African Pangolin
PACE – Pan African Conservation Education was created by Tusk and Siren Conservation Education in 2004.
This booklet on African pangolin was devised by Penny Fraser, PACE coordinator, and Beryl Makori, Conservation Officer at The Pangolin Project, when they met at a Tusk symposium. It was compiled by Penny, with design and layout by Katie Puremont. PACE and Tusk partners gave much appreciated advice and suggestions on topics to include and how to present them. Huge thanks to Rod Cassidy, rod@sanghalodge.com in Central African Republic for allowing us to use his photographs of white and black-bellied pangolins.
Published in the UK by Tusk Trust, 4 Cheapside House, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 4AA, UK
© 2024 Tusk Trust & The Pangolin Project. First published 2024.
A catalogue record for this booklet is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-7393445-6-6
Moral rights of the authors have been asserted. All rights reserved. The authors have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of the information in this publication. The authors disclaim any liability for loss, injury or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the use and application of the contents of this booklet.
All rights reserved.
PACE – Pan African Conservation Education
PACE is an education programme of Tusk. It was set up in 2004, and its conservation education and educational materials have now reached more than 1.6 million people. PACE is about helping people solve their everyday environmental problems, especially problems that impact on their wellbeing, and on the wildlife and eco-systems we all depend on.
Our educational resources are available free of charge. They are arranged in modules: Living with Wildlife, Water, Soil, Trees, Energy, Living by the Ocean, Urban Living, Health and Careers in Conservation.
PACE works with conservation and education partners across Africa. We are about helping people connect or reconnect with nature, to understand, value and protect it. This resource on pangolin is part of the Living with Wildlife module.
Why Pangolins?
Pangolin are shy, ‘polite’ creatures. There are four species in Africa, with sub-species in southern Africa. They are all delightful and very private animals – often called ‘the wise old man of the bush’! They feed exclusively on insects and pose no threat whatsoever to humans, their property, livestock or wellbeing. Perhaps because pangolin are unusual, in their appearance, movement,
diet and habit, they are much misunderstood by us humans. They are one of the most persecuted wildlife species on the whole planet. We believe that if people knew more about them, if some longstanding myths were busted, that the persecution would cease and pangolin species could thrive. They deserve to.
This booklet is intended for school and community use and general reading, in Africa, to raise awareness and encourage people to better understand, admire, and care for Africa’s precious pangolin.
African pangolin
Taxonomy
Pangolin are mammals. They are the only mammals that have scales on their bodies.
Kingdom Animata, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Pholidota, Family Manildae.
There are three genera, and eight species of pangolin in the world. Four species live in Asia, and four are African.
Of the four species in Africa two are in the genus Smutsia – they live on the ground. The other two are in the genus Phataginus, they live in trees, or mostly in trees.
Pangolins have a taxonomic order all to themselves – Pholidota.
Pangolin are the only mammals that have scales on their bodies. They are sometimes called scaly ant-eaters, but they are not related to ant-eaters. Pangolin scales are large, horny and cover the back or upper part of their body. There are no scales on the underside of a pangolin.
Pangolin scales are made of keratin, which is the same material, a protein, as our hair and finger nails. The same as the hooves of cattle.
General description
Pangolin have long snouts, and strong muscular tails that are wide at the base, and taper. Their legs are quite short, and strong. Pangolin have muscular bodies that help them to dig, or climb. They are shy animals that live alone and are mostly nocturnal. Nocturnal means they are active at night and rest during the day.
Depending on the species pangolin are 50 to 150cm long – nose to tail. A Temminck’s ground pangolin is the size of a small cat, with a long tail and weighs 7-12kg. Tree pangolins are smaller, weigh less, have larger eyes, and scales that are arranged irregularly. Black-bellied pangolins have the longest tails.
A young white-bellied pangolin in Central African Republic.
Close up of scales on a long-tailed / black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla), Lokoue Bai. Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo.
The four African species
Temminck’s ground pangolin
Smutsia temminckii
• Lives on the ground.
• The most widespread species.
• Weigh: 6-14kg. The largest recorded was 19kg.
• Length: 99 -120cm from nose to tail.
• Habitat: they live on the ground in dry places, in savanna and woodland, and even in arid desert areas including the Kalahari Desert. The only species in southern Africa.
• Behaviour: they are mostly nocturnal but in cooler places or seasons they are often active in the daytime. Juveniles are also sometimes active in the day. They make their home in burrows that have been abandoned by other species.
Giant ground pangolin
Smutsia gigantea
• The biggest pangolin species, and the rarest.
• Weigh up to 33kg.
• Length: adults may be 1.5m long.
• Habitat: they live in tropical forest and forest/ savanna close to water in Central and West Africa.
• Behaviour: they are mostly nocturnal and terrestrial. Terrestrial means they live on the ground.
The four African species
Black-bellied pangolin
Phataginus tetradactyla
• Lives mostly in trees.
• Has a small body and long tail.
• Weight: 1-2kg, rarely 3.5kg.
• Length: 85-110cm long from tip of nose to tip of tail. The tail may be 60cm long. The skin is black and scales often a golden brown colour.
• Habitat: they live in tropical forests close to rivers and swamps. Almost entirely arboreal, can become aquatic.
• Behaviour: diurnal – rests in holes in trees or dense leaves at night.
Arboreal means: lives in trees.
Aquatic means: lives or can live in water.
Terrestrial means: lives on the ground.
White-bellied pangolin
Phataginus tricuspis
• Lives in trees.
• Weight: 1-2.2kg, rarely 3kg.
• Length: on average is 85cm long (60-105cm) but 50-60% of that is tail. It has small scales. New scales have 3 points on them.
• Habitat: they live in moist tropical forests, secondary forest, woodland, & mixed savanna/woodland.
• Behaviour: mostly nocturnal.
• Semi-arboreal – they will feed on the ground, and cross open areas on the ground, but always return to safety in a tree.
These pictures show the size of pangolin. Can you see that the tree pangolin on the next page is much smaller than these ground pangolin?
PACE African Pangolin
PACE African Pangolin
Temminck’s ground pangolin.
Temminck’s pangolin in the arms of a carer at a rehabilitation centre in Zimbabwe.
Population
We don’t know how many pangolins there are in the wild.
They are shy, reclusive and difficult to see or study. We know that hundreds of thousands are being poached by hunters every year, and that they are in danger of disappearing. Pangolins will go extinct if we don’t protect them.
Distribution
The distribution of a species is the geographical area where it can be found, living wild.
You can see on the maps on pages 8-11 that the giant, white-bellied and black-bellied pangolin have a similar range – across west and central Africa. The white-bellied lives further east, in parts of Uganda and Kenya, and further north than the other two. The Temminck’s ground pangolin is most widespread and the only species in southern Africa.
Range size
The range or territory is the area that one individual lives in.
Temminck’s pangolin have a fixed territory, that is shared by a male, a female and their young from the previous year. In some places the male’s home range overlaps with the territories of 4-5 different females. A home range is 6-14 km2. The small white-bellied pangolin has a smaller territory 0.3km2 for a male and 0.03-0.04km2 for females.
Pangolins will go extinct if we don’t protect them.
A black bellied, tree pangolin, in Cameroon.
Habitat
Depending on the species, pangolin can be found in desert, grassland, woodland, mixed woodland savanna and forest.
Temminck’s ground pangolin live in savanna, mixed woodland savanna and arid areas...
Giant ground pangolin, black-bellied and white-bellied species live in forest areas. They like to be near water or wet places. They make their homes in hollows in trees, and in piles of branches and other woodland debris.
African Pangolin
PACE African Pangolin
Black-bellied pangolin, in the rainforest, Central African Republic.
White-bellied pangolin, in Togo.
White-bellied in the rainforest in CAR.
Pangolins go into water, and they can swim, even the Temminck’s ground pangolin. This one in Namibia was playing in a small pool on a hot day and is lounging in the shallows afterwards.
Senses and Communication
Pangolins have very, very good hearing, and a very good sense of smell. Their eyesight is poor.
Smell – pangolin can identify each other by smell. They have anal glands that release strong scent when they are angry. They also mark their territory with scent.
Pangolins make few sounds. They hiss and puff when disturbed or angry. They also lash their tails around when angry.
They snort and chuff when waking up and when feeding.
Males sometimes make a hooting sound.
Diet and feeding
Pangolins eat insects. They eat ants and termites, mostly ants. They are quite picky about which species, and they don’t all eat all species of ant or termite. They can eat 200-1000g of ants in a meal!
Pangolin need to feed for 4-6 hours a day to get all the nutrients they require to stay healthy.
Ground pangolin are very powerful diggers. Their front legs are very strong and muscular. The front feet have large claws which are used to break open ant nests and termite mounds so that they can extract the insects inside.
Pangolins are mymecophagous – meaning they only eat ants and termites!
Pangolin have very long, thin tongues. A pangolin tongue is as long as its head and body!
The tongue is covered with a lot of sticky saliva. They push their tongues deep into the ants’ nests or termite mounds to collect the insects and larvae inside.
Animals that eat insects are insectivorous.
PACE African Pangolin
Family
Males and females share a territory – a home range – but they live solitary lives.
They only come together for a few days, when the female is fertile. They mate and then separate. The female takes care of herself and her young. The young are called pups. She will have one single pup every year or two. Pups live with the mother until they are strong enough to break open ants’ nests to get their own food. They will stay in their parents’ area for about one year, but all live separately. Then they move away to find their own territory.
Distinguishing male and female
It is difficult to know if a pangolin is male or female. Males are slightly larger than females.
Reproduction
Pangolin become sexually mature at between two and four years old.
Males may not breed until they have their own territory at five or seven years old. Ground pangolin species may only breed every second year.
The male pangolin knows when the female is fertile – probably from scent. He will find her, and they spend several days together in her nest. After mating they separate and live alone until mating again one or two years later. Gestation varies between species, it is about 135 days for Temminck’s and 150 days for white-bellied. They give birth to live young. Pups have soft scales when they are born.
Pangolin are mammals, so the mother produces milk to feed her young. They breastfeed and pups live in the nest until they are weaned at a month old. The mama goes out to find food, returning often to nurse her pups. Occasionally she carries them on her back to a new burrow. They cling on to her scales, sometimes wobbling around a lot as she moves.
If a mama pangolin senses danger she throws her baby on her tummy and wraps herself in a ball. The baby will be completely hidden – with its mum’s scales the only thing visible to the world.
At three or four months old the pups start to be independent, sometimes riding on the mum, sometimes feeding themselves. At 5-6 months old the mama throws them out to live on their own.
Pup born just after mama rescued from poachers, Namibia.
Ground pangolin can live up to 20 years. In captivity pangolin do not live very long.
Fun facts
Pangolin are the only mammals with scales.
Rarest – giant ground pangolin.
The most beautiful – all pangolin are beautiful!
The biggest – giant ground pangolin.
Smallest by length – white-bellied average 85 cm long, and 50% or more of that is tail!
The black-bellied are usually a bit longer, but have a smaller body and longer tail. They weigh just 1-2kg.
Smallest by weight – the tree pangolins.
African Pangolin
PACE African Pangolin
Movement
Temminck’s ground pangolin walk mostly on their two back legs. They are bipedal!
Temminck’s ground pangolin are mostly bipedal – walk on two feet.
The front claws of Temminck’s ground pangolin are very long, and are adapted for digging, but not good for walking on. On the back feet they have short, neat claws that are perfect for walking so they use these, leaning their body forwards and using their tail for balance. Occasionally their front feet help out, a little bit.
The other species, giant and tree pangolins, are different. They are quadrupedal. They use all four feet for walking.
Tree pangolin have shorter claws on their front feet. Their claws are good for gripping tree trunks, branches and other vegetation when they climb. Their tails can grip and balance when climbing and they have tail pads to help move up and through vegetation. They are very agile, good climbers.
Giant and tree pangolin are quadrupedal – when they walk they put all four feet on the ground.
Temminck’s ground pangolin, on the ground, in Cameroon.
White bellied-(3-cusped) pangolin moving up and through trees in Cameroon below and Ndoki National Park, CAR right.
Habits and routine
Pangolin are solitary – meaning they spend most of their time alone.
They are shy. Most are nocturnal, which means they are active at night and rest during the day. They are active for 4-8 hours in twenty four, and spend the rest of the time in their nest. Ground dwelling species make their home in a burrow, normally the abandoned burrow of another species. They sometimes share with porcupines or aardvarks! Tree species sleep in a hollow tree or in thick leaves or undergrowth.
Pangolin are described as the gentle wise old men of the bush. They are not aggressive or dangerous in any way. If they sense danger, or a problem of any kind pangolins just roll up in a ball.
Protecting themselves
Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe.
Cape / Temminck’s pangolin on red sand dunes in the Kalahari desert, South Africa.
Black-bellied pangolin above, and white-bellied below, at Sangha Lodge, Central African Republic.
Adaptations
Pangolin have evolved to feed on ants and termites.
• Adaptations for feeding – a very long tongue to pick up the insects.
• Adaptations for climbing – tree pangolin have curved claws that grip when climbing trees. They have longer tails than ground pangolin. Their tails have pads that help them climb, and are prehensile. They have hair on the lower part of front legs, not scales.
• Adaptations for walking – ground pangolin walk in a unique way, to compensate for their large digging claws.
• Adaptations to protect – scales on the body, thick eye lids and special valves on the ears and nostrils prevent ants and termites from biting, stinging or entering.
List six other ways that pangolins have adapted to their way of life.
Tails that bend, grasp and give balance are called prehensile.
PACE African Pangolin
Pangolin using its prehensile tail to climb a tree, in Kibale National Park, Uganda.
Predators
Hyenas and large predators like lion and leopard are threats to pangolin.
When pangolin have rolled up in a ball the pangolin are too big for a lion, leopard or hyena to bite or grip, and too tough for them to bite into.
Sadly, rolling in o a ball is no protection against a human hunter, who can pick up a pangolin and carry or put it into a bag…
Human poachers are the biggest danger pangolins face. Pangolins are the most trafficked wildlife species in the world. Trafficking is usually international, but pangolins also suffer illegal poaching for local markets and consumption.
Trafficking is trade that is illegal.
Hunting for meat
In west and central Africa pangolin are still hunted for meat. It is illegal because people have poached so much that pangolins are in danger of becoming extinct.
Hunting for muthi or juju
Some people kill pangolin to use their scales and other body parts for traditional and medicinal purposes. It is illegal.
Other threats
Habitat loss. The natural bush, grassland, woodland and forest where pangolin live is being cleared. They do not find the food they need on agricultural or built up land.
Bush fires are a danger to pangolin.
In east and southern Africa some farmers use electric fences. They are dangerous to pangolin because the wire gets caught in their scales, and then sensing danger they roll up, trapping themselves. They die from hunger or from repeated shocks from the fence.
Extinct means that they no longer exist, anywhere.
There are international and national laws against buying and selling of pangolin. Pangolin are protected by law.
Young leopard stalking a cape pangolin in Botswana.
Living together – people and pangolins
In Kenya, The Pangolin Project works with landowners and farmers to ensure that the wires on electric fences are high enough to allow pangolins to pass underneath without getting trapped.
Because pangolin are shy there is a lot we don’t know about them, but conservationists and researchers across Africa are learning more all the time. Some of the techniques they use are: satellite or radio tracking, camera traps and community surveys.
Tracking devices are attached to a pangolin’s scales, like the one opposite. Researchers can pick up the signal it gives out, to know where the animal moves, at what time and date, and how long it spends in different places.
Camera ‘traps’ are attached to a tree or the ground in places where animals pass. The camera automatically clicks when something passes in front, day or night. It may save the photos on a memory card, or send to a phone or computer. Camera traps help us know if and how many animals are at a particular place.
Community surveys, local intelligence and talking to local people, are ways of collecting information on sightings, behaviour and habits of wildlife from people who live and work in an area.
Wildlife rangers, anti-poaching teams and law enforcement officers are also trained to record what they see and hear.
Researchers tracking pangolins in Kenya.
Setting a camera trap, in Cameroon.
Many pangolin are confiscated from poachers. They are often injured, weak and traumatised. Wounds from snares, from being tied or carried with rope or wire, broken legs, infections, and dehydration are common.
Wildlife rescue centres and sanctuaries are places where these animals are treated and cared for.
They provide a safe home for those that can no longer look after themselves, and release others back to the wild.
The Temminck’s pangolin, opposite, was rescued from poachers and returned to the wild, in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. The one below is being treated in South Africa.
African Pangolin
PACE African Pangolin
Image credits
Frt cover Cape Pangolin, Namibia. Scott Hurd / Alamy Stock Photo
P1 Feeding on termite mound, Namibia. Chris McLennan / Alamy Stock Photo
P3 Smutsia temminckii on termite mound, Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P4 Kalahari. Phil Judd Photography / Alamy Stock Photo
P5 Long-tailed Pangolin, Republic of Congo. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P6 Namibia, Smutsia temminckii, Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo
P7 top, p10, p11, p18, P19 topright & bottom, p31 both. Rod Cassidy, CAR. www.sanghalodge.com
P7 lower. Long-tailed Pangolin, scales, Republic of Congo. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P8 iStock.com/2630ben
P9 Giant pangolin/Manis gigantea, Tanzania. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P12 Ranger releasing rescued Smutsia temminckii, Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P13 both. Pangolin with carer at sanctuary/rehabilitation centre, Zimbabwe. Vuk Valcic / Alamy Stock Photo
P15 top. Black-bellied pangolin Mangamba, Littoral, Cameroon, INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
P15 bottom. Pangolin on rocks. Scott Hurd / Alamy Stock Photo
P16 Cape Pangolin forages in Namibian bush. Scott Hurd / Alamy Stock Photo
P17 top. Smutsia temminckii on termite mound, Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P17 bottom Kenya, Sarah Marshall
P19 top left. Tree pangolin/Phalanginus tricuspis, Togo. BIOSPHOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
P20 both. Cape/Temminck’s/ Manis temminckii playing in pool. Scott Hurd / Alamy Stock Photo
P21 Juvenile Temminicks feeding on ants. Robin Bruyns/Shutterstock
P22 Smutsia teminckii digging termites. Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P23 top. iStock/2630beny
P23 bottom. Smutsia temminckii with pups tongue extended. Mint Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo
P24 top. New born Temminck’s pup, after mama rescued from traffickers. Scott Hurd / Alamy Stock Photo
P24 bottom Estella Snowden/Pangolin Project
P25 White-bellied/three-cusped Pangolin - with baby. Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo
Pp26/7 Tree pangolin, Phataginus tricuspis. Matthijs Kuijpers / Alamy Stock Photo
P28 top. Rescued Smutsia temminckii, Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P28 bottom. Long tailed Pangolin walking on ground Cameroon. BIOSPHOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
P29 top. Phataginus tricuspis, Sangha Ndoki National Park, CAR. blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
P29 bottom. Phataginus tetradactyla, Mangamba, Cameroon. INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
P30 top. Smutsia temminickii, Nick Greaves; Agfa Awards Winner / Alamy Stock Photo
P30 bottom. Ground/Cape/Temminck’s Pangolin. Natural History Media / Alamy Stock Photo
P32 Long-tailed Pangolin unfurling, Republic of Congo. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
P33 Kibale National Park, Uganda. Lhoesti / Shutterstock
P34 Leopard juvenile stalking a Cape Pangolin, Botswana. Minden Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo
P35 Lions confused by pangolin. Holly Auchincloss/Shutterstock
P36 & 37 top, Pangolin project / Tusk
P37 bottom. Ground pangolin, Namibia. BROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG / Alamy Stock Photo
P38 Veterinary nurse tube-feeds pangolin, Wildlife Hospital in S. Africa. Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
P39 Rescued Smutsia temminckii female, Mozambique. Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
Inside back cover Smutsia temminckii, Mozambique.Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
References
Find everything you need to know about African pangolins from the African pangolin working group, https://africanpangolin.org and IUCN SSC Pangolin specialist group https://pangolinsg.org
The eye of the pangolin – A stunning film by Pangolin.Africa with Pangolin Photo Safaris, Biggest Leaf Travel and South African filmmakers Bruce Young and Johan Vermeulen.
Pangolin are described as ‘the wise old men of the bush’ and ‘the politest of all wildlife species’ We need to respect them and protect them!
PACE is an education programme of Tusk - www.tusk.org . We help people understand and solve everyday environmental problems that impact on their wellbeing, and on the wildlife and ecosystems we all depend on. PACE is about helping people connect or reconnect with nature, to understand its inherent value and protect if for future generations.
PACE shares information about the environment and wildlife, and the very practical ways in which people are addressing common environmental problems so that we people, wildlife and our planet have a secure and healthy future. There are ten modules in the PACE pack, this booklet is part of the Living with Wildlife module.
PACE is for students, teachers, community use and general reading. Contact pace@tusk.org | www.paceproject.net
Acknowledgements
Tusk thanks DHL for their significant and generous support of PACE. Their support has been fundamental to the success of PACE to date.
