Pangolins are the world most heavily trafficked mammal, with their unique biology making captivity extremely difficult and trafficking mortality rates very high.
Pangolin trafficking causes welfare harm of extraordinary scale. Animals captured and transported to markets die from stress and starvation as they cannot eat under captive conditions. Rescue of live trafficked pangolins requires specialized facilities and knowledge that are rarely available at seizure sites. Demand reduction in consumer markets is the most effective intervention as supply-side enforcement is perpetually outpaced by criminal networks.