Pangolin Conservation in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

When the global conservation community discusses pangolins, the conversation gravitates toward well-documented crisis zones: the industrial-scale trafficking from West and Central Africa, the demand markets of China and Vietnam, and the pioneering rescue work in South Africa. East Africa — Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda — occupies a quieter but increasingly critical position in the pangolin conservation landscape. The region is both home to resident pangolin populations and a major transit corridor for scales trafficked from the continent’s interior to Asian ports. As enforcement and research attention finally turn eastward, a more complex picture is emerging of a region where pangolins face a convergence of direct exploitation, habitat pressure, and their role as collateral in a globalised trafficking network.

Understanding the status of pangolins in East Africa is essential not just for regional conservation but for the continental strategy. What happens at the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam shapes the economics of the entire African pangolin trade.

Pangolin Species of East Africa

East Africa sits at the intersection of ranges for multiple pangolin species. Temminck’s ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) is the most widespread, occurring across the drier savanna, woodland, and bushveld habitats of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is the same species found across southern Africa, where it has received the most conservation attention of any African pangolin.

The white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) reaches the eastern margin of its range in the forests around Lake Victoria, including parts of western Kenya and north-western Tanzania. Records are sparse, and the extent to which viable populations persist in East Africa’s remaining forest fragments is poorly understood.

The giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) may occur in the forests of western Uganda, though confirmed recent records are lacking. If present, it would represent the species’ easternmost range extent.

Kenya: From Obscurity to Enforcement Priority

Kenya has emerged as one of East Africa’s most active pangolin conservation nations, driven largely by the Kenya Wildlife Service’s (KWS) recognition of the country’s role as a trafficking transit point. The port of Mombasa, one of Africa’s busiest maritime hubs, has been the site of multiple large-scale pangolin scale seizures. In 2018, Kenyan authorities intercepted a shipment containing over 1.8 tonnes of pangolin scales alongside ivory, bound for Southeast Asia. Further seizures in subsequent years have confirmed that Mombasa is a persistent exit point for African pangolin products.

Domestically, Temminck’s ground pangolin occurs across Kenya’s central and southern rangelands, though population estimates are not available. The species is most frequently encountered in the Laikipia Plateau, the Tsavo ecosystem, and the Maasai Mara periphery. Camera-trap surveys in private conservancies have recorded pangolins at low densities, consistent with the species’ naturally sparse distribution.

Kenya’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (2013) affords pangolins full legal protection. Trafficking, possession, and sale carry penalties including imprisonment of up to five years and fines exceeding one million Kenyan shillings. Kenya has also been a vocal advocate for CITES enforcement at international forums.

Community-based reporting has gained traction through partnerships between KWS and conservancy networks. Farmers and pastoralists in pangolin habitat are increasingly encouraged to report sightings rather than capture animals, though the financial incentives offered by traffickers remain a countervailing force in economically marginalised areas.

Tanzania: Gateway Port and Resident Populations

Tanzania’s position in pangolin conservation mirrors Kenya’s in many ways: a resident Temminck’s ground pangolin population spread across the country’s extensive savanna and woodland landscapes, combined with a critical transit role through the port of Dar es Salaam.

Dar es Salaam handles a significant volume of African export cargo destined for Asia, and pangolin scales have been seized in multiple consignments alongside other wildlife contraband. TRAFFIC’s East Africa office, based in Dar es Salaam, monitors these flows and works with Tanzanian customs and the Tanzania Revenue Authority to improve detection capabilities. However, the sheer volume of maritime cargo passing through the port makes comprehensive screening a logistical challenge.

Within Tanzania, Temminck’s ground pangolin has been recorded in Serengeti National Park, the Selous-Nyerere ecosystem, Ruaha, and the miombo woodland belt that stretches across central and southern Tanzania. These vast protected areas theoretically provide significant habitat, but enforcement within park boundaries varies, and pangolins are not a primary focus of most anti-poaching patrols oriented toward elephants and rhinos.

Tanzania’s Wildlife Conservation Act classifies pangolins as Schedule I species, providing the highest level of legal protection. Recent amendments have increased penalties for wildlife trafficking offences, though judicial capacity and sentencing consistency remain areas for improvement.

Uganda: Forest Frontier and Research Potential

Uganda occupies a unique position in East African pangolin conservation due to its diverse habitats spanning both the savanna ecosystems of the east and the tropical forests of the west. The western forests — including Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kibale National Park, and the Rwenzori foothills — represent the easternmost extent of Central African rainforest and may harbour populations of both the white-bellied pangolin and, potentially, the giant ground pangolin.

Temminck’s ground pangolin is found in Uganda’s savanna regions, including Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kidepo Valley, and the rangelands of Karamoja. Community reports and camera-trap records confirm the species’ presence, though systematic surveys are lacking.

Uganda’s conservation community has historically focused on mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants. Pangolins have only recently begun to receive dedicated attention, driven in part by increasing reports of pangolin trafficking arrests in Kampala and at Uganda’s borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Uganda Conservation Foundation has incorporated pangolins into its community-based monitoring programmes, training community scouts to record pangolin sightings and signs. The Rhino Fund Uganda, despite its name, has expanded its scope to include pangolin awareness and rescue efforts, reflecting the growing recognition that pangolins require the same level of protection historically reserved for Africa’s megafauna.

The Transit Corridor Problem

Perhaps the most significant pangolin conservation challenge in East Africa is the region’s role as a transit corridor for scales sourced from Central and West Africa. Trafficking routes follow established transport networks: pangolin scales harvested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, and other source countries move overland through East Africa before being consolidated in port cities for maritime shipment to Vietnam, China, and other destination markets.

The infrastructure that makes Mombasa and Dar es Salaam efficient commercial ports — regular shipping schedules, container logistics, and connections to Asian trade routes — is precisely what makes them attractive to trafficking networks. Pangolin scales are typically concealed within legitimate cargo containers, making detection dependent on intelligence-led targeting rather than random inspection.

East African enforcement agencies have responded by strengthening inter-agency cooperation and investing in sniffer-dog units trained to detect wildlife contraband. Kenya’s interagency counter-trafficking taskforce, which brings together KWS, customs, police, and intelligence services, has been credited with several high-profile seizures. Tanzania has pursued similar multi-agency approaches through the National and Transnational Serious Crimes Investigation Unit (NTSCIU).

Research Gaps and Priorities

East Africa represents one of the largest geographic knowledge gaps in pangolin science. For Temminck’s ground pangolin, most ecological data come from studies conducted in South Africa and Zimbabwe; the species’ ecology, density, and behaviour in East African habitats have received almost no dedicated study. For the white-bellied pangolin in the Lake Victoria basin, even basic distribution data are insufficient to determine whether populations are stable, declining, or already locally extinct in some areas.

Priority research needs identified by the IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group include systematic distribution surveys using camera traps and environmental DNA sampling, population genetics studies to understand connectivity between East African and southern African Temminck’s ground pangolin populations, and dietary ecology studies in East African miombo and savanna habitats.

A Call for Regional Coordination

The pangolin conservation challenges facing Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda cannot be solved by any single country acting alone. Trafficking networks operate across borders, pangolin populations span international boundaries, and the expertise developed in southern Africa’s pangolin conservation programmes has direct application to East African contexts. Regional cooperation — through bodies such as the East African Community, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, and the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group — is essential for building the enforcement capacity, research infrastructure, and community engagement needed to protect pangolins across East Africa.

For South Africa’s pangolin conservation community, East Africa’s story is both cautionary and hopeful. Cautionary because the trafficking infrastructure is already entrenched, and resident populations face growing pressure. Hopeful because the building blocks — legal frameworks, enforcement agencies, community networks, and conservation expertise — are in place. What remains is the political will and financial investment to match the scale of the threat.