Pangolins are the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, with millions taken from the wild for their scales and meat, causing enormous welfare suffering.
Captured pangolins suffer acute stress from handling and confinement. They are transport alive to wet markets, experiencing prolonged distress, dehydration, and starvation. Their specialized diet of ants and termites cannot be easily replicated in captivity, making rescue and rehabilitation extremely difficult. Pangolins that survive capture and trade face poor survival rates even in specialist care. Prevention of capture is the only effective welfare intervention.