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John Romer is a llong Kong Government zoologist and an ladviser to the IUCN.
Romer
It's highly dependent on this specialised food, so that you can't have large numbers of pangolins in one geographical arca. It's not an animal that is thick on the ground, as it were. There is this interesting point that it has been suggested that there's a strong correlation between the distribution of the Chinese pangolin in South China and a house-destroying termite - coptotermes formosanus - a particular species that is very common in Hong Kong and does a considerable amount of damage. here.
To a certain extent one could replace predators by artificial or man-made control measures, but it would almost certainly result in catastrophe eventually. If one thinks of starts to think about chemical controls, of course, these can lead to all sorts of dangers and difficulties: Resistance in the pest being dealt with, the example of the peregring in England which became almost extinct through the use of pesticides. There is no substitute for natural control.
Already some species the Chinese otter, the Crab Eating Mongoose, and the large and small Indian civets once commonly available from China are now rarely seen in the Hong Kong shops.
Lance
Whether this is a reflection on the tastes of the local population or whether it indicates the fact that the natural stocks have been completely wiped out is hard to judge. But I would think it shows that they are much harder to trap in their natural environment. In other words, they are very scarce indeed now in Southern China. Street Atmosphare - begin with first street cry under voice. Bring up for 2nd street cry, then hold under.
Possession of all these mammals including those from China was once illegal in Hong Kong. But imports persisted unchecked in this time and wildlife in /. theory protected was openly hawked in the Colony's streets. Then in 1971 Fred Hechtel as an Honorary Gamowarden trying to get official
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action taken was told that this was inaivisable since the importation of wildlife from China was about to be legalised.
Hechtel
When I asked why the law was going to be changed it wasn't mentioned in the letter but I was told that it was because this was politically sensitive. And of course this was the underlying theme throughout the battle which we had with Government to try and provent them from taking this backward step and amending the legislation to allow these mammals to come into Hong Kong from China.