This is my pangolin report. Hope you like it. Please comment.
You might not know but in India there is a thing called a scaly anteater (pangolin). Pangolin are just like normal anteater but with scales! And no not the scales you weigh with, the ones on a fish. Want to find out more? Read this.
The pangolin has a hard shell on its back. Like an armadillo, the pangolin uses it’s shell to protect itself from predators, it raps into ball and covers his face with it’s tail. It’s scales are sharp at the ends which is good for extra defence. When the pangolin is young it’s shell is soft and as it gets older the shell hardens. The shell is made of keratin, The same thing our fingernails are made of. The texture is similar to a pine cone. The pangolins claws are too long for walking, so it curls it’s paws to protect them. Pangolin can release a poisonous acid similar to the spray of a skunk. A Pangolins claws are used to burrow and dig out termite and ant hills. The size of Pangolin depend on the species the range is 30-100 cm. Female are usually smaller than male. The tongues on pangolin are very long. Big pangolin can stretch their tongues to about 40 cm!
Pangolins are nocturnal animals and use their great sense of smell to find insects. Arboreal pangolin live in hollow trees. Ground dwelling species dig tunnels as deep as 3.5 meters! Pangolins are also good swimmers.
Pangolin have no teeth so they can not chew. Instead they tear open ant and termite hills with their claws and dive deep into them with their long tongue. The pangolin has glans in its chest to cover its tongue with sticky spit. Some species of pangolin like the tree pangolin have strong tails that let it hang from trees, it uses its claws to strip bark and expose the insects.
Pangolin are hunted by eaten in many parts of Africa and Southern Asia and they are a very popular meat in the bush. Chinese are also trying to get the meat sent to them because it is considered a delicacy. Some Chinese think its scales have medicinal uses. This caused the pangolins population to drop. In 2010 pangolin were added to the ZoologicaL Society of London’s endangered list. Two species are in the IUCN'S endangered list. Even though pangolin have protected by an international ban of their trade, the population has been lowed by illegal smuggling because people in asia think their scales could be used as cures for cancer and asthma. They are also smuggled for their meat. In 2013 10,000 kg was found in chinese boats. The captain provided a description of the killer of the pangolin.
There are many types of pangolin here is a list from savepangolins.org
The Asian pangolins include:
- Indian or thick-tailed pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) – Conservation status Near Threatened
- Chinese or Formosan pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) – Endangered
- Malayan or Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) – Endangered
- Palawan or Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis) – Near Threatened
The African pangolins include:
- Cape or Temminck’s ground pangolin (Manis temminckii)
- Tree or African white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) – Near Threatened
- Giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) – Near Threatened
- Long-tailed or black-bellied pangolin (Uromanis tetradactyla)
How can you help save pangolin?
You can help save pangolin by not buying pangolin stuff like pangolin medicine, pangolin wine, pangolin jewelry and pangolin clothes. And of course don’t eat pangolin!
So you see pangolin are cool animals and they come in sorts of shapes and sizes. But they are in danger. To find out more try the links below
Smuggling: Smuggling is when you take something illegally across borders
IUCN: the international union for conservation of nature
ZoologicaL Society of London: The world wide conservation charity to protect animals and their habitats
Ground dwelling: Means lives underground
Burrow: a tunnel dug by a small animal