Pangolins are the world's most trafficked wild mammal, with an estimated 100,000-200,000 individuals traded illegally each year across eight species in Africa and Asia. Anti-trafficking seizures recover live pangolins in varying states of welfare distress, requiring specialised rescue and rehabilitation.
Pangolins seized from trafficking operations are typically found in severe welfare distress: multiple animals stacked in sacks or containers, dehydrated, thermally stressed, and psychologically traumatised. Their anti-predator behaviour of curling into a ball — normally adaptive — exposes them to additional heat stress and handling injury when seized from traffickers. In rehabilitation facilities, pangolins require specific live ant and termite diets that are logistically challenging to provide, and stress-induced starvation is a major cause of post-seizure mortality. Even successful rehabilitation rarely results in wild release — the animals require extensive recovery and release-site selection. The welfare case for demand reduction in pangolin products is overwhelming.