Pangolins are the world's most trafficked wild mammals, driven to crisis by demand for their scales and meat in traditional medicine and bushmeat markets. All eight species face severe population decline.
Pangolin trafficking causes extreme suffering at every stage: snares and traps cause injuries, pangolins are transported in cramped conditions without food or water for days to weeks, and they die in large numbers during transport. Those reaching markets are often killed on site. Pangolins held in rescue facilities struggle to survive because of their highly specialised dietary needs and extreme stress in captivity. Even with the best care, rescued pangolins rarely thrive and often die from stress-related pneumonia or starvation when unable to adapt to captive diets. The scale of suffering across the trafficking pipeline — involving millions of animals — makes pangolins one of the most acute welfare emergencies in wildlife conservation.