Pangolin Habitat Protection and Welfare

Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals. Protecting their forest habitats is essential to their welfare and survival as wild animals.

Key Facts

All eight pangolin species are threatened; four are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
Over one million pangolins are estimated to have been trafficked in the last decade.
Pangolins are solitary, nocturnal insectivores that consume up to 70 million ants and termites per year.
They are highly specialised and notoriously difficult to keep in captivity — most die within months of capture.
Deforestation removes both pangolin habitat and the termite mounds they depend on for food.
Forest corridors connecting fragmented habitat patches allow pangolins to maintain viable home ranges.

Welfare Considerations

For pangolins, habitat protection is welfare protection. These animals are so specialised to their forest environments that removal — even for rescue — almost always results in death. Trafficked pangolins experience extreme stress, dehydration, starvation, and injury; mortality in transit is estimated at 50-80%. Even those reaching rehabilitation centres rarely survive long-term. The most effective welfare intervention is therefore keeping pangolins in their habitat: protecting forests from logging, reducing hunting pressure through law enforcement, and supporting local communities whose livelihoods depend on intact forest. Pangolin welfare and forest conservation are inseparable.

What You Can Do

Support pangolin conservation charities such as Save Pangolins and the Pangolin Crisis Fund.
Avoid purchasing products from countries with weak wildlife trafficking enforcement if alternatives exist.
Advocate for stronger international CITES enforcement and penalties for pangolin trafficking.
Support zero-deforestation commodity commitments by companies in your supply chain.