Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals, with all eight species facing severe population declines due to poaching for their scales and meat, causing immense suffering and an extinction crisis.
Pangolins are uniquely vulnerable in trafficking — their primary defence of curling into a ball makes them trivially easy to collect and transport. Live pangolins are transported in severely overcrowded sacks and crates without food, water, or temperature regulation, resulting in extreme stress and high mortality en route. Survivors face slaughter at markets. Even in rehabilitation, pangolins are extraordinarily difficult to keep alive due to their specialised diet of live termites and ants. The sheer scale of exploitation — tens of thousands killed annually — represents one of the greatest wildlife welfare crises of our time.