Global banking giants are investing in companies which produce traditional Chinese medicines containing leopard and pangolin parts, a report has found.
Both species are classed as threatened.
The Environmental Investigation Authority (EIA) identified 62 banks and financial institutions which are investing in three pharmaceutical groups making nine products which they say contain leopard or pangolin.
The BBC has contacted the companies in question for comment.
The companies include UK financial services giants such as HSBC, Prudential, and Legal & General, as well as global investment firms including Goldman Sachs, UBS, Deutsche Bank and BlackRock.
Read also: Nigeria burns $1.4m-worth of pangolin scales seized from traffickers
Pangolin scales: Customs, Wildlife Justice Commission arrest 8 suspects
Customs intercepts 15 sacks of Pangolin scales worth N1.7bn in Lagos
Leopards and pangolins are threatened, which means they are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Both are also listed on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) treaty which prohibits international commercial trade in them and their parts, in a bid to ensure their survival in the wild is not threatened.
The three pharmaceutical companies, highlighted in the EIA report are Tong Ren Tang group, Tianjin Pharmaceutical group and Jilin Aodong Pharmaceutical Group.
Not all the companies listed in the EIA report invest in all three of them, but they all invest in at least one.
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) leopard bone is used as a tiger bone substitute. Tiger bone is believed to strengthen bones and sinews, provide pain relief and help get rid of wind. Pangolin scales are said to aid blood circulation, lactation and help with rheumatic pain relief. These claims are not backed up by scientific fact.
Following the report’s publication, EIA Legal & Policy Specialist Avinash Basker called on the Chinese government to “fulfil CITES recommendations and prohibit the use of the body parts of leopards, pangolins, tigers and rhinos from all sources for all commercial purposes in its domestic markets”.
“The use of highly threatened animals such as leopards, pangolins, rhino and tigers in traditional medicine products disregards CITES recommendations made by the international community to protect these species. This is use on an effectively industrial scale which can only push these species ever-closer to extinction, simultaneously sending mixed messages to consumers, fuelling demand for their parts and derivatives and tainting the global reputation of TCM,” he said. (BBC)
