Pangolin Trade, Extinction Risk, and Welfare

Pangolins are the most trafficked wild mammals in the world, facing severe welfare suffering during capture and transport while racing toward extinction from illegal trade.

Key Facts

All eight pangolin species are listed on CITES Appendix I, prohibiting commercial international trade.
An estimated one million pangolins were trafficked between 2000 and 2013, making them the most trafficked mammal globally.
Pangolins are taken for their scales (used in traditional medicine) and meat (considered a delicacy in parts of Asia).
They have extremely poor survival rates in captivity; stress, dietary specialisation (live insects), and disease make captive care extraordinarily difficult.
Trafficked pangolins suffer enormously during capture, transport, and storage: they are often kept in cramped containers without food for days.
Pangolin scales are made of keratin — the same material as human fingernails — and have no proven medicinal value.
All African pangolin species are now at increased threat as Asian species have been depleted by hunting.
Conservation dogs and law enforcement training have improved interdiction rates but not yet overcome the scale of the trade.

Welfare Considerations

Pangolin trafficking causes exceptional suffering because pangolins are physiologically and psychologically unsuited to the conditions of the illegal wildlife trade. They are highly stressed by handling, dependent on live insect diets that cannot be provided during transport, and prone to life-threatening pneumonia in captivity. The suffering of individual pangolins in the trade is immense, and it is multiplied across hundreds of thousands of animals annually. The simultaneous extinction crisis means this welfare tragedy is also an irreversible conservation one. Closing down pangolin trade requires demand reduction in consumer countries, law enforcement at every point in the supply chain, and cultural shifts away from wildlife products in traditional medicine.

What You Can Do

Never purchase pangolin products; scales and meat have no proven health benefits and drive extinction.
Donate to organisations such as WCS, Save Pangolins, and African Pangolin Working Group.
Support demand reduction campaigns targeting traditional medicine communities in China and Vietnam.
Advocate for stronger wildlife trafficking penalties in both source and consumer countries.
Report suspected wildlife trafficking to relevant authorities or to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.