In honour of World Pangolin Day (Saturday 19th February) global charity organisations Born Free and David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) have joined forces with London-based communications agency Pangolin PR, to pen an open letter to all major tech players including Emoji, Meta, Twitter and Snapchat, with one very specific goal in mind – creating the first ever pangolin emoji.
The organisations have published the letter across their social channels @bornfreefoundation, @dswfwildlife and @pangolinsta urging for the pangolin to be added to the emoji keyboard and other major apps. Within the letter, the trio explain the everyday survival challenges pangolins face, which includes the shocking figure that over one million of these prehistoric-looking creatures have been poached in the last 10 years – that’s over 300 being trafficked each day. The main aim of the pangolin emoji is to give this critically at-risk mammal more global visibility and help turn the world’s most trafficked animal into the world’s most shared and cared for instead.
Since 2019, 6 of the 8 pangolin species have been classified as ‘Endangered or Critically Endangered’ which means time is running out to save these unique creatures. The distinct protective scales of the pangolin, which are made of keratin, the same protein that makes up human hair and nails, are used in some overseas medicinal products, resulting in the illegal trafficking and slaughter of the mammal on a catastrophic scale.
Speaking on the issue, Will Travers, Co-Founder of Born Free said: “We are excited to join forces with DSWF and Pangolin PR to share our public appeal for there to be a pangolin added to the emoji keyboard. Pangolins are the most trafficked animal in the world and are facing the very real threat of extinction – much more needs to be done to raise awareness, and we believe the introduction of the pangolin emoji will help do just that.”
Georgina Lamb, CEO of DSWF also commented: “We are extremely determined to have our voice heard by some of the major players in the tech industry and introduce the first pangolin emoji. We strongly believe this will help to raise awareness of the plight of the pangolin and help people to understand the issues these trafficked mammals face each day.”
World Pangolin Day, which takes place on the third Saturday in February each year, sees the global pangolin community come together in celebration of these unique animals. Born Free, DSWF and Pangolin PR are encouraging their followers to support their call to action by asking social media users to reshare the open letter across their own channels and use #PangolinEmoji to conjure up as much buzz and conservation conversation as possible to ensure the world tech leaders take notice.
To find out more about World Pangolin Day and to be part of this life-saving campaign, please visit @bornfreefoundation, @dswfwildlife and @pangolinsta.