The cruel reality of pangolin poaching
News
Across Indonesia, pangolins are being smoked from their burrows, trapped in sacks and moved through trafficking routes at horrifying speed.
Across Indonesia, pangolins are being smoked from their burrows, trapped in sacks and moved through trafficking routes at horrifying speed.
Right now, pangolins in Indonesia are being cruelly hunted, smuggled and sold into the cruel illegal wildlife trade. Shy and gentle by nature, they are the world’s most trafficked mammal, captured for their scales and meat and pushed to the brink of extinction.
Together with our partners at Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), we’re fighting back. Will you join us in helping the most trafficked mammal in the world?
After ripping these gentle animals from the wild, poachers take a machete and brutally bludgeon them until they can barely move. And while they’re still bleeding and still very much alive, they’re thrown into a cauldron of piping hot water and boiled alive. Their scales are then ripped from their bodies and sold for traditional medicine.
With help from compassionate animal lovers, brave investigators, skilled handlers and specially trained sniffer dogs like Bailey are tracking traffickers, rescuing pangolins, and giving them a second chance at life.
Meet Bailey - Indonesia’s first ever wildlife sniffer dog trained to save trafficked wild animals
Bailey is a rescue dog with an extraordinary gift. She can detect the scent of hidden wildlife through crates, sacks and cargo, making her a key part of JAAN’s Wildlife Detection Unit with five other dogs. They’re all trained to detect even the faintest scent of illegally trafficked animals.
You’ll be surprised to know that it’s not only pangolins Bailey has helped save. Her powerful nose has detected thousands of trafficked animals. From baby orangutans and turtles to tropical birds.
The sweet sniffer dog helped rescue 538 animals in 2024 alone. Together, the team searches ports, trucks, markets and warehouses - anywhere traffickers try to move wildlife unseen. Their work helps authorities find pangolins in the tiny window where they can still be saved.
With Bailey’s strong track record and your kind support today, more pangolins can be rescued from the clutches of poachers.
How you can help pangolins
You can help pangolins by supporting World Animal Protection and JAAN to fight the illegal wildlife trade and ensure that future generations can witness the beauty and importance of pangolins in our world.
Your support can help:
- Investigate trafficking routes and identify poachers
- Rescue pangolins before they disappear into the illegal wildlife trade
- Rehabilitate and release survivors into protected areas far from danger
Your generosity can help expose traffickers and fuel rescue efforts, strengthening the frontline teams working day and night to give pangolins a safer future.
Together, we can give pangolins a life worth living.
Support the Pangolin Rescue mission
Your life-saving gift today can help to stop pangolins from being poached, beaten and boiled alive.
FAQs
How are pangolins poached?
Pangolins curl up tightly into a ball when faced by a threat in the wild. Heartbreakingly, these gentle animals have no natural defence against human cruelty. Poachers smoke them from burrows, yank them from trees and beat them into submission. Many are boiled or burned alive so traffickers can strip off their scales. Others are kept in cramped cages, trembling and injured, until they’re sold into the illegal wildlife trade.
Why are pangolins the world’s most trafficked mammal?
Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked mammals because of high demand for their scales and meat, driving them toward extinction. Their scales are used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia, and their meat is considered a delicacy in countries like China and Vietnam, as well as being consumed as bushmeat in some regions of Africa.
This demand fuels widespread illegal poaching and international smuggling, despite all eight pangolin species being protected under international law (CITES Appendix I), which bans commercial international trade.
In just ten years, more than 1 million pangolins have been illegally traded, highlighting the scale of the crisis.
How many species of pangolins exist?
There are officially eight recognised species - four in Africa and four in Asia. However, in early 2025, a new species of Indo-Burmese pangolin was identified by scientists who were conducting routine examination of pangolin scales seized in India.
What’s unique about pangolins?
Pangolins are also known as scaly anteaters. They’re the only mammals covered in scales, which can protect them from predators.
What are pangolin scales made of?
Pangolin scales are made of keratin – the same protein that makes up human fingernails. Ironically, it’s these scales that are the driving force behind the illicit pangolin trade, which has put all pangolin species at high risk of extinction.
How many pangolins are left in the wild?
Reliable estimates of how many pangolins remain in the wild are lacking, although it’s thought that over a million individual pangolins were taken from the wild between 2000 and 2013.
Is Bailey well looked after and where is she kept when she's not working?
Bailey lives at JAAN when she isn't ‘working‘ - they say that they never really call it work as for Bailey it's fun and a game- she loves it.
Where did Bailey and the other dogs come from? Are they rescue dogs or from a breeder?
Bailey was living in Indonesia with a family as a much-loved pet, however, her owners recognised that she was a very high energy dog with a huge drive to work, and after discussing with local dog experts, recognised that Bailey would be happier as a working dog utilising her skills.
At the same time JAAN was looking for the perfect dog to help combat wildlife crime, so it was a great match, and the family were happy to hand over ownership of Bailey so she could fulfil her potential.
What happens to poachers and wildlife traders?
Our investigation team carries out offline and online research about the trade and infiltrates trader networks. When a case comes to light, we alert the police with whom we have a formal working agreement and legal action is taken. Since 2013, JAAN’s work has led to 143 traders being arrested and sentenced.
Support the Pangolin Rescue mission
Your life-saving gift today can help to stop pangolins from being poached, beaten and boiled alive.
Pangolin facts
Learn some fun facts about pangolins and get to know more about these solitary, nocturnal animals.