FORBIDDEN SCALES
Bad Goods | Vice News | Supervising Producer
** 2021 FRONT PAGE AWARD WINNER: DIGITAL **
With a value upwards of $23 billion annually, illegal wildlife trafficking is one of the most lucrative global crimes, sitting only behind drugs, humans, and arms. And in just the past few years, a largely unknown and oddly scaled creature, the pangolin, has shot to the top of the industry to become the most trafficked mammal in the world. We follow the illicit supply chain from Nigeria, to Vietnam, and onto China, to uncover the driving force behind the illegal pangolin trade. With demand at an all time high, the pangolins face the brink of extinction before most even know they exist.