Yesterday was World Pangolin Day, an attempt to publicize the endangered status of South Africa’s scaly anteaters, which are called the most trafficked animal in the world. Africa’s four species are facing increased pressure, while the four Asian species have already been decimated. Pangolin meat is sold in Africa and the scales are exported to Asia, where “traditional medicine” extracts their keratin, a protein also found in rhino horn and human fingernails, though it has no known medical value. Conservationists say a million pangolins have been poached since 2000. Got a fever? Take an aspirin. (Themba Hadebe/AP)
Daily Office Asia-Pacific 
