Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a clinical syndrome characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling causing increased vascular resistance, which will lead to right heart failure and even death if left untreated. The pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension has not yet been clarified, and clinical treatments have not been effective in improving prognosis or reducing mortality. To investigate the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension and to develop and evaluate more effective and safer drug treatments, establishing related animal disease models is very important. This paper outlines the pathological characteristics of pulmonary arterial hypertension and summarizes the various types of animal models of pulmonary arterial hypertension, as well as describes the progress of the application of these models in three therapeutic pathways and related drug research in the past five years, with a view to providing a reference for the selection of animal models of pulmonary arterial hypertension and research applications.