*Unknown photographer

Their scales are pulled out and dried and crushed to use in traditional medicine, mainly Chinese traditional medicine. It doesn't have more than one visible defensive strategy. Their only defence is to curl up into a ball and hope that armour shields them because a pangolin moves slowly and has no teeth so they can't even fight their way out of a threatening situation to escape.   

That armour works well to frustrate most other animals – so much so, that they decide to leave the impenetrable pangolin and resort to find an easier prey... Sadly, this is no deterrent to mankind's cruel side. This sweet creature has no defence against abusive and invasive hands.

   

• Interesting to note, the mother rolls up with her baby tucked against her abdomen as the baby is born with scales but the young's scales are still too soft to use as armour, so they rely on their mother's armour. 
• The poachers cruelly separate them when they brutally unfold the mother and it's a bonus if the pangopup peeks out as both mammals are highly beneficial to them – they also have a false use for her vulnerable pangopup. 
• The babies are sought to make pangowine – used mainly for traditional Chinese medicine and sometimes also a source of exotic meat (adults too). The little body is boiled to make this ridiculously ineffective "wine". 
• about a third of an adult's weight is made up from those scales. 
• All the pangolins in Africa are endangered as now the international poachers, and similar, are stealing them as all the pangolins in Asia are already rare and critically endangered (once, there were many).