Jackie Chan has joint the fight to protect endangered pangolins.
The Rush Hour star has appeared in a video released by WildAid organisation urging viewers to not eat pangolin meat or to use their scales for medicines.
In the video, Chan is seen training pangolins in kung fu to defend themselves. The campaign has been called the ‘Kung Fu Pangolin’.
The BBC reports that WildAid chief Peter Knights said, “Jackie reaches a vast audience across Asia and there are clear signs these campaigns have had an impact and attitudes are changing.”
Malaysia has been urgently pushing the outlaw of hunting pangolins. The government of Sabah is aiming to make pangolins “totally protected.” When approved by the state’s cabinet, those caught hunting the animal will face a mandatory prison sentence of up to five years.
“If these illegal hunting activities are not checked, the population of the protected and endangered wildlife species in the state will shrink in no time,” Rahimatsah Amat of the Sabah Environmental Trust said.
WildAid says that pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world, with over a million poached from teh wild over the last 10 years. The animal’s meat is considered a delicacy and its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Last year, Mandopop star Jay Chou also featured in a WildAid video urging fans to fight for pangolins.
