A man holds a pangolin at a wild animal rescue center in Cuc Phuong,
outside Hanoi, Vietnam, September 12, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Kham. 

A local man faces a fine of VND315 million ($13,600) for trying to sell an endangered pangolin in Dak Nong Province on Thursday. 

Chu Van Thi, 41, caught a pangolin weighing four kilograms while going to his coffee farm in Dak Mil District in the Central Highlands province.

He took it into town to sell where he was apprehended by officers for possession of an endangered and protected animal.

The Dak Mil District police and staff at the nearby Nam Nung Nature Reserve released the animal back into the wild.

The police recommended the fine to province authorities.

Trafficking of pangolins is not uncommon in Vietnam though they are legally protected. Transporting and trading of wildlife is subject to fines of VND7- 400 million.

The shy, tiny pangolin, which resembles a scaly anteater, is the world's most heavily trafficked mammal despite bans.

It is hunted in Vietnam and its neighborhood for meat and the alleged medicinal properties of its scales.

Over 96,000 kilograms (210,000 pounds) of scales were seized in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam between 2017 and 2019 alone, TRAFFIC, the global wildlife trade monitoring program, said.