently banned eating and trading in terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals on 24 February 2020, and extensively updated the list of Fauna under Special State Protection (LFSSP) in 2020 and 2021, in which pangolins (Manidae spp.) were upgraded to the highest protection level. Examining 509 pangolin prosecution records from China Judgements online prior to these changes (01/01/14-31/12/19), we identified that Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces were hotspots for trade in whole pangolins and their scales. Interrupting trade in these three principal southern provinces would substantially fragment the pangolin trade network and reduce supply of imports from other south-east Asian countries. In the context of the revised legislation and strategies intended to prevent wildlife trade, we conclude that targeting interventions at key trade nodes could significantly reduce illegal trade in pangolins, and that this approach could also be effective with other taxa.

Indexed as

CrimePangolinsSARS-CoV-2AnimalsChinaCOVID-19Endangered SpeciesHumansRetrospective StudiesBiodiversityConservationCOVID-19EpidemicPangolinWildlife trade

Identifiers

PMID34490759
PMCPMC8455467
OpenAlexW3198083168

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.