Pangolin Conservation in Uganda (2026): Status and Action

Last reviewed August 2026. Conservation data changes — see the cited sources for the latest figures.

Quick answer: what is the status of pangolins in Uganda?

Pangolins in Uganda are threatened by illegal hunting, trafficking, habitat loss and the degradation of forests, savanna and wetland habitats. The Uganda Conservation Foundation identifies four species in the country: the white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), Temminck’s ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) and black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla). The giant pangolin and white-bellied pangolin are listed as Endangered, while Temminck’s pangolin is Vulnerable; available Ugandan population information remains limited.

Uganda’s response is increasingly evidence-led. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF), Chester Zoo, IFAW and other partners are supporting enforcement, safe handling of confiscated animals, habitat protection, camera-trap surveys and research into where pangolins live and how they move.

Why pangolin conservation matters in Uganda

Pangolins are nocturnal, scale-covered mammals that feed largely on ants and termites. Their insectivory gives them an ecological role in regulating insect populations, while their burrowing and use of tree hollows connect them closely to soil, woodland and forest habitat. Protecting pangolins therefore involves more than saving individual animals: it also means retaining functioning habitats and reducing the wildlife-crime pressures that affect other Ugandan species.

Uganda is important because its landscapes include habitats used by more than one pangolin species. The giant pangolin is associated with rainforests and swamps, while Temminck’s pangolin uses savanna and woodland habitats. The white-bellied pangolin is linked to tropical lowland forest, and the black-bellied pangolin is an arboreal species of West and Central African forests; Uganda’s national conservation work treats all four as priorities.

Researchers still cannot provide a reliable national population estimate. The Kenya national pangolin plan notes that population status is unknown for several African pangolin species, including the white-bellied pangolin, and that there is no published population information for Temminck’s pangolin across most of its range. This lack of baseline data makes it difficult to measure recovery, identify population strongholds or determine whether rescued animals are being released into suitable areas.

Which pangolin species are found in Uganda?

Species	Scientific name	Conservation picture	Ugandan conservation relevance
Giant pangolin	Smutsia gigantea	Endangered; decreasing trend reported	Research and camera-trap monitoring have focused on its movements, habitat preferences and signs of decline in key areas.
White-bellied or tree pangolin	Phataginus tricuspis	Endangered; population status unknown but reportedly declining	Forest conversion, logging and direct exploitation are major range-wide threats.
Temminck’s ground pangolin	Smutsia temminckii	Vulnerable; decreasing trend reported	It depends on savanna and woodland and faces habitat loss, illegal trade and accidental electrocution in parts of its range.
Black-bellied or long-tailed pangolin	Phataginus tetradactyla	Threatened; distribution and population information are limited	Its arboreal ecology makes forest structure and the retention of mature trees important conservation concerns.

Sources do not describe Uganda’s species complement in exactly the same way: UCF lists four species, while a 2022 investigation quoted a conservation organisation saying that three Ugandan species were being targeted. The safest conclusion is that pangolin identification, distribution and population monitoring in Uganda require continued field research rather than assumptions based on incomplete records.

The main threats to pangolins in Uganda

Poaching and illegal trafficking

Illegal capture is the most immediate threat. Pangolins are hunted for meat and their scales, and international trafficking networks create demand beyond the communities where animals are taken. All eight pangolin species were transferred to CITES Appendix I in 2016, the treaty’s highest level of protection for species threatened with extinction from international trade. Legal protection has not eliminated trafficking: Uganda is described as a transit route for illegal wildlife products, including pangolins, and conservation investigators have reported increasing trade activity.

Trafficking also creates an animal-welfare and law-enforcement challenge. Live pangolins can deteriorate rapidly when handled, transported or held incorrectly. IFAW program manager Moses Olinga said that poor handling can weaken cases, reduce the chances of conviction and increase disease-transmission risks, including zoonoses. Rescue operations therefore need trained officers, veterinary support, suitable cages, documented evidence and a release plan—not simply an interception.

Habitat loss and fragmentation

Forest clearing, logging, agricultural expansion, infrastructure and settlement growth reduce the habitat available to pangolins. The white-bellied pangolin’s tropical forest habitat is being logged and converted to farmland and settlements across its range, while direct exploitation compounds the loss. In the Murchison Falls Conservation Area, a conservation project identifies habitat degradation and deforestation associated with oil-related infrastructure, logging and conversion to sugar-cane and maize plantations as important local pressures.

Habitat change can damage burrows, remove hollow trees and bring pangolins into closer contact with people. The result is not necessarily a single dramatic event; it can be a gradual reduction in shelter, food access and safe movement routes. Protecting connected habitat around national parks and strengthening community-managed areas are therefore relevant to pangolin conservation alongside anti-poaching patrols.

Limited knowledge and monitoring

Pangolins are difficult to study because they are generally nocturnal, elusive and present at low densities. Global conservation specialists have highlighted major gaps in knowledge of pangolin biology, distribution and abundance. Uganda’s conservation programmes are helping close that gap, but results should not be confused with a national population census.

Camera traps, burrow surveys, community observations and individual identification can reveal where pangolins occur and which habitats they use. However, a camera-trap photograph is evidence of presence, not proof of a stable population. Conservation decisions need repeated surveys over time, consistent methods and careful separation of rescued-animal releases from naturally occurring wild populations.

Climate and wider landscape pressures

The supplied research does not provide a Uganda-specific climate-impact estimate for pangolins. It does, however, show that pangolins depend on particular forest, woodland, savanna, swamp and tree-hollow conditions, meaning that broader landscape change can affect shelter and food resources. For 2026, the evidence-based priority is to monitor habitat condition and avoid presenting climate impacts as quantified facts until Uganda-specific studies support them.

What is being done to protect pangolins?

Uganda Wildlife Authority and enforcement partners

UWA is central to Uganda’s response, working with conservation organisations, police, customs and other enforcement agencies. IFAW reports a partnership with UWA, the Uganda Revenue Authority and other enforcement partners that has provided frontline training, equipment and practical support for wildlife-crime responses. Training has included veterinary personnel responsible for assessing and rehabilitating confiscated wildlife.

Uganda’s Wildlife Act 2019 provides severe penalties for certain wildlife crimes. Oxpeckers reported that offences involving species classified as extinct in the wild or critically endangered can attract a fine of up to 20 billion Ugandan shillings, life imprisonment or both. The same investigation reported that UWA’s conservation director, John Makombo, identified judicial sensitisation as one strategy for improving the handling of wildlife-crime cases. Enforcement effectiveness still depends on evidence quality, investigations, prosecutions and consistent application of the law.

Rescue, rehabilitation and release

UCF’s Pangolin Conservation Project, funded by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, is described as Uganda’s first dedicated pangolin project. It works with UWA and other partners to improve rescue capacity, identify release zones inside national parks and provide equipment for handling confiscated pangolins. The project page does not publish verified totals for animals rescued, released or rangers trained; those fields should not be treated as results.

IFAW reports that its IFAW–INL partnership trained more than 50 law-enforcement personnel and supplied 85 confiscation kits and specially designed cages. These are capacity-building outputs, not a measure of population recovery, but they address a practical point in the chain from seizure to rehabilitation and release.

Research in protected areas

Chester Zoo’s Giant Pangolin Project, conducted with UWA since 2018, was the first conservation research project focused specifically on giant pangolins, according to the zoo. The project achieved the first reported tagging of a wild giant pangolin to study movements and used scale patterns to identify individuals.

The project also carried out camera-trap surveys in seven protected areas, including Semuliki National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Community volunteers helped locate pangolins outside legally protected areas. Monitoring has also included camera traps and searches for burrows. Chester Zoo reports signs of decline in key areas, likely driven by poaching, which underlines why research must be paired with protection.

Murchison Falls National Park and the wider Murchison Falls Conservation Area are especially relevant to habitat protection discussions. Conservation proposals there include protecting threatened land and involving local communities in management, while acknowledging pressures from development, logging and agricultural conversion. These landscape-scale approaches complement the work described in Protecting Uganda’s national parks, where habitat security and enforcement are considered together.

Community involvement and responsible tourism

Pangolin conservation cannot be delivered by park authorities alone. Community volunteers have already contributed to camera-trap surveys, including work outside legally protected areas. UCF’s project also focuses on locating release zones within national parks and working with conservation partners, while habitat-protection proposals in the Murchison landscape emphasise community involvement in reserve management.

Tourism can help when it supports legitimate conservation and local livelihoods, but pangolins are rarely reliable safari-viewing animals. They are elusive and nocturnal, and visitors should never expect a sighting or ask guides to locate one by disturbing habitat. A conventional community-conservation model is more appropriate than wildlife encounters built around handling or displaying pangolins.

Visitors can book conservation-supporting safaris on SafariFind and choose operators that explain where conservation fees go, employ local guides and follow wildlife-welfare standards. Tourism revenue should complement—not replace—public funding, law enforcement and community priorities. IFAW’s reported fall in Ugandan pangolin trafficking cases also illustrates that targeted partnerships can produce operational gains, although tourism alone cannot demonstrate species recovery.

Results and setbacks in 2026

The clearest recent enforcement result comes from IFAW’s Uganda programme: reported pangolin trafficking cases fell from 14 in 2024 to seven in 2025, a 50% reduction. IFAW presents this as evidence of the value of coordinated training, equipment and partnerships with UWA, URA and other agencies.

The result should be interpreted carefully. A fall in recorded cases can reflect reduced trafficking, improved deterrence, changes in detection or changes in reporting; the available source does not establish which factors explain the entire decrease. Nor does it show that Uganda’s pangolin populations have recovered.

Research provides both progress and warning. Giant pangolin tagging, individual identification and surveys in seven protected areas have improved the evidence base. At the same time, camera-trap and burrow data indicate decline in key areas, likely associated with poaching. The absence of a dependable national population estimate remains a major challenge, as does the need to ensure that rescued animals are handled safely and released into suitable, secure habitat.

How travellers can help pangolins responsibly

• Choose a licensed Uganda safari operator that supports UWA rules and can explain its conservation and community partnerships.
• Never buy pangolin scales, meat, claws, skins or other wildlife products. International commercial trade in all pangolin species is prohibited under CITES Appendix I.
• Do not touch, feed, photograph with or request a close encounter with a pangolin. Handling can injure stressed animals and may create disease risks.
• Report suspected wildlife trafficking through official Ugandan channels or to responsible park and law-enforcement personnel; do not confront suspected traffickers.
• Support habitat-conscious tourism and community initiatives rather than projects that promise guaranteed pangolin sightings.
• Ask whether donations support measurable work such as ranger equipment, veterinary care, monitoring or community-led habitat protection.

The most useful contribution from a traveller is responsible demand: pay for ethical guiding, respect protected-area rules and avoid turning a rare, vulnerable animal into a tourism commodity. Pangolin conservation in Uganda will depend on combining that demand with rigorous monitoring, secure habitat, trained responders and prosecutions that disrupt trafficking networks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pangolin species are found in Uganda?

The Uganda Conservation Foundation identifies four species: giant, white-bellied, Temminck’s ground and black-bellied pangolins. A separate 2022 investigation referred to three species being targeted, so Uganda’s species records and distribution require continued field verification.

Are pangolins endangered in Uganda?

Yes. The giant pangolin and white-bellied pangolin are listed as Endangered, while Temminck’s pangolin is Vulnerable; population information for Uganda remains limited.

What is the biggest threat to pangolins in Uganda?

Illegal hunting and trafficking are major immediate threats, particularly because pangolins are targeted for meat and scales. Habitat loss from logging, agriculture, infrastructure and settlement expansion adds further pressure.

Where are pangolins being researched in Uganda?

Chester Zoo and UWA have conducted surveys in seven protected areas, including Semuliki National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Research has also focused on Murchison Falls National Park and the wider Murchison landscape.

Does Uganda have a pangolin conservation project?

Yes. UCF’s Pangolin Conservation Project, funded by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, works with UWA and other partners on rescue capacity, equipment and identifying release zones.

Can tourists see pangolins on a Uganda wildlife safari?

Pangolins are elusive and nocturnal, so sightings are unusual and should never be guaranteed. Travellers should not ask guides to disturb habitat or handle an animal; responsible tourism should support conservation without creating pressure for close encounters.

How did pangolin trafficking cases change in Uganda?

IFAW reported that recorded pangolin trafficking cases fell from 14 in 2024 to seven in 2025, a 50% reduction. This is an enforcement result, not proof that Uganda’s wild pangolin populations have recovered.

Are pangolins legally protected in Uganda?

Uganda’s Wildlife Act 2019 provides severe penalties for specified wildlife crimes, and all eight pangolin species are listed in CITES Appendix I. Legal protection still requires effective investigations, prosecutions and enforcement.

How can visitors help pangolin conservation in Uganda?

Use responsible operators, never purchase pangolin products, avoid handling wildlife, respect park rules and support transparent conservation and community programmes. Safe wildlife tourism should not depend on guaranteed pangolin sightings.