When pangolins—the only mammals with tough, keratin scales covering their bodies—feel threatened, they will roll up into a tight, small ball to protect themselves.

While this defense mechanism can be effective against large cats like leopards, tigers and lions, as well as hyenas, the behavior actually makes them easier targets for their biggest threat—poachers supplying the $20-billion illegal wildlife trade, plus meat markets in China and Vietnam.

These ancient wonders who evolved with the dinosaurs are prized in China as a delicacy and for the purported medicinal value of their scales—it’s scientifically unfounded—making them one of the most illegally traded mammals on the planet and headed for extinction. Their parts are also used in the manufacture of boots, belts and wallets.

The United States, too, feeds demand. The most recent publicly available data shows that U.S. border officials seized 76 shipments of pangolin parts between 2016 and 2020, including scales and medicinal products.

To ensure the U.S. does not contribute to their continued decline, earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed federal protections for all pangolin species—they would be classified as endangered, the more dire of the two possible categories. The proposed listing would end an exemption that allows for the sale of some older pangolin parts within the U.S.

Friends of Animals will be submitting comments to support the proposal before the Aug. 18 deadline.  The public can also submit comments by going to www.regulations.gov, docket number FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0028. FWS will review all comments before publishing a final rule.

Why these armored mammals need betters protection

Eight species of pangolins are found on two continents—Asia and Africa—and all now range from vulnerable to critically endangered. While the international trade of pangolins is already prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species since 2017, that does not stop countries from trading them domestically, and trafficking and trading persists globally.

Pangolin scales sell for over $3,500 per kilogram on the black market. Because each pangolin has upwards of 1,000 scales, the lucrative nature of the business is obvious. For example, in 2019, Singapore seized one shipment containing over 12 tons of pangolin scales worth about $38.1 million. Profits fuel drug and arms trafficking, according to FWS.

It is estimated that 2.7 million African pangolins are killed by poachers every year, according to the African Foundation for Wildlife.

Pangolins up close and personal

They say timing is everything. The FWS’ proposal comes on the heels of Netflix’s release of “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey,” which certainly has expanded the creatures into the public consciousness.

Directed by the team behind “My Octopus Teacher,” “Pangolin” follows a three-month-old ground pangolin rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, and the intensive process to return him to the wild in South Africa.

With macro photography, you are immersed into Kulu’s world where foraging for ants and termites takes top priority.

If you don’t fall in love with this creature—I couldn’t help but think he looks like a mini T-Rex dinosaur with his bipedal walking that allows him to cover great distance with fewer steps—you have to be hopelessly indifferent.

Director Pippa Ehrlich wants viewers to see pangolins as joyful, unique and special, not just an animal exploited for parts, and she succeeds. 

By time you get to the end, you understand it is increased law enforcement is required at all points of the trade to help save the pangolin.

 Not to mention, governments need to do more to disrupt the demand by dispelling the myth that pangolin scales contain magical and curative properties.

A couple of the more absurd beliefs I’ve read about: if buried near a man’s door they are said to give an interested woman power over him and the smoke from their scales is thought to keep lions away and cure nosebleeds.

Nicole Rivard is media/government relations manager for Friends of Animals and editor-in-chief of our quarterly magazine Action Line.