Pangolins are hunted to near-extinction to supply the traditional medicine market for their scales, which have no scientifically demonstrated medicinal value.
The pangolin welfare crisis is driven by a demand for products with no scientific basis: billions of the world's most trafficked mammals have been killed for scales that are chemically identical to pressing a fingernail. Each pangolin captured experiences extreme stress during collection (they roll into balls, making capture easy), prolonged suffering during transport and trade, and either death in transit or death at market. The welfare case for demand reduction campaigns is direct and immediate — changing consumer beliefs can directly prevent suffering in individual animals.