Young children hold protest in Northamptonshire village to raise awareness on World Pangolin Day

A group of young children held a protest in a Northamptonshire village to raise awareness on World Pangolin Day.

Jessica Ideson aged 10, Phoebe Ideson aged eight, Maisie Deacon aged 11 and Beatrice Deacon aged eight stood outside Brixworth Library, in Spratton Road, on Saturday (February 19) with placards asking passersby to help them save the endangered species.

The girls who are all from Brixworth and the surrounding villages also handed out leaflets to help educate others about their plight, as pangolins are reportedly the world’s most trafficked animal.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), more than one million pangolins were trafficked over a ten-year period. Traffickers want the mammals’ scales.

Father of Maisie and Beatrice, Simon Deacon, said: “The protest was the brainchild of Jessica who was supported by her sister Phoebe and friends Maisie and Bea.

“They wanted to use World Pangolin Day to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered species.

“The pangolin is increasingly threatened due to the illegal trafficking from Africa, India and south east Asia to China where their scales are mistakenly thought to be a cure all medicine and where they are eaten as a delicacy.”

The WWF says pangolins are solitary, primarily nocturnal animals, and are easily recognised by their full armour of scales.

All eight species of pangolins are found on two continents - Africa and Asia - and they range from vulnerable to critically endangered.