Sunda pangolins are critically endangered. Like their fellow pangolin species elsewhere in Asia and Africa, they are being poached to extinction for their meat and their scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine, though there's no evidence they are effective. All eight species of these shy, scaly creatures are said to be the most trafficked mammals in the world.

Pangolins are mostly covered in thick scales of keratin—the substance human fingernails are made of—that protect their bodies from predators like leopards. If threatened, they roll into a ball, like armadillos do, hiding their vulnerable belly and other parts not covered by the tough scales. This defense mechanism makes it easy for humans to grab them.

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