Pangolins, the world's only mammals with scales, are rapidly disappearing in Africa. Like rhinos, they are being hammered by poachers. In the past month six pangolins had been confiscated in antipoaching busts, said Nicci Wright, director of the African Pangolin Working Group. One was found in Pretoria, the rest in sting operations in Limpopo.Wright said: "This is only the tip of the iceberg. Pangolins are the most illegally traded mammal on Earth at the moment. Pangolin poaching has reached critical proportions internationally, with the main end market being in Asia."The World Wildlife Fund states that pangolins are the most poached and trafficked animal in the world and is calling for their protection at CoP17.story_article_left1In July, Hong Kong harbour officials uncovered containers packed full of pangolin scales amounting to 9.4 tons.Wright said: "A single pangolin has about 60-odd scales and they had tons."Pangolin poaching was connected to other illegal smuggling, as had been seen in an abalone raid in Cape Town where a pangolin that originated from Zimbabwe had been confiscated, she said.The WWF said an estimated one million pangolins had been illegally trafficked and traded in the past 10 years.Several conservation groups are calling for all commercial trade in all eight species to be banned.Wright said the ground pangolin in Southern Africa was found from Limpopo and the Kalahari north into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.Rare pangolins are being poached for their scales - seen as a status symbol and falsely believed to have medicinal properties.Wright has been a wildlife rehabilitation specialist for 20 years who has worked with about 350 species. But pangolins were special, she said."Pangolins have an awesome presence. Their only defence is to roll into a ball ... They are almost mythical creatures, like dragons, but we are losing this species. They are slipping off the planet and we have to stop it."