Pangolins are among the most trafficked mammals on earth, and zoo welfare programs face the challenge of supporting species whose needs in captivity are exceptionally difficult to meet.
Pangolin welfare in captivity represents one of the most challenging cases in zoo animal management: these highly specialized animals have husbandry requirements that most facilities cannot meet, resulting in historically high mortality rates that make captive management ethically fraught. The conservation case for captive pangolins is complicated by poor survival — a captive pangolin that dies quickly from stress and inappropriate diet contributes neither to conservation nor to its own welfare. The most effective welfare and conservation response is wild population protection through anti-poaching enforcement and demand reduction for pangolin products, supported by a small number of specialist facilities that have developed genuine expertise in pangolin care.