Several scientists have cast doubt on a claim that pangolins may have helped pass the novel coronavirus along to humans.

Along with 108 other countries, Canada took part in Interpol's Operation Thunderball, which targeted global smugglers, poachers and traffickers of endangered and exotic species.

The pangolin is described as the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world. On Wednesday, the animal got a much-needed boost at a U.N. wildlife conference that approved a ban on trade in all eight species of Asian and African pangolins.