Wildlife populations across this planet are crashing. Among the many animals under assault is the pangolin. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s not surprising. It isn’t on the radar screens of many. In the UK, only 8 percent of the population knows what a pangolin is. But hopefully that is changing in the UK and across the globe, and a day in its honor may help build awareness and drive support for conservation efforts, because the pangolin is in serious trouble.
The pangolin is a mammal, although you might not think so at first glance. Pangolins' skin is covered by protective keratin scales. No other mammals are known to have these scales. Nocturnal and solitary, pangolins dine primarily on ants and termites, but supplement their diet with other insects. Pangolins mate once a year, and gestation, depending on the species of pangolin, is from 70 to 140 days. Again, depending on the species, pangolins will have one to three babies. At two, the babies leave their mothers.
Pangolins live in Asia and Africa. As with so many other animal species whose very continuation is in question, pangolins are being overhunted, poached and are losing their habitat due to Man’s encroachment.
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As with other misguided beliefs, some Chinese and Vietnamese believe the scales have medicinal value. The meat also is considered a delicacy in these countries. The pangolin is the most trafficked animal in the world, with an estimated one million killed in the last decade.
Trafficking in pangolins must stop, habitats must be protected and pangolin populations restored.
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How can you help? Check out these organizations and help where you can with dollars, volunteerism and/or spreading the word:
Save Pangolins
IUCN-SSC Pangolin Specialist Group
African Pangolin Working Group
https://www.africanpangolin.org/
Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB) in Cambodia
Conservation International-Cambodia
Education for Nature Vietnam
MENTOR-POP (Progress on Pangolins)
Pangolin Research Mundulea
pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program)
TRAFFIC
Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife Conservation Society Wildlife Crimes Unit
Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
Read more about pangolins here and here. Read here how apparently Indian bureaucracy is ignoring the crisis.
#worldpangolinday
Facebook: WorldPangolinDay
Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and biodiversity loss. Contact her on FB @BetheChangeforAnimals and Twitter@TurboDog50.