Africa’s Pangolins Under Growing Threat as Trafficking Networks Expand Across Continent

Nairobi, Kenya | 20 February 2026 Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon and Nigeria are increasingly emerging as key source and transit hubs in the global trade of pangolins, the world’s most trafficked wild mammal. As the world marks World Pangolin Day 2026, World Animal Protection warns that trafficking networks operating across East, West and Central Africa are accelerating pressure on already declining pangolin populations, threatening ecosystems and exposing communities to broader public health risks. According to global seizure records and trade monitoring data, more than one million pangolins were killed and traded between 2000 and 2013. Between 2010 and 2015 alone, authorities recorded 1,270 seizures across 67 countries and territories involving an estimated 120 tonnes of pangolin body parts and more than 46,000 individual carcasses. All eight pangolin species, four found in Asia and four in Africa are listed under Appendix I of CITES, which prohibits international commercial trade. Edith Kabesiime, Wildlife Campaign Manager at World Animal Protection said, “Pangolins are being hunted, trafficked and exploited at alarming levels. But there is hope. If we strengthen enforcement, empower communities, and reduce consumer demand of pangolin meat and scales, we can turn the tide.” Despite lacking scientifically proven medicinal value, pangolin scales continue to fuel organised transnational trafficking networks. Across Africa, countries including Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon and Nigeria have increasingly been identified in international enforcement reports as source and transit points in global trafficking routes supplying overseas markets. Loss of pangolins carries ecological consequences. A single pangolin consumes thousands of ants and termites daily, helping regulate insect populations and maintain ecosystem balance. Their slow reproductive rate makes population recovery difficult once numbers decline. To mark World Pangolin Day 2026, World Animal Protection is launching a long-term initiative built on three pillars: generating scientific evidence to inform policy, supporting community-led pangolin protection, and engaging consumer countries in Asia to strengthen enforcement and demand reduction of pangolin scales.