Pangolins are also being poached!

Hi blog readers!

Quite correctly, the world has focused on rhino horns and elephant tusks as the rallying point for the battle against poachers in Africa.  But, quietly, the weird-looking pangolin sometimes called 'spiny anteater', is being shipped-out live and killed on-site for its hard scaly (keratin, like our fingernails) skin covering.  It seems that few are screaming loud enough about this to be heard.  The pangolin is the world’s most trafficked mammal. An estimated 100,000 of these shy creatures are removed from the wild each year.

When on safari in the national parks here in Namibia, I've only seen a live pangolin once.  They remind me of the armadillos in the Southwest USA.  They roll up in a ball when they are threatened, allowing their hard outer shells to protect their soft inner parts.  It's like a hedgehog in this.

The common pangolin weighs 30 to 40 lb. and is about 12 to 39 in. long depending on the species.  These shy guys live about 20 years (if left alone by humans!) and they live in a dense forest to forested savannas.  In Namibia, they are in Etosha national park, but mostly they seem to be in the former Caprivi region (now called the Zambezi) in the more forested parks there, rather than in the dunes and more arid South of the country.  

They eat ants, termites, beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, etc..  The pangolin uses its keen sense of smell to locate termite and ant nests. It digs the insects from mounds using its claws and eats them with its extremely long and sticky tongue (which can be up to 16 inches). 

Pangolins are in the natural circle of life and are in turn eaten by leopards and hyenas. 

Pangolins are pregnant for about five months.  They typically only give birth to a single little one at a time. When born, the baby weighs as much as a pound (16 ounces or less depending on the species). The little ones have soft scales that harden fairly rapidly and are usually weaned at around three months of age.

Increasingly, the scaly mammal is hunted for its meat and scales which are in high demand in some Asian countries. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy while its scales are used in traditional medicine.  

In September 2016, all commercial trade in pangolin was banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).  The third Saturday in February is World Pangolin Day.

Check out www.awf.org and www.pangolins.org for more info.
Plan your trip to Namibia for a great holiday and tell them Jackie sent you!