World Pangolin Day Reminds Us That The Clock Is Ticking For The World's Most Trafficked Mammal A pangolin hunting for ants on the ground. Lions with their four-inch long canines and a deadly bite are designed to kill. But sometimes even these apex predators surrender to the natural, impenetrable armor of the pangolin, a creature that weighs no more than 10 pounds but has a network of overlapping keratinous scales covering its whole body. When threatened, the pangolin curls up into a tight ball with the exposed scales deterring the predators. Unfortunately, however, this defense mechanism of pangolins is the cause of their demise in the hands of humans, making pangolins the world's most trafficked mammals.