There is just not enough information on all eight pangolin species, making it difficult to protect them.
This is according to the latest report by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
We now know that pangolins remain at high risk of extinction, due to overexploitation and habitat loss, but there is not enough information on population estimates and there is limited data on their management in landscapes. This is despite their highest level of international protection from unsustainable trade, which bans international trade in wild specimens for commercial purposes and requires CITES Parties to report on actions taken to conserve species and enforce trade restrictions. However, reporting has been inconsistent – only a small number of CITES Parties have responded to official requests for information, limiting the ability to assess population status, understand the scale of trafficking or evaluate the success of conservation measures.
The newly released report, titled “Conservation Status, Trade and Enforcement Efforts for Pangolins” studied 15 pangolin range States, through two questionnaires issued in 2024 and 2025.
Feedback provides insight into illegal trade on pangolins and current conservation efforts, but not on population estimates, site- and national-scale interventions, and on-going monitoring.
Between 2016 to 2024, seizures of pangolin products involved more than an estimated half a million pangolins across 75 countries and 178 trade routes. Pangolin scales accounted for 99% of confiscated parts. However, while seizure records provide useful indicators, they capture only a fraction of the overall trade, as not all illicit consignments are detected or seized by law enforcement.
In addition to international trafficking, local demand for pangolin meat and other products persists in most range countries.
Dr Matthew Shirley, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group and one of the co-authors of the report, said “on-going pangolin trafficking and population declines underscore that trade bans and policy changes alone are not enough. CITES Parties must now work with relevant local and national stakeholders, especially grassroots, community and indigenous organisations, to incentivise effective pangolin conservation. Engaging communities, Indigenous peoples, and even pangolin consumers, to co-design and implement the conservation interventions are powerful bottom-up mechanisms needed to complement the top-down policy prescriptions and achieve the desired outcomes for pangolins.”