There is an insatiable demand for pangolin parts and products, feeding into an illegal wildlife trade estimated to be worth between $19-23 billion. As the most trafficked mammal in the world, you’d think we’d know all about these scaley insectivores – but we actually know precious little. Here are some pangolin facts to help put that right.
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Despite their scales giving them an almost reptilian-like appearance, pangolins are mammals. They represent one of the most ancient mammalian orders – Pholidota, going back nearly 64 million years in the fossil record. All extant pangolins sit within the same family, Manidae.
Although it was long thought that pangolins were most closely related to anteaters, sloths, and armadillos, genetically, they are much more aligned with modern carnivores, and an extinct group of mammals known as the Palaeanodonta (ancient toothless animals).
pangolins being trafficked illegally every day
an average pangolin can consume up to 70 million insects per year!
species of Pangolin. Four Asian and Four African
With eight species of pangolin split across Asia and Africa, there is some variation in the habitat they prefer and how they live:
The honest answer is, we don’t know. Because pangolins live such secretive, secluded lives, no population studies have been able to successfully estimate how many pangolins live in the wild. What we do know is that their populations cannot possibly sustain the decimation of demand caused by the illegal wildlife trade, which rips approximately 200,000 pangolins from the wild every year. That’s one every four minutes.
If a pangolin feels threatened it will roll up into a ball where it is protected by its tough scales.
Pangolin using its claws to break into an insect nest inside a tree trunk. It will then put it’s long sticky tongue inside to feed on the insects.
Pangolin walking in the grass, it’s easy to see why some people call them ‘walking pinecones’!
Most pangolin species are nocturnal, only coming out at night. Image Credit: James Kydd
When pangolins walk they tend to keep their front paws up, walking on their hind legs. Image Credit: Thilo Florian
Pangolins live in forest and grassland habitats. Image credit: Byron Serrao
Pangolins have strong claws on their front feet for breaking into termite mounds and ants nests. Image credit: Thilo Florian
Pangolins are found in a variety of habitats, from forests to grasslands, tropical climates to thick brush. Generally, pangolins live where large numbers of ants and termites can be found to feed their large appetites for insects.
Pangolins that live on the ground usually dig deep burrows for sleeping and nesting that contain circular chambers. Large chambers have been discovered in terrestrial pangolin burrows that are big enough for a human to crawl inside and stand up. Some pangolin species, such as the Malayan pangolin, also sleep in the hollows and forks of trees and logs.
There is no official collective noun for pangolins because they are solitary species. Pangolins are also not very well known.
Four pangolin species occur across Asia: the Indian pangolin, the Chinese or Formosan pangolin, the Malayan or Sunda pangolin, and the Palawan pangolin.
Four species are found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert: the Cape or ground pangolin, the tree pangolin, the giant pangolin, and the long-tailed pangolin.
Almost all pangolin species are strictly myrmecophagous – meaning they only feed on termites and ants. Furthermore, they often show specific preferences, and have been observed uncovering termite and ants nests, only to leave the insects untouched if not a species to their liking!
Some, like the black-bellied pangolin, only eat ants, ignoring termites altogether.
The Asian species of pangolins show a slightly broader diet, which can include bee larvae, flies, earthworms, and even crickets.
Most species also consume small stones and gravel, to act as a natural grinder in their stomachs.
Pangolins vary in size – there are three bigger species, the biggest being the giant pangolin, where an adult weighs on average 33kg. Close behind this are the Indian pangolin, which reaches 13kg, and the ground pangolin, which reaches 12kg.
The other four breeds of pangolin are smaller, with the Sunda pangolin weighing 4.9kg, the Chinese pangolin weighing around 3.6kg, the long-tailed pangolin weighing around 2.7kg and the smallest species is the tree pangolin, weighing only 1.5kg.
Pangolins face threats on a multitude of fronts – but human demand for their parts and meat is the primary reason most pangolin species are classed as critically endangered. Pangolin scales are used in traditional Asian medicine, with other aspects, such as their blood, being used for tonics. As well as a perceived medicinal value, these wines and tonics carry great importance for status and are highly prized by Asia’s rising middle-class and more affluent society segments.
Demand is highest in Asia, and it is the Asian species that have therefore been hit hardest. However, as these animals have become scarcer, the illegal wildlife trade has turned its focus to the African species to continue to supply consumer demand.
The African species are also hunted for the prolific bushmeat trade, as their meat is considered a delicacy.
Pangolins are also losing habitat due to human encroachment, with forestry being turned into agricultural tracts. Some species, such as the Sunda pangolin, are also very susceptible to changes in temperature due to low immunity and are therefore vulnerable to the impact of climate change too.
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