Pangolin Pride!

Pangolins.  An animal you've probably never seen, let alone heard of.  The only scaled mammal in the world.  And they're disappearing at an alarming rate.  Every species.  Why?  Because their scales are being sold as "medicine."  But we can save them.  Why?  Because they're cute as f***!
Anthropomorphize them!  Wait, someone already has...​
The World Wildlife Fund created a character named Lin the Pangolin and animated him (I tried to post that here but for some reason couldn't) to try and drum up some sympathy for Pangolins and other creatures like him who are targeted for usually "medicinal" purposes.  Like, an entire rhinoceros is destroyed just to get its horn because a bunch of idiots think powdered rhino horn is some kind of Viagra.  Or that somehow the animal's strength and power would be transferred to said idiot via a powdered rhino smoothie.  Are humans that stupid?  Yes, they're that stupid.  I mean we.  I can't let myself off the hook.
So Lin is for the kiddies, in order to help the children "emotionally connect" to a creature that is maybe not as cute as "f" as I said.  Their cuteness grows on you.  But they're being hunted at such a rapid rate, there's little time left for that curteness to grow on anybody.

But even truly cute animals are not immune to human cruelty.  Look at dolphins, with their built in smiles and delightful personalities.  That doesn't stop the Japanese from slaughtering them for their Taji festival.  Or the Faroe Islanders who recently murdered 1400 of them.  But I guess that's nothing compared to the number of cows and chickens that buy the farm every day in this country.

I guess anthropo-- cutesifying animals can backfire, too.  Every time Disney releases a movie that features adorable talking animals there is an upsurge in the pet trade for that particular species.  I wonder how many coral reefs were wrecked when little Janey or Jonnie wanted their own clownfish?

Or how many Dalmatians ended up in the pound when Janey and Jonnie found out they really weren't all that sweet a breed?

And I gotta say, where is the Disney Corporation, with its 200 BILLION dollars in revenue, when it comes to animal welfare.  God knows they've exploited the animal kingdom enough for profit.  Where's the payback?  Where's the Walt Disney Lion Preserve in Africa?  The Lion Kin​g has raked in around a BILLION dollars.  Disney can't give a little something something back to the King of the Jungle?  And while we're at it, where is Disney's donation to the estate of Osamu Tezuka?  You may recall he was the creator of Kimba, the White Lion; that cartoon TV show from the 60's Disney claims they never heard of and in no way ripped off.

And why does the Panda get a pass?  Why is the Panda not a food item?  How does the Panda have a restaurant named for him and manage to keep himself off the menu?

But I digress.  In any event: to those of you out there who are consuming Pangolins because their scales are thought to possess medicinal and/or magical properties; it may interest you to know that their scales are made out of keratin.  The same material that is in your fingernails!

I don't know what the going rate for Pangolin scale is; but you can get the same effect from your own hands and feet for free!  And it's a lifetime supply! Now that's good eatin'!  And you get to release your anxiety at the same time.
Maybe, instead of killing Pangolins for their scales, some entrepreneur could open a chain of preserves where guests could simply lick the Pangolin, thus preserving the animal and pleasing the human.
Yes!
"Don't delay, LICK a Pangolin today!"

​Panda painting by Trindira A @ Fine Art America