A range state overlooked by Western conservation coverage faces an urgent crisis for one of the world's most trafficked mammals.
When the international conservation community discusses the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), the focus tends to fall on India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Pakistan, however, is a significant range state whose pangolin population receives comparatively little attention in English-language literature or global funding streams. Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and placed on CITES Appendix I in 2017, the Indian pangolin faces sustained poaching pressure across its Pakistani range, a landscape where wildlife law enforcement resources are limited and baseline population data remains effectively nonexistent.
The core of the Indian pangolin's range in Pakistan lies on the Pothohar Plateau, the broad, undulating tableland that stretches between Rawalpindi in the northwest and Jhelum in the east. This region of subtropical dry forest, scrub woodland, and rocky hillsides provides the combination of friable soil and abundant ant and termite colonies that pangolins require. The Salt Range, rising from the southern edge of the Pothohar, represents another documented zone of pangolin presence.
Beyond Punjab province, the species extends into the foothills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the lower elevations of Azad Kashmir, and scattered suitable habitats in parts of Sindh and Balochistan, though records from these areas are sparse and often anecdotal. The species has been documented at elevations up to approximately 1,500 metres, wherever suitable rocky terrain and prey availability coincide. The Pothohar Plateau remains, by all available evidence, the most significant breeding habitat within Pakistan's borders.
Pangolin protection in Pakistan operates across overlapping legislative layers. The Pakistan Wildlife Protection Act of 1979 provides a federal framework that prohibits hunting, killing, or possession of protected wildlife, with pangolins included among protected species. At the provincial level, the Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act of 1974 predates the federal legislation and gives Punjab Wildlife Department officers legal authority to prosecute poachers and seize contraband wildlife products within Punjab.
Internationally, the uplisting of all pangolin species to CITES Appendix I at the 2016 Conference of the Parties (entering force in 2017) marked a decisive shift. Appendix I listing prohibits all commercial international trade, closing the legal loophole that had previously allowed quota-based exports from some range states. Pakistan is a CITES signatory, meaning cross-border pangolin trafficking is a treaty violation subject to national prosecution. The country's National Environmental Policy and associated biodiversity strategies acknowledge pangolin conservation as a priority, though implementation capacity has consistently lagged behind stated commitment.
The primary driver of pangolin mortality in Pakistan is organised poaching for the commercial trade in scales and, to a lesser but significant degree, meat. Pangolin scales are composed of keratin and have no demonstrated pharmaceutical efficacy, yet they command high prices in East Asian traditional medicine markets, where they are prescribed for conditions ranging from skin ailments to lactation difficulties. Pakistan functions as both a source country and a transit corridor in the regional trafficking network.
Lahore's wholesale markets have historically served as the principal domestic aggregation point for pangolin scales before they are moved onward, typically through Gulf state transit points or directly across the Afghan border and through Central Asian routes. A significant 2018 Punjab Wildlife Department and Federal Investigation Agency operation documented the seizure of more than 50 kilograms of pangolin scales in a single operation in Lahore, representing hundreds of individual animals. The cross-border corridor through Afghanistan into Iran and onward to Gulf ports has been identified in multiple trafficking investigations as a primary route for Pakistani-origin pangolin scales destined for East Asian markets.
Poaching does not operate in isolation. The Pothohar Plateau has experienced sustained deforestation over several decades, driven by demand for fuelwood and charcoal in peri-urban areas around Rawalpindi and Islamabad, agricultural encroachment, and development of transport infrastructure. The loss of scrub woodland and dry forest reduces both the structural cover that pangolins require for diurnal resting and the diversity of ant and termite colonies that constitute their diet.
Overgrazing by goats and cattle across the plateau compacts soils and suppresses the ground-cover vegetation that supports dense ant populations. This prey-base reduction may force pangolins to travel further during nocturnal foraging, increasing their exposure to snares and poachers. Climate change adds a further dimension: reduced monsoon reliability across the Pothohar affects soil moisture, which in turn influences termite colony density and the seasonal availability of prey. An animal already under pressure from poaching becomes additionally stressed by a food supply that is less predictable year to year.
No reliable population estimate exists for the Indian pangolin in Pakistan. Camera trap studies have been conducted in parts of the Salt Range and Pothohar Plateau, primarily by WWF-Pakistan, but published, fine-scale data from these surveys is not publicly available. The absence of a population baseline means that it is impossible to determine whether the population is stable, declining, or recovering in response to any intervention.
Funding for small mammal survey work in Pakistan is constrained by the dominance of charismatic megafauna in international conservation finance. Snow leopard, Himalayan brown bear, and Marco Polo sheep attract donor interest and generate survey infrastructure that pangolins simply cannot match. The pangolin's nocturnal habits, cryptic coloration, and preference for rocky, difficult terrain make standard survey methods costly and logistically challenging in any case.
Conservation practitioners and policy analysts working on Pakistani wildlife have identified a series of priorities for Indian pangolin recovery:
The Indian pangolin's range spans multiple South Asian nations: India, where it is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act; Sri Lanka, where it is listed as Vulnerable with national legal protections; Nepal, where it is listed as Endangered; and Bangladesh, where populations are severely depleted. Pakistan's Pothohar population is likely genetically isolated from the main Indian range by the combination of intensive agricultural land, the Indo-Pak border infrastructure, and associated human settlement corridors along the border zone.
This isolation has important conservation implications. A geographically isolated population cannot be replenished by immigration from larger populations elsewhere if local densities fall below viable breeding thresholds. The Pothohar population must sustain itself, which makes current poaching pressure all the more serious. A regional conservation framework linking the range state nations of South Asia under a coordinated Indian pangolin recovery plan has been discussed at CITES forums but has not yet materialised in a fully operational form.
Pakistan's Indian pangolin population occupies a critical and under-studied portion of the species' global range. Sustained poaching for the international scales trade, combined with habitat degradation on the Pothohar Plateau and a near-total absence of population baseline data, means that conservation managers are effectively navigating blind. The legal framework exists; the implementation capacity does not. Closing that gap through funded surveys, trained rangers, and community engagement in the Pothohar's villages is the most pressing near-term conservation need for this species in Pakistan.
Yes. The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is native to Pakistan, with its primary range in the Pothohar Plateau of Punjab province between Rawalpindi and Jhelum. It also occurs in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Sindh, and Balochistan, though records from these areas are sparse.
Pangolins are protected under the Pakistan Wildlife Protection Act 1979 and the Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act 1974. Internationally, the Indian pangolin has been listed on CITES Appendix I since 2017, prohibiting all commercial international trade.
Pangolins are poached primarily for their scales, which are trafficked to East Asian markets for use in traditional medicine, and for their meat, which is consumed locally. Pakistan serves as both a source country and a transit corridor, with scales moving through Gulf state routes toward East Asian end markets.
No published national population assessment exists for the Indian pangolin in Pakistan. WWF-Pakistan has conducted limited surveys in the Salt Range and Pothohar Plateau, but fine-scale data remains unpublished. Pakistan is the only major Indian pangolin range state without a publicly available population baseline, making it impossible to track population trends.