Khanh Bui (Vietnam)
Honorable Mentions

I was on my way to visit the Primates Rescue Center and Pangolin Rehabilitation Center in the heart of Cuc Phuong National Park in Northern Vietnam. Filled with eagerness and joy, I double-checked my camera to ensure to capture the moment I finally saw wild animals with my own eyes. Walking into the idyllic paths of the park, my fourteen-year-old self couldn’t picture that I would learn something so painful.
I was in awe watching langurs robustly swinging from branches to branches, and the bearcats skillfully climbing up trees despite their hair-thick bodies and stout legs. However, the sight that caught my eye and melted my heart was a pangolin called “Lucky”. She was sleeping safe and sound, curled into a ball, covered in her shimmering armor made of overlapping scales. When it was time to drink water, she slowly moved towards the tank and stuck her little tongue out. Her eyes gleamed with pleasure as she hydrated herself. I had never seen an animal with such a majestic yet adorable aura.
In contrast to the peace she has at present, her journey to the rehabilitation center was treacherous and traumatizing. I was shocked to find out that pangolins are the most trafficked animal . Unlike “Lucky”, her unlucky peers that did not make it to the center got slaughtered, ruthlessly get their scales ripped off, layer by layer, and sold at 10 million Vietnam Dongs (about 400 USD) per kilogram. The more fortunate ones that made it to the rehab center were found heavily injured from traps, with their necks tightened in strings and their bodies bound up in a net, starving for days before being rescued. Some pangolins suffer so much body damage that they are unable to be released back into nature.
I still vividly remember the video I watched at the center showing a wound of a pangolin, swollen and infected with blood trickling down his body. At the moment of realization that pangolins have virtually no natural enemies , I felt a sharp pain, weighing down my heart. It is humans that push pangolins to the verge of extinction, not any other animals or natural forces. I cried as I watched the pangolin being treated. Why are humans so cruel? What rights do we have to decide whether a species should survive or perish?
Perhaps not many of us realize the severity of biodiversity loss. Let’s take the pangolin as an example. Pangolins, though are not large in population and size, play a critical role as a natural pest controller and soil fertilizer in the ecosystem . Each pangolin consumes 70 million insects yearly , mainly ants and termites. These pests can severely destroy plants and crops if their population grow out of control. The abrupt surge in pests will eventually result in the need to use chemical pesticides, which will have a long-lasting impact on water, soil, and air quality. However, unfortunately, that is just the effect of the loss of one species. The status quo is that approximately 1 million species on earth are threatened . Just imagine all of the disturbances the phase-out of these organisms can cause. Organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other to survive. If one or more species are decreasing in population or extinct, the whole ecosystem would have to make drastic adjustments due to the depletion of resources and support that ensures the productivity and sustainability of that ecosystem. During that process, several problems can emerge as a result of the vulnerability of the ecosystem: infectious diseases like COVID-19, pest population boom and deficiency in resources . Human beings are just part of the food chain and will suffer the consequences of disruptions within our ecosystem. Therefore, the restoration of balance in the ecosystem is crucial to the stability of the ecosystem and our survival.
Even though global biodiversity loss has many contributing factors, it is apparent that illegal poaching is a major cause of the extinction of many wild animals. In Asian and African cultures, there is a common unproven belief that wild animals’ meat is more luxurious and nutritious than farmed meat and drinking products made from pangolin scales can treat all diseases.  All the killing, capturing, torture, and suffering of innocent wild animals is just for the pleasure of people’s “adventurous” taste buds and the unfounded belief in a magical cure, the promise of luck and wealth gained from the trade of exotic animals. However inhumane and unreasonable it is, wild animal captivity and slaughter still prevails, leading to the dive in the population of many endangered animals. Even if you are not involved in the trade or the consumption of wild animal products, we’re all contributing more or less to the loss of biodiversity through polluting activities such as manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. These activities are contributing to the degradation of natural habitats, which are the homes of flora and fauna.
As a result, we all have the responsibility to take action to curb and reverse biodiversity loss. What we can do, as members of a community, is simple yet impactful. We all have a voice, one that could inspire and convince people around us. Each one of us should stand up and clarify false assumptions about biodiversity and reiterate that people - homo sapiens- are just a species in an interconnected ecosystem. Moreover, we should all keep in mind that actions speak louder than words. We should be the catalyst for change by setting ourselves as an example by refusing and boycotting wild animal products, reducing your carbon footprint, and participating in conservation and rescue activities within your capabilities.
I believe in the bright future where biodiversity loss can be reversed. Hopefully, the next time I come back to the Pangolin Rehabilitation Center, I will not be seeing Lucky there, but back in the wild with a bigger family of pangolins.