The keratin scales are the pangolin's main defense. When faced with a threat, the pangolin (stemming from the Malay word "pengguling," meaning "something that rolls up) curls into a tiny ball, using its scales as armor.
According to The Dodo, tens of thousands of pangolins are poached every year. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calls pangolins the most commonly trafficked mammal in the world and the world's only truly scaly mammal is listed as Critically Endangered.
Conservation groups like WildAid are trying to raise awareness about the demolition of the pangolin population. WildAid is a nonprofit organization. Its plan is to work with more than 100 media partners in China and Vietnam where illegal trafficking of pangolin is most common.
Dan Challender, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group, told IUCN: "Our global strategy to halt the decline of the world's pangolins needs to be urgently implemented. A vital first step is for the Chinese and Vietnamese governments to conduct an inventory of their pangolin scale stocks and make this publicly available to prove that wild-caught pangolins are no longer supplying the commercial trade."
IUCN's action plan is called "Scaling up Pangolin Conservation" and it focuses on protecting pangolin habitats and populations in Asia and Africa, discouraging poaching, advocating for strong anti-poaching legislation and educating the public to reduce consumer demand.
