Pangolins: one of the world's most trafficked mammals

Pangolins, the world's only scaly mammals, are one of the most trafficked animals on Earth.

The demand for their scales is highest in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicines or eaten as a delicacy. Poachers responding to this demand have depleted wild populations in Asia and Africa, and the pangolin's future is uncertain.

It's more than a sad story of extinction. It's a story of the knock-on effects of the decline of a species, and a stark reminder of the interconnection between animals and their environments.

Pangolin life

Pangolins live a solitary, quiet existence in grasslands, rainforests and farm areas in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. They only meet to mate, and females have litters of one to three offspring every two years.

Their main defence against predators is their set of hard, overlapping scales, which acts like a suit of armour.

Illegal products

Pangolin meat has been eaten in many countries for a long time. In parts of Africa , it is consumed as bushmeat. It is estimated that at least 400,000 pangolins are hunted and eaten in central Africa each year.

Pangolins are also traded internationally because of the high prices they can fetch. In China, Vietnam and other parts of south-east Asia, pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and the high price and rarity signals wealth.

Natural pest controllers

Pangolins live on a diet of insects, and by devouring millions of them around crop plantations, these mammals are thought to play a role in protecting food supplies and reducing termite damage to human-made structures.

It is estimated that pangolins save millions of dollars each year in pest control, so if left to thrive they would benefit humans all over the world.

Hope for the pangolin
In June 2020, Chinese authorities took steps to protect the pangolin by removing its scales from the list of approved ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.

This follows on from a February 2020 ban on eating wildlife, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These new rulings will hopefully discourage the trafficking of pangolins to China for traditional medicine or food.

Global research is helping the plight of the pangolin. Pangolins feature in the Museum's collections, which are used by researchers from all over the world, and so they play a big role in global science.