The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing added protections for seven species of pangolin under the Endangered Species Act.

Seven species of pangolin could soon be federally protected thanks to a proposal from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

US officials proposed on Monday to protect the pangolin, a small, nocturnal mammal covered in scales, under the Endangered Species Act. The pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world in large part for its scales,