Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world, with all eight species threatened by illegal wildlife trade for scales and meat.
Trafficked pangolins face extreme suffering: they are transported in cramped, dark conditions, often stacked in bags, with high mortality rates before reaching markets. In wildlife markets, they are killed by scalding in boiling water while alive. Conservation breeding is enormously difficult as pangolins are highly stressed in captivity and rarely reproduce. The welfare calculus strongly favors demand reduction and trade interdiction.