It is estimated that more than one million pangolins were illegally traded between 2007 and 2017, making them the most traded mammals in the world. hey are shy, toothless, mostly nocturnal, and freeze when in fear. Encased in keratin scale armor, this defense protects them from their historical predators, but humans can simply pick them up and carry them away. Pangolins possess a unique evolutionary heritage, having separated from other mammals while dinosaurs still walked the earth. There are four species in Africa and four in Asia; all are now vulnerable to extinction and two are critically endangered.