PANGOLINS
Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota and the family Manidae. They are among the world's strangest-looking wild animals. Found in Africa and Asia, they have a large muscular tail and are covered with armor-like overlapping scales that protect them when they are threatened and they roll themselves into an impenetrable armored ball. They live in both rain forests and savannah grasslands. Little studied, they are natural pest controllers, gobbling up ants and termites. The name pangolin comes from the Malay word pengguling, meaning "one that rolls up" which refers to the way that pangolins roll up in order to defend themselves.
The family Manidae consists of three genera (Manis, Phataginus, and Smutsia) and eight (maybe nine) species. The extant species live only in Africa and Asia. Species in Manidae are covered in keratinous scales that protect them from the elements and predators; are able to roll up in a ball to protect themselves; and have long tongues that are used to excavate ant nests, their main source of food. They tend to be nocturnal although they can be active during the day.[Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolins are sometimes mistaken for reptiles and similar in shape to anteaters and armored like armadillos and but are more closely related to mongooses, raccoons, giant pandas, polar bears, dogs and cats, and are so different from other mammals they occupy their own order. David Attenborough wrote: they “protect themselves with armor” made up of “roughly triangular horney plates that overlap one another like the scale son a fir cone. The pangolins are so specialized that they can now eat nothing but ants and termites for their jaws have lost all their teeth and little more tham a curving tube housing a very long tongue. Several species of them spend their lives in trees and clamber about with the aid of a long grasping tail.
Some pangolin species are critically endangered due to poaching. The Pangolin Specialist Group estimates that over two million pangolins were poached between 2000 and 2024. Pangolin meat is a prized delicacy and pangolin scales are greatly sought after for traditional medicines. Their skins are used in making armor, shoes and boots. Between 1980 and 1985, 175,000 pangolin hides were imported into the United States.
The name pangolin comes from peng-goling, which in Malay means “roller” or “that which rolls up.” The conservationist Chris Shepherd described them as a walking pine cone. In some circles pangolins are regarded as cute. A Pokemon character, Sandslash, is loosely based on pangolins. Cyclus Manufactura, makes a folding pangolin backpack based on the animal’s biomechanics, according to the firm’s website. [Source: Erica Goode, New York Times, March 30, 2015]
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Pangolins Wikipedia article Wikipedia ; African Wildlife Foundation awf.org ; Theatened Pangolin Video YouTube
Websites and Resources on Animals: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; BBC Earth bbcearth.com; A-Z-Animals.com a-z-animals.com; Live Science Animals livescience.com; Animal Info animalinfo.org ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF) worldwildlife.org the world’s largest independent conservation body; National Geographic National Geographic ; Endangered Animals (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) iucnredlist.orgPangolin Uniqueness
Jeremy Hance of mongabay.com wrote: “If you want to picture a pangolin think of a small anteater and then cover it in scaly armor, such as you might imagine on a dragon. Along with these telltale scales, the pangolin has a long snout, with a supple tongue for efficiently gobbling thousands of ants and termites; it sports long claws to dig up termite mounds and walks on its knuckles to keep these claws in prime shape; in addition pangolins have skunk-like anal scent glands to repel predators. Strong as a five-limbed circus acrobat (counting their prehensile tail), pangolins are incredible tree-climbers and, even more surprisingly, excellent swimmers. But perhaps, the pangolins most famous behavior is its ability to roll up into a scaly ball, an excellent defense against non-human predators. In fact, the word pangolin comes from the Malay word 'penggulung,' which means 'roller.' These seemingly hodge-podge traits have made pangolins successful enough to conquer two continents with the eight species split evenly between Asia and Africa. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, February 11, 2013 -]
“If the general appearance of pangolins isn't weird enough, their place on the mammal tree of life is just as surprising. Although they look like an anteater in scale-mail, it turns out pangolins are not at all related to anteaters. Instead, recent genetic evidence has found that their closest relatives are actually carnivores, despite the fact that pangolins completely lack one thing all carnivores have: teeth. And, of course, pangolin don't eat meat in the conventional sense, but gobble up insects. Not surprisingly then, pangolins and carnivores are only distantly related: the scaly anteaters split from carnivores an incredible 70 million years ago, meaning that the world's eight pangolins occupy a wholly unique place on Earth. Taxonomists have even given them their own order: Pholidota. -
“This make pangolins a prime example of what scientists call convergent evolution. Although wholly unrelated to the Americas' anteaters, the pangolin has evolved a similar body type, including hefty claws, long snout, and long maneuverable tongue. Both animals—pangolins and anteaters—do nothing but eat insects like ants and termites, and it appears that this diet favors certain traits to the point that two completely different mammal families on alien continents could look almost like twins, albeit one hairy and one scaly.” -
Pangolin Species
There are eight (maybe nine) species of pangolins dispersed but uncommon over southern China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Africa. They range in size from two kilogram tree-dwellers to the 30-kilogram African species. The most common species, the ground pangolin, reaches lengths of 110 centimeters with about half of that being tail. It spends its time entirely on the ground. In September 2023, nine species were reported.
The one extant family of pangolins — Manidae — has three genera: Manis, Phataginus, and Smutsia. Manis comprises four species found in Asia. Phataginus and Smutsia include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa.
The four African species are: 1) White-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), most common of the tree-dwelling pangolins, the main species poached in Africa and is usually found in tropical forests and dense woodlands. 2) African black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), smallest of the eight pangolin species, the only one with black skin, and possesses 47 vertebrae in its tail, more than in the tail of any other mammal; 3) Giant Ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), the largest pangolin, weighing up to 34 kilograms (75 pounds) and possessing a sticky tongue nearly two feet in length; and 4) Temminck's Ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii).
Temminck's ground pangolins are the only species that lives in southern Africa. The other three African species live in the forests of Central and West Africa. Temminck’s ground pangolin is the only species that regularly walks on hind legs, using its large tail as a counterbalance. This keeps its front claws sharp for digging. The giant ground has a head and body length of 50 to 60 centimeters long. The tail is 40 to 50 centimeters long.
The four Asian species are: 1) Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata); 2) Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla; 3) Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica); 4) Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis). Asian pangolins are restricted to the tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, specifically, India, Southern China, and Southeast Asia.
Pangolin Taxonomy
The number of genera in the family Manidae has been disputed. The consensus point now is that there are three genera: Manis for Asian pangolins, Phataginus for African tree pangolins, and Smutsia for African ground pangolins. The three genera were decided based on cladistic phylogenetic analysis. Manidae have been placed in several different orders, including Cingulata, which is the order for sloths, anteaters, and armadillos. They were synonymously referred to as Manis by Linnaeus in 1758, Pholidotus by Brisson in 1762, Pangolinus by Rafinesque in 1815 and 1821, Phatages by Sundevall in 1843, Phatagin by Gray in 1865, Triglochinopolis by Fitzinger in 1872, and Pangolin by Gray in 1873 before being placed in Pholidota. Pholidota is sister taxa with Carnivora. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolins are closely related to dogs and cats. Both Pholidota and Carnivora are in the clade Ferae. Current evolutionary understanding of relationships within the order Pholidota support only one main group: family Manidae. Manidae can be divided into two subgroups: Asian pangolins and African pangolins. African Pangolins consist of two genera that are closely related to each other. Manis comprises the Asian pangolins.
Synapomorphies (characteristics found in an ancestral species and shared by their evolutionary descendants) include: 1) keratin scales, 2) smooth conical skull. 3) lack of teeth, 4) muscular stomach used to "chew" food and 5) an extremely long tongue. Gaudin, Emry, and Wible reported the following as being synapomorphies within order Pholidota in their morphological analysis from 2009: 1) transverse width of dorsal surface of lateral cuneiform roughly equal to proximodistal (from the center outward) height; 2) fibular facet of astragalus (bone that connects the leg bones to the ankle join) crescent-shaped, with concavity facing proximoplantarly; 3) manual and pedal subungual processes form triangular platform in ventral view, with grooves along either side of subungual processes leading to subungual foramina; 4) obturator foramen small, maximum diameter of acetabulum more than percent that of obturator foramen; 5) prominent ischial spine; 6) temporal lines absent; 7) basicranial/basifacial axis reflexed; teeth absent; 8) horizontal ramus of mandible shallow, more than percent of maximum mandibular length. [Source: Mea Escobedo, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
The relationship of pangolins to other groups of mammals is not clear. Their fossil record extends to the Eocene Period (56 million to 33.9 million years ago). The fossil record is lacking, most likely because pangolins do not have teeth and they also live in areas that do not preserve their fossils well. However, there is a small number of fairly complete fossils have been found including the genus Eomanis, which is the oldest extinct pangolin. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Manis — Asian Pangolins
There are four extant species in genus Manis: Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis), Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), and Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) [Source: Mea Escobedo, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Asian pangolins live in diverse range habitats — savannas, grasslands, mountains. agricultural areas, foothills, woodlands as well as bamboo, broadleaf, coniferous, limestone, primary, secondary, subtropical, tropical forests. They are observed most commonly at elevations of 1,450 to 1,550 meters (4,757 to 5085 feet), with some sightings over 2,000 meters (6,561). Pangolins are commonly observed excavating and residing in burrows made of soft, semi-sandy, red and brown soils. /=\
Indian pangolins are 84 to 122 (33 to 48 inches) centimeters long (including tail) with a tail length of 33 to 47 centimeters (13 to 18.5 inches). They weigh 10 to 16 kilograms (22 to 35 pounds). /=\
Philippine pangolin are 58 to 176 centimeters (23 to 69.2inches) long (including tail) with a tail length of 28 to 88 centimeters (11 to 34 inches). They weigh 1.8 to 2.4 kilograms (Four to 5.3 pounds). /=\
Sunda pangolin are 75 to 121 centimeters (29.5 to 47.6inches) long (including tail) with a tail length of 35 to 56 centimeters (14 to 22 inches) . They weigh up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds). /=\
Chinese pangolins are 65 to 96 centimeters (25.6 to 37.8inches) long (including tail) with a tail length of 25 to 38 centimeters (10 to 15 inches) . They weigh two to seven kilograms (4.4 to 15.4 pounds). /=\
Pangolin Characteristics
Pangolins are primarily terrestrial creatures that feed on ants and termites and have tough, keratinized dermal scales that cover their body and aid in protection from predators. Their venter, the abdomen area, is covered in hair. Since their diet consists of termites and ants, they have large claws that they use for digging into the termite mounds and ant hills. Their scales also protect them from ant and termite bites. They have extremely long tongues, over 38 centimeters long. These tongues are long and sticky so that they can efficiently take up as many ants/termites as possible. When threatened, they roll into a ball, leaving only their hardened scaly exterior exposed which deters predation. The oldest pangolin kept in captivity lived to be over 19 years old. It is believed that they can live for over 20 years in the wild if they can avoid being poached.
Pangolins range in size from about 1.6 kilograms to a maximum of about 33 kilograms.The head is small and cone-shaped. The ears are small. Juvenile Pangolins resemble adult form. There is no known seasonal variation among Pangolins. Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Male and female Pangolins are similar barring size but males are slightly larger than females. Males range from 10 to 50 percent heavier than females. Indian pangolin males, however, can be up to 90 percent heavier than the females. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
pangolin scales
Pangolins have been referred to as scaly anteaters because that is what they resemble. But there are differences from anteaters. According to Animal Diversity Web: The skull of pangolins is smoothly conical, lacking the ridges and crests found on most mammalian crania. The palate is long, but not as long as the palate of myrmecophagids (anteaters), and unlike members of that group it does not incorporate the pterygoids. They have no jugal and the zygomatic arch is incomplete. The mandible is narrow and weak. It lacks angular and coronoid processes but has an unusual conical projection at its anterior end on the upper (dorsal) surface. [Source: Phil Myers, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolins have short legs, a long snout and a thick prehensile tail. Their limbs are stout and well adapted for digging. Claws are large, sharp, and recurved. On each of forelegs are three long claws (extensions of three of five toes). They are used mainly to dig out holes in ant and termite nests. The claws on the hind legs are shorter. The pangolin’s claws and prehensile tail make it both a powerful burrower and agile tree climber
.Some species of pangolins are arboreal, others are terrestrial. Two species have semiprehensile tails, used in climbing. Their scales provide good defense against predators. When threatened, pangolins curl into a ball, protecting their scaleless undersurface and sometimes rolling down a steep slope. They lash about dangerously with their tails, which are covered with sharp-edged scales. They may also spray a foul-smelling liquid from their anal glands. Pangolins have relatively poor vision and hearing; they probably locate their prey by scent. [Source: Phil Myers, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolin's Long Tongue and Ant-Eating Adaptions
Pangolins have several adaptations that allow them to successfully hunt and consumer insects, particularly ants, such as having a long sticky tongue, a long snout, strong forelimbs, sharp claws, and tough scales. Even average size pangolins have a very long tongue that can extend up to 40 centimeters beyond its mouth, allowing them to reach deep into ant and termite nests. The animal has no teeth and its lower jaw is just slivers of bone. Its powerful stomach muscles “chew” its food. Pangolins’ abnormally narrow mouths (oral cavity) and throats (orophyarynx) are perfect for funneling insects but make intubation challenging for veterinarians who treat them. They put a tube through the animal’s wide nasal cavity instead. [Source: Animal Diversity Web (ADW) Rachael Bale, National Geographic, June 2019]
Their extraordinarily tongue is as muscular as it is long. This tongue is connected not to the bottom of its mouth, but to the bottom of its ribcage deep inside it body. When it's being used to snatch insects it reposes in the pangolin's chest cavity. The tongue and associated muscles are longer than the animal's head and body, allowing the tongue to be extruded to an astonishing degree. Inside the body the pangolin tongue coils inward along the abdominal wall toward the right kidney. When the tongue is relaxed, a portion folds in on itself within the neck. The tongue straightens out when extended. It stretches and is held using muscle force. The muscles are attached to two long, flexible bones at the end of the sternum that move during tongue extension.
Instead of teeth pangolins use their stomachs to crush food. The pyloric part of their stomach is thickened and muscular, with odd keratinous spines projecting into its interior. It usually contains pebbles and appears to be used for "chewing" in much the same way as a bird's gizzard. Pangolins have the ability to close their ears and nostrils as well as eyes, presumably to keep ants out.
Pangolin Scales and Defenses
Pangolin scale histology
Pangolins are covered in armor made up of horny plates, made up of agglutinated hairs, which overlap like shingles io a roof. The armor serves as camouflage as well as proving protection. The scales extend from the head, down the back to or almost to the tip of the long tail. The pangolin’s underside is naked except for a few sparse hairs. The snout, cheeks, throat and inner limbs are also not covered by scales. When it is rolled into a ball none of the soft areas are exposed.
The main potential natural predators of pangolins in Asia are leopards, tigers, feral dogs and pythons. When threatened pangolins curl themselves into a ball. They are protected from predators as only their hardened, keratinized scales are left exposed. The scales overlap and are sharp. When a pangolin is rolled up, it is hard for a predator to puncture the scales and cause harm to the pangolin. They can also use their scent gland to spray predators with a foul smell, similar to skunks. Pangolins may also climb into trees to avoid predation. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolins are the only mammal in the world with proper scales Jeremy Hance of mongabay.com wrote: “For millions of years the pangolin has depended on its scales to keep it safe. Made of keratin, like human fingernails and rhino horn, the scales become strong and sharp as pangolins age, providing them with tough protection against a forest full of predators. A single pangolin can sport up to around 1,000 individually fitting scale and when they roll into a ball they present a predator with a set of armor that any medieval knight would have envied. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, February 11, 2013 -]
Pangolins are around insects a lot and don’t seem to mind having them crawl all over their bodies. They have special muscles in their nose and eyes to close off these sensitive areas. Sometimes they will open up their scales and let ants climb on their skin, apparently to let them consume irritating skin parasites.
Pangolin Behavior
Pangolins are terricolous (live on the ground), arboreal (live mainly in trees), scansorial (able to or good at climbing), fossorial (engaged in a burrowing life-style or behavior, and good at digging or burrowing), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), sedentary (remain in the same area). nocturnal (active at night) and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). They are generally solitary, only coming together to mate and rear young. Pangolins do not have a known hierarchical structure. Research on pangolin is limited. They do not appear to interact with one another often, outside of mating or offspring care. [Source: Shelby Walters,Mea Escobedo, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolins occupy a large range of habitats — savannas, forests, and grasslands — and make their homes in abandoned animal burrows, in caves, between rocks, or in hollow trees. Species of pangolin that are located in forested areas use their claws to climb trees. The other species use their claws to dig burrows. Their shelters are used for protection and may also have thermoregulatory benefits as well. They use burrows for several months.
Pangolins generally sleep during the day in burrows (sometimes as many as 70 different ones scattered over a large territory). They can walk on their hind legs but most move along on all fours. Pangolins hunt for ants and termites at night and often travel up to six kilometers (four miles) to locate food. Pangolins can swim. Some say pangolins like to take a swim after a meal of ants to clean off parasites on their bodies.
Pangolins sense using touch, sound and chemicals detected by smelling. They communicate with chemicals usually detected by smelling. They also use pheromones (chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species) and leave scent marks produced by special glands and placed so others can smell and taste them. Pangolins don't have very good senses of hearing or vision. They mainly use their sense of smell to navigate and find food and use a scent gland located near their tail to mark their territory and for communication. Pangolins are solitary and they do not have a complex form of social communication. When they are agitated they make a hiss sound. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
When a pangolin is threatened or attacked it rolls up into a ball — with its head sandwiched against its stomach and its muscular tail wrapped around its body — and emits an unpleasant smell like a skunk. Not even a lion or tiger can not pry one open. Pangolins also escape predators by climbing trees, digging into burrows and even forming a ball and rolling down hills — one of the few examples of wheel-like locomotion in the animal kingdom.
Pangolin Feeding Behavior
Pangolins are insectivorous (eat mainly insects) and are specifically adept in myrmecophagy (eating ants or termites). These species have several adaptations that allow them to be successful predators of ants and termites: long sharp claws and strong forelimbs, an elongated tongue for probing, and fibrous hair and keratinized scales that protect from bites and stings. Pangolins have been observed turning over cow patties to get at the termites and breaking open patties and feeding on insects that fell on their stomachs. [Source: Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]
A Pangolin tongue is so long that one end of it is attached to animal’s pelvis. Ants and termites are collected with sticky mucus on the tongue and swallowed. Pangolins "chew" using the abrasive walls in their stomach and pebbles they have swallowed. Pangolins, numbats from Australia, aardvarks from Africa and ant eaters of Latin America all have long sticky tongue used for collecting ants. These species, all from different animal groups, developed their tongues independently.
Describing the mechanic of a feeding pangolin, David Attenborough wrote: “A pangolin in search of a meal opens a termite nest with a slash of the claws on its front legs, and pokes its curved snout inside. Angry termites will swarm out to defend their colony but the pangolin is little affected. It presses its horny scales firmly against one another, it keeps the lids of its eyes, which are particularly thick, tightly shut and it closes its nostrils with special muscles. It then protrudes a long black tongue which is liberally anointed with a sticky spittle that pours from an enormous salivary gland housed in its chest. This tongue snakes into the wrecked galleries of the ant’s nest, collects the insects and, flicking in and out, carries them back to its snout. There they are immediately swallowed and mashed up by the horny lining of the muscular stomach. The giant African pangolin can consume as many as 200,000 insects in a single night.
Pangolins have very low metabolisms and on average eat 45 grams of food a day. Juvenile pangolins feed directly from ant nests where the more nutritious pupae are found. Pangolins also have large salivary glands, which is common in myrmecophagous (ant-eating) animals. [Source: Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Pangolin Mating, Reproduction and Offspring
There is large amount of diversity in the reproduction of pangolins and not much is known about how the two sexes find one another. Some species appear to be monogamous (have one mate at a time). Indian pangolins have been observed sharing the same burrow with a mate and offspring, even though they are are usually solitary. Female pangolins usually give birth to one to three offspring after gestation period of a 80 to 180 days, with around 120 days being the norm among Asian species. African pangolins usually gives birth to one offspring. Asiatic species can give birth to up to three young, and the Indian pangolin can give birth to one or two offspring. [Source:Shelby Walters, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
There is not a specific breeding season for pangolins. Male pangolins attempting to copulate with female pangolins through mounting have been observed throughout the year. For Chinese pangolin, mating behavior has mainly been observed in late spring, summer, and early autumn. For the Cape pangolin, the mating season was observed in late summer to early autumn. This differs from the Sunda pangolin that is observed to breed year-round. /=\
Indian pangolins appear to mate annually, from July to October. On average one to two offspring are produced after a gestation period of about 80 days. Newborns weigh 235 to 400 grams and measure about 30 centimeters at birth. Indian pangolins reach sexual maturity around two years. Females give the majority of parental care. Sunda pangolin appear to breed year-round; typically producing one offspring after a gestation period of about six months. Offspring are precocial and juveniles are weaned at about four months. Sunda pangolin reach sexual maturity from six months to one year. /=\
Newborn pangolin weight probably varies with the adult body size of the species. Little is known about the parental care in pangolins other than most parental care is carried out by females, young often travel on the back of their mother and females nurse their young. Maternal care ranges from three to six months. After that time, the young is independent. There is no parental involvement from the male parent. /=\
Young are precocial. This means they are relatively well-developed when born. Parental care is provided by both females and males. During the pre-weaning stage provisioning is done by females and protecting is done by males and females. Pre-independence protection is provided by females. Female Indian pangolins appear to invest more in offspring than male Indian pangolins; females have been observed carrying and protecting offspring. /=\
Studying Pangolins
Pangolins play an ecological role as insectivores. They help to keep insect populations under control. Pangolins also create habitats and aerate soil by digging burrows. Jeremy Hance of mongabay.com wrote: “Despite their numerous oddities,, pangolins have not been widely studied by scientists. Nocturnal and notoriously shy, pangolins are rarely seen let alone meticulously observed by scientists. Scientists readily admit that the private lives of pangolins remain largely that: private. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, February 11, 2013 -]
"I was first drawn to pangolins in 2005 when I was about to head to South Africa to volunteer on a game reserve," says Dan Challender who is now working on a PhD focusing on the pangolin trade. "Flicking through a field guide to African mammals, they were about the craziest animals I could find in there, in terms of their appearance, morphology and generally how unusual they were and I hoped to see one in the bush." Challender never did see his pangolin in the wild in South Africa, but has since worked with pangolins throughout Asia and was a driving force in setting up the IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group. -
“Challender says when he first started looking into pangolins they "seemed almost forgotten if you will, compared to other arguably more charismatic species." This neglect has meant that researchers need to begin at square one when it comes to pangolin research. "We know very little about their role in the ecosystem," says Chris Shepherd, the Deputy Regional Director in Southeast Asia of TRAFFIC, an organization devoted to fighting illegal wildlife crime. "We do know they play an important role as a predator on ants and termites, but beyond that our knowledge is quite limited. More research is needed to better understand the role these species play, and the impact the mass removal of pangolins for commercial trade is having on the ecosystems around us." -
“But young researchers are jumping on the pangolin wagon. While Challender is working to understand the illicit pangolin trade, Ambika Khatiwada, an EDGE Fellow working with Nepal's National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), is kickstarting the first pangolin-focused camera trap project in Nepal. He and his team are setting up automated camera traps near pangolin dens, hoping to catch the shy animals on camera and learn something about their nocturnal wanderings. "The cameras will be placed 24 hours a day at least for 15 days at the same location. The opportunistic locations will be identified by their [pangolins signs] like burrows, footprints and scats," he says. Khatiwada will also be interviewing locals on their knowledge and perception of pangolins. "We hope that this research will be very helpful [in drafting a] pangolin conservation action plan for Nepal," he notes. Such action plans are needed across pangolin ranges in Asia, if the species aren't to wink out one-by-one. -
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Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, CNN, BBC, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated January 2025