Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals and critically threatened. Zoo-based conservation programs face enormous challenges in keeping these specialized animals alive in captivity.
Pangolins represent one of the most difficult captive welfare challenges for any mammal species. Their extreme dietary specialization (live ants and termites from specific wild colonies), cryptic solitary nature, and extreme stress sensitivity make captive survival extraordinarily difficult. Many pangolins in rehabilitation centers die within days of arrival. Those surviving face persistent chronic stress in captive environments regardless of husbandry quality. The welfare calculus is complex: captive programs save some individuals and build husbandry knowledge, but the welfare cost to individual animals is very high. Most conservation experts agree that the priority must be protecting wild populations through anti-trafficking enforcement and habitat protection.