Sierra Leone is one of the most biodiverse countries in West Africa, yet it is also one of the least studied. Decades of civil conflict, which devastated the country between 1991 and 2002, interrupted scientific research and conservation programming at a critical time, leaving significant gaps in baseline biodiversity data that persist to the present day. In this context, understanding the status and threats facing Sierra Leone's pangolins requires piecing together evidence from market surveys, community interviews, seizure records, and the limited systematic field surveys that have been conducted. What emerges is a picture of species under severe but not yet fully quantified pressure, in a country where conservation infrastructure is rebuilding alongside the nation itself.
Sierra Leone lies within the Upper Guinea forest biodiversity hotspot — one of the most ecologically significant and threatened forest regions on earth. The country's remaining forests, concentrated in the eastern Gola hills and the Outamba-Kilimi area in the north, provide habitat for the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) and the black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), both of which favour forested environments. The giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) may also occur in suitable lowland forest, though confirmed records are sparse.
The white-bellied pangolin is the most commonly reported species in Sierra Leone, turning up in bushmeat markets and in community interviews across forest districts. Camera trap surveys in the Gola Rainforest National Park, conducted by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in collaboration with the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, have confirmed white-bellied pangolin presence within the park. The species appears to persist in forest fragments and degraded habitat across the country, though its population status outside protected areas is poorly known.
The black-bellied pangolin, also called the long-tailed pangolin, is less frequently recorded in Sierra Leone. This species is highly arboreal and largely restricted to dense, well-structured forest canopy — habitat that has been dramatically reduced by decades of agricultural encroachment and charcoal production. The species' specific habitat requirements make it more vulnerable to forest degradation than the white-bellied pangolin, and its detection in market surveys is rare, possibly reflecting genuine scarcity.
Bushmeat remains a critical source of protein across Sierra Leone, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities where poverty limits access to domestic protein sources. Pangolins, because of their relatively slow movement and distinctive defensive behaviour, are among the most vulnerable species to wire snare hunting — the predominant hunting method in most forest areas. Surveys conducted in Freetown's bushmeat markets and in markets in Bo, Kenema, and Makeni have consistently recorded pangolin products, though the frequency has reportedly declined in recent years, a trend attributed by some traders to declining availability rather than reduced demand.
The post-conflict period saw a surge in bushmeat hunting as former combatants and displaced civilians with weapons entered forest areas previously inaccessible during the war. While access to firearms has decreased with disarmament, the hunting pressure established during this period appears to have persisted, with wire snares replacing guns as the primary tool in many areas.
Pangolin scales, blood, and meat are used in traditional medicine practices in Sierra Leone, as across much of West Africa. Applications include treatments for skin conditions, rheumatism, and as protective charms. The traditional medicine market for pangolin products operates largely separately from the food market, with different supply chains and customer bases. This dual demand structure means that even if bushmeat market sales decline, trade for medicinal purposes may continue at significant levels.
Sierra Leone's position on the West African coast, combined with its port infrastructure at Freetown, has made it a potential transit point for pangolin trafficking, although it has attracted less documented scrutiny than Togo, Ghana, or Nigeria in this regard. The EAGLE Network and TRAFFIC have noted the general vulnerability of West African port cities to wildlife trafficking, and several investigations have documented trafficking networks operating across the sub-region. Sierra Leone's relatively limited customs enforcement capacity creates opportunities that organised trafficking networks may exploit.
Sierra Leone has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original forest cover, with deforestation continuing at significant rates driven by agricultural expansion, artisanal mining, and charcoal production. The remaining forests are heavily fragmented, and pangolin populations in degraded or isolated habitat patches face both reduced food availability and increased vulnerability to hunters who can access previously remote areas via new roads and tracks cut for mining operations.
Gola Rainforest National Park, established in 2011 and covering approximately 710 square kilometres of Upper Guinea forest in eastern Sierra Leone, is the country's most important protected area for forest biodiversity. The park is managed through a partnership between the Sierra Leone government, the RSPB, and the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, and receives dedicated conservation funding that is exceptional by regional standards. Anti-poaching patrols operate within the park, camera trap monitoring is ongoing, and community engagement programmes operate in buffer zone villages.
Pangolin records from Gola suggest that white-bellied pangolins persist within the park's boundaries, and the park's management framework provides a model for what is achievable in Sierra Leone with sustained funding and institutional commitment. Cross-border coordination with Liberia's Gola Forest National Park, which shares the same forest complex across the border, adds a valuable transboundary dimension to conservation efforts.
Outamba-Kilimi National Park in northern Sierra Leone is a contrasting environment — drier, more open woodland — that may support savanna-edge pangolin habitat. The park has historically received less conservation investment than Gola, and its management capacity has been more limited. Community hunting around the park's boundaries is ongoing, and the park's effectiveness as a pangolin refuge depends heavily on enforcement resources that have not always been consistently available.
The Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) is the country's longest-established conservation NGO and has been active in biodiversity monitoring, environmental education, and policy advocacy across multiple decades. CSSL has conducted pangolin-focused awareness campaigns and has collaborated with international partners on survey work within protected areas. Building CSSL's capacity and financial sustainability is a long-term priority for pangolin conservation in the country.
The most promising conservation outcomes in Sierra Leone have emerged from community-based programmes that engage villages bordering protected areas as active conservation partners. In Gola's buffer zone communities, village conservation committees have been supported to monitor hunting, manage community forests, and develop alternative income sources including sustainable agriculture and non-timber forest product harvesting. Where these programmes have been well-resourced and consistently supported, they have reduced hunting pressure measurably.
Conservation education targeting pangolins is at an early stage in Sierra Leone compared to more developed programmes in East or Southern Africa. Several organisations have included pangolins in broader wildlife conservation education delivered in schools and through community theatre, but dedicated pangolin-focused behaviour change campaigns have not yet been developed at significant scale. Given the cultural specificity of demand — rooted in both food preference and medicinal belief — effective demand reduction will require careful audience research and message development.
The most critical gap in Sierra Leone's pangolin conservation knowledge base is a reliable baseline on population status and distribution. Without this foundation, it is impossible to prioritise intervention areas, measure the impact of conservation programmes, or advocate effectively for increased protection resources. A nationally coordinated camera trap survey, designed in partnership between CSSL, the Forestry Division, and international collaborators, would represent the highest-value investment available in Sierra Leone's pangolin conservation science at the current time.
Secondary priorities include market monitoring to track trade volumes over time, genetic sampling of confiscated animals to understand population connectivity and trafficking routes, and targeted ethnographic research to understand the cultural dimensions of pangolin use in different regional communities.
Sierra Leone's pangolins face a challenging present, but the country's conservation trajectory is not without cause for optimism. The establishment of Gola Rainforest National Park, the growing capacity of local conservation organisations, and the increasing international focus on West African biodiversity all create conditions for meaningful progress. Sierra Leone's forests are among the most important remaining Upper Guinea rainforests on earth, and the pangolins within them are part of an irreplaceable ecological heritage.
Conservation success in Sierra Leone will not come from any single intervention, but from the patient accumulation of survey data, community relationships, legal enforcement, and institutional capacity built over years by dedicated local and international partners. The pangolins of Gola and Outamba-Kilimi have survived wars, epidemics, and decades of political instability. With the right support, they can survive the current crisis too.