Pangolins are the most trafficked animals globally. Although the Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata occurs across the Indian subcontinent (excluding parts of the Himalayas and the north-east, where the Chinese pangolin Manis pentadactyla is present), it is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as a result of heavy poaching for its meat and scales. Several areas have not yet been surveyed for the occurrence of the Indian pangolin, one of which is the 16,948 km2 tropical deciduous forests of the northern Eastern Ghats landscape in Andhra Pradesh. During December 2017–April 2018, we surveyed 750 km2 of this landscape for the presence of the Indian pangolin, using camera traps. As an alternative method to document pangolin presence, and to identify factors driving hunting of the species, we also conducted, during the same period, a total of 60 semi-structured interviews with people in 30 villages. Interviewees reported the presence of pangolins in a majority of the grid cells that we surveyed with camera traps, particularly in moist deciduous forests distant from villages. However, the camera traps did not detect pangolins in 840 trap-days. Hunting of pangolins for their meat, which is consumed locally, and for their scales, which are traded, is most likely the reason for the rarity of the species in this landscape. A better understanding of the proximate and ultimate drivers of pangolin hunting is required, to inform proactive conservation management for this increasingly threatened species.

The Endangered Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, a burrowing, armoured mammal, plays an important role in the food web by consuming insects and termites. In Pakistan the species’ range includes the 22,000 km2 Potohar Plateau, where it is under pressure from illegal hunting for its scales and requires conservation attention. We used a geographical information system to quantify the range of the Indian pangolin on the Plateau and to compare this with the range estimated in the IUCN Red List assessment of the species. We found that the species occupies c. 89% of the Plateau, in eight of the 10 protected areas, compared with the IUCN estimate of 71%, and we recorded the species at 40 locations on the Plateau outside the range predicted by the IUCN assessment. We collected data on the illegal capture and killing of the species, recording 412 individuals that had been killed at 48 locations between January 2011 and the end of April 2013. The highest number of killings was recorded in Chakwal District (n = 156, at 13 sites) followed by the Attock District (n = 149, at eight sites). Although the Indian pangolin's range on the Potohar Plateau is c. 18% larger than that estimated in the IUCN assessment, the species is under pressure from illegal killing and requires urgent conservation measures to save the small remaining population and avoid the extirpation of this vital insectivorous predator from the area.