Pangolins are the world most trafficked mammal, facing extinction from illegal hunting. Captive management for conservation presents extreme welfare challenges given their specialist dietary and behavioral needs.
Pangolin welfare in captivity is among the most challenging in conservation biology, precisely because the species is so specialized that even the best facilities rarely achieve the conditions needed for genuine welfare. Pangolins that refuse food and die within weeks of capture are not failing to adapt - they are responding appropriately to conditions that cannot meet their welfare needs. This has important implications for conservation strategy: resources devoted to captive breeding facilities that cannot achieve welfare or reproductive success for pangolins are better directed toward anti-trafficking enforcement and wild habitat protection. The welfare case and the conservation case align: the best outcome for pangolins involves protecting their wild populations rather than attempting to sustain them in captivity.