The pangolin is a unique mammal covered by hard, overlapping keratin scales, giving it the appearance of a walking pinecone. Eight species of pangolin are found across Africa and Asia; all are insectivores, using long, sticky tongues to consume ants and termites. Despite their natural armor, these shy, nocturnal creatures are the world’s most trafficked mammal. This pressure has pushed every species onto the threatened list, ranging from vulnerable to critically endangered, due to human-driven and biological factors.
Illegal Poaching and Global Wildlife Trade
The illegal capture and transport of pangolins across international borders is the main driver of their decline. Poaching operations target pangolins for their meat and scales, leading to the removal of millions of individuals from the wild; estimates suggest over a million pangolins were poached in the decade leading up to 2014 alone. This trafficking represents an estimated 20% of all illegal transnational wildlife trade, making it a highly organized criminal enterprise. Traffickers often use crude methods, such as smoking the animals out of burrows or simply picking them up when they curl into a defensive ball. Once captured, the pangolins or their parts are smuggled through complex supply chains, often moving from Africa and Southeast Asia toward major consumer markets.
In 2016, all eight pangolin species were elevated to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), strictly prohibiting their international commercial trade. Despite this legal protection, the trade has not slowed; the total weight of seized pangolin scales increased from 58 tonnes (2012–2016) to 328 tonnes (2017–2021). This continuous, large-scale removal of animals is rapidly depleting wild populations beyond recovery.
Demand Driving the Crisis
Consumer demand in East Asia, particularly in China and Vietnam, propels the illegal trade. This demand is driven by the use of pangolin scales in traditional medicine and the desire for their meat as a luxury food. The scales are composed of keratin, the same protein found in human fingernails and hair, which possesses no proven medicinal value.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence, pangolin scales are ground into powder and used in traditional remedies to treat ailments such as promoting blood circulation, curing skin conditions, and stimulating lactation. The high prices scales fetch on the black market create a strong financial incentive for poachers.
Pangolin meat is also sought after as a delicacy associated with wealth and prestige in certain Asian cultures. This cultural value helps maintain the profitability of the illegal trade. As Asian pangolin populations have collapsed, trafficking networks have shifted their focus to the four African species to meet market appetite.
Widespread Loss of Natural Habitat
Pangolins face pressure from the destruction and fragmentation of their natural environments. These animals inhabit a variety of landscapes, including tropical forests, grasslands, and savannas across Asia and Africa. The rapid conversion of these areas for human development reduces the available space for pangolins to live, forage, and breed.
Deforestation is primarily driven by the expansion of agriculture, including palm oil plantations and cash crops, as well as logging and urban development. This habitat degradation reduces the abundance of the ants and termites that make up the pangolin’s specialized diet. The loss of dense forest cover also makes pangolins more visible and accessible to poachers, increasing their vulnerability to capture.
When forests are cleared, surviving pangolins are pushed into smaller, isolated patches of habitat. This fragmentation makes it difficult for solitary pangolins to find mates and maintain genetic diversity, weakening their long-term survival prospects.
Unique Biological Vulnerabilities
The pangolin’s biological traits make it vulnerable to population collapse. Pangolins are solitary and nocturnal, making them difficult for researchers to study and monitor in the wild. Their slow reproductive rate is a limiting factor, preventing populations from quickly replenishing lost numbers.
A female pangolin typically gives birth to only one offspring per year after a long gestation period. This low birth rate means that even a moderate level of sustained poaching can rapidly drive a species toward extinction. Furthermore, their specialized diet, known as myrmecophagy, consists exclusively of specific species of ants and termites, posing a unique challenge for captive breeding programs.
These dietary requirements are difficult to replicate outside of their native environment, leading to high mortality rates in captivity. This inability to successfully breed and raise large numbers means reintroduction programs cannot easily offset the losses from the wild. These combined constraints mean that every individual poached represents a significant, long-term setback for the species’ survival.