Wildlife Exploitation

Pangolins, the world's most trafficked mammals, face ongoing extinction risks from illegal trade in scales and meat, primarily driven by demand in Asia despite CITES Appendix I protections banning international commercial trade. A CITES report documents 2,222 seizures in 49 countries from 2016-2024, involving an estimated 553,042 pangolins, with 96% from 10 countries; at least 74 countries and 178 trade routes implicated, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Congo as key origins, China and Vietnam as main destinations. All eight species remain threatened due to overexploitation, habitat loss, and weak enforcement, though some post-COVID trafficking declines noted. Trafficking networks expand in Africa, with Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, and Nigeria as emerging source/transit hubs, threatening ecosystems where pangolins control insect populations; slow reproduction hinders recovery. The Pangolin Specialist Group urges stronger enforcement, forensics, demand reduction, and community involvement, citing pangolin rediscoveries as evidence of conservation potential. Nigeria's 2024 Endangered Species Bill aims to impose harsher penalties.