On April 23, 2015, officials investigated a supposedly abandoned warehouse near the Belawan port in Medan, Indonesia. Inside, they found sixty poultry crates filled with ninety-six terrified and dehydrated pangolins. Also inside of the warehouse were two refrigerated shipping containers. They held boxes and bags of dead pangolin alongside bags of pangolin scales and meat. In all, five tons of frozen pangolins were discovered. There were also over 220 pounds of pangolin scales. These obscure scaly creatures could possibly be the most trafficked mammals in the world. Despite this fact, people rarely know about the pangolin.
Pangolins are being killed and they could be extinct before most people realize it exists. Or perhaps, they are slaughtered because of that fact. Pangolins are said to closely resemble an armadillo with scales. They have hexagonal overlapping scales made of keratin, a material that is also found in human hair and nails. Pangolin scale color can vary from a light yellow-brown to a dark olive-brown, and they protect the pangolin’s body. The only parts that are not covered with these scales are their foreheads, stomach, and the inner part of their legs, which are covered with sparse fur.
They have a slender, conical snout and no teeth. They also have round eyes on the side of their heads. Pangolins have long, muscular, sticky tongues that begin at their pelvis, and when not used the tongue can retract into the chest cavity. Pangolins have poor vision but excellent senses of smell and sound. They have four short limbs well adapted for digging and have five toes on each foot. Their forelegs have three long claws in the middle while the outer two are shorter. Some species of pangolin can swim while others can climb extremely well.
Pangolins belong to the family Manidae in the order Pholidota. Although pangolins were thought to be closely related to Xenarthrans, consisting of anteaters, armadillos, and sloths, new evidence shows that pangolins are more closely related to Carnivora, animals such as cats, dogs, and bears. There are eight pangolin species – four that live in Asia, and four that live in Africa. Asian pangolins consist of the Chinese or Formosan pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), and the Sunda or Malayan pangolin, (Manis javanica).
Asian pangolins also include the Indian pangolin, (Manis crassicaudata) and the Philippine or Palawan pangolin (Manis culionensis). The African pangolins include the Cape or Temminck’s Ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) also known as the Common pangolin, the White-bellied, or Tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the Giant Ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and the Black-bellied or Long-tailed pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla). The Chinese and Sumatra pangolins are critically endangered, while the Indian and Philippine pangolins are endangered.
All species of African pangolins are vulnerable, yet their numbers are decreasing as the Asian pangolins become rarer. Threatened species are listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable. An animal is classified as Critically Endangered when it has an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, while being classified as Endangered indicates that the animal has a very high risk of extinction in the wild. When an animal is classified as Vulnerable it expresses that the animal has a high risk of extinction in the wild.
All species of pangolin are classified as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered. Experts have yet to determine a baseline count for the pangolins, but evidence shows that numbers are dropping at an alarming rate. Asian pangolins are distinguished from their African counterparts by the bristles that grow in between their scales. The Tree and Malayan pangolins are tree-climbers while the Ground and Chinese pangolins live in burrows. Asian pangolins can be found on the ground or in trees, and some species have prehensile tails used for gripping trees.
African pangolins are found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, mainly in countries such as Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kazungula, Kilimanjaro, Maasai Steppe, Zambezi, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West/Central Africa. Both types of pangolins prefer to live in a variety of habitats such as savannah woodlands, tropical and flooded forests, brush, floodplain grasses, dry and sandy areas, rocky slopes, or wherever an abundance of ants and termites are found.
Pangolins dig burrows for sleeping and nesting, some have circular chambers big enough for a human to crawl and stand up in. Some species of pangolin also live in hollows and forks of trees and logs. Pangolins are insectivores and predominantly eat termites and ants. They might also eat bee larvae, crickets, flies, worms, and earthworms. As they eat insects that are naturally located in their habitat, pangolins often reject foreign food offered to them in captivity. Pangolins dig under stumps, fallen logs, and burrows to access insects and will eat the insects by capturing them with their sticky tongues.
Pangolins can seal their nostrils and ears shut when eating to prevent insects from crawling in. Experts estimate that they can eat around seventy million insects annually. When in captivity scientists have been successful in feeding them a diet consisting of twenty five percent ants, twenty five percent soy, and fifty percent silkworm larvae, as they often die of digestive problems. They have muscular stomachs with keratinous spines pointing inwards and often have small stones and sand in their stomachs to help with digestion.
This is because pangolins have no teeth. Pangolins are difficult to study in the wild but scientists do know that pangolins are solitary and nocturnal. They are also very shy and will curl into a ball when frightened or attacked to defend their unprotected body parts and expose their attackers to sharp, hard scales. They will also spray anal scent gland on their attackers to protect itself. Pangolins will also hiss, puff, and whip their tails equipped with sharp scales to ward off predators. They will also use it to mark their territory, along with feces and urine.
It might also be used to demonstrate dominance and sexual status, or help recognize different individuals. Chinese pangolins spend winter in their burrows so they will make their nest near a food source such as a termite nest. They create these burrows by digging with their claws and use their tails and hind legs for support. They will make the tunnels bigger by pushing up and side to side with their bodies. Then the pangolins will kick out the excess dirt using their rear legs. Some species have prehensile tails which they will use to hang from trees and other objects.
Mating season begins in March for the pangolins. Pregnancy lasts from sixty five days for the Indian pangolin to 139 days for the Cape and Tree pangolins. Pangolins are sexually dimorphic, meaning they only differ in weight. Male pangolins can be ten to fifty percent heavier in comparison to females, while the Indian pangolin can be up to ninety percent heavier. Almost all pangolins give birth to one offspring. When babies are born, they are six inches long and weigh about twelve ounces. They are soft and pale and will begin to develop hardened scales by the second day.
Young pangolins will nurse for three to four months but will start eating ants and termites at one month. The mother pangolin will roll around the baby when sleeping or when danger is near. Pangolins will live in burrows until they are old enough to ride on their mother’s tail to forage for insects. If the mother deems the burrow unsafe she will move the baby to a new den. Pangolins are poached frequently in part of Asia, more specifically Vietnam. They are trafficked by the thousands for their scales, which are boiled off of their bodies and used in traditional medicine.
Their meat is a delicacy, and their blood is used as a healing tonic used to cure various illnesses. Over a two year period, at least 116,990 to 233,980 pangolin were trafficked. This translates to, by the most conservative estimates, around 160 to 320 pangolins trafficked per day. Information on the numbers of pangolins are not exact, as only ten to twenty percent of trade is recorded. Although some people kill pangolins for their own benefit when they are not in any distress, a few hunters poach to feed their families, not to indulge in overly expensive products.
When pangolins are trafficked they are often dehydrated, and forty percent of pangolins die within one to two days of reaching safety. Pangolins are worth twenty two dollars per kilogram to a hunter, forty five dollars per kilogram to a low-level trader, eighty dollars per kilogram to a mid-level trader, 265 dollars per kilogram to a high-level trader, and 350 dollars per kilogram to a restaurant in Vietnam. Pangolins are poached for their scales, meat, tongue, blood, and fetuses. Their scales are ground up and usually eaten with rice are believed to help with lactation issues, blood circulation, cancer, and other ailments.
Their meat is a delicacy in parts of Asia, and although it is illegal to sell and buy pangolin, some restaurants serve pangolin meat. Their meat is eaten to show off wealth and prosperity, costing around 1,750 dollars. Pangolin tongue is dried and carried around as a good luck charm, rather like a rabbit foot. Pangolin blood is served as blood wine, consumed for unknown health benefits. Their fetus is boiled in rice wine, and some say it helps one cure three ailments: skin cancer, a constant feeling of refreshment, and easier breathing.
Pangolins are shipped through various parts of Asia using two main routes, one over land and one over sea. For pangolin shipments over sea, pangolins set sail from Jakarta through the South China Sea, around Vietnam to Cuc Phuong National Park or to arrive in Hanoi and be distributed among black market dealers. Over land the pangolins travel from Jakarta to Sumatra to Bangkok, through Thailand and Laos to Hanoi, or to Cuc Phuong National Park to sell, and to distribute to consumers all over the world.
Pangolin shipments are usually covered by live snakes or fish, with the pangolins underneath usually frozen or alive. Pangolins are under the highest protection available to law enforcement, banning any use, sale, or possession of live or dead pangolin. Breaking this law could fine one up to 25,000 dollars or seven years in prison. CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or Wild Fauna and Flora, was put into effect on July 1, 1975. This law would protect the pangolins, and although it might deter some, many pangolins are still poached.
Government official corruption is also a vast problem. Some officials are bribed 1,300 dollars a month, or 15,600 dollars a year, to keep quiet or turn a blind eye to poaching and the trafficking of animals. In other instances, government officials would confiscate and re-sell shipments of pangolins to benefit the government. This practice has been discontinued due to environmental groups speaking out. Pangolin research and preservation centers are underfunded, receiving 27,000 dollars per year from the government, and having no public support to raise money.
Before reaching shelter at a center, some pangolins are euthanized or burned so they can no longer be sold to profit poachers. Some are set free, but they might be captured again so the euthanization method, burning method, or rehabilitation in a shelter is much preferred. Some common misconceptions in the Asian culture is that pangolins were demonic and evil creatures, as their eyes shine in the light, making them look unnatural. If a pangolin was found in a house, the owners were said to be cursed.
Now, pangolins are much too rare to be found in a house and people consider them good luck because they can sell them and make money. Scientists are unsure of what impact the loss of pangolin population can have on the environment. Some ‘keystone’ species are lost, and proven to be critical to the functioning of the ecosystem. The loss of a ‘keystone’ species can topple an ecosystem, yet scientists are unsure of what species are critical to the ecosystem. It could be a trigger effect, such as when pangolins eat ants, they decrease the ant population.
They help regulate the population and are a major pest control factor. If the pangolin were not there, the ant population could spiral out of control and possibly affect humans. An example is the ants eat rubber trees. The pangolins keeps the ants under control so they can not eat all the rubber trees. But the loss of the pangolins could let the ants run rampant, and eat the rubber trees so the people harvesting the rubber trees can not make enough income. One can change the predicament of the pangolins if one takes action.
One can donate to organizations helping pangolins, such as the World Wildlife Fund, or more commonly known as the WWF. One could also push for stricter punishment of the poachers. Harsher consequence would do no good, as the people who poach to survive would be more inclined to poach again to make money. The punishment system should be tailored to fit each poacher’s profits. An example might be to fine fifty percent of the poacher’s overall recorded profit. That way the poachers who hunt for survival would not be punished unfairly but the poachers who are wealthy would be punished adequately.
The problem is not only about the poachers, who supply the products, but the consumers, who drive the demand. If one could educate the consumers who fund the poachers, the demand would drop and he poachers might stop. One can also raise awareness about the pangolins. Too much of the world is ignorant of the current state of the pangolin. If one could raise awareness about the pangolin, more and more people could get involved and press the government for more action. We need more government action to help save the pangolin, as well as any other endangered species.
As pangolin numbers decrease, planet Earth gets less and less diverse. A great many number of animals are killed each day. To stop this problem, awareness must be raised for the obscure, less attractive animals. As Crawford Allan put it, “What’s the point of saving Mona Lisa’s smile if the rest of the painting is gone? ” As wildlife preservation organizations focus on the ‘celebrities’ of the animal world, such as rhinos, tigers, and elephants, they tend to ignore the less noticeable creatures, the creatures that are less ‘cute’ and less noticeable.
The creatures that make up the rest of the ‘painting’ may not seem as important, but all animals play a role in supporting Earth and it’s ecosystem, whether it is endangered or not. People focus on saving the smile and forget the rest of the painting. All animals deserve to live without persecution. Humans, as a whole, must collaborate to help the animals live without the fear of poaching. Humans must help preserve the diversity and the wild, unpredictable beauty of the Earth and its’ creatures.
