Pangolin
on Aug 22, 2023At Sabi Sabi we have the privilege to be able to show and educate guests from all over the globe on many different species of insects, mammals, birds, and reptiles that can be found in the South African wilderness. Yet this is barely scratching the surface, with the Kruger National Park and Greater Kruger National Park home to thousands of different species, some very rare, some very small, and some that prove incredibly elusive. There are only a handful of animals that are all three, and my favourite of them is the Temminck’s Ground Pangolin.
The Temminck’s Ground Pangolin is an extremely unique creature, the only member of the taxonomical order Pholidota. Their most striking and immediately noticeable characteristic that makes them so unique is their hard keratin scales. Pangolins are the only scaled mammal in the world, with 8 species being found globally and 4 that are endemic to Africa, with only the Temminck’s Ground Pangolin being found in South Africa. What makes the species in South Africa even more special is that, apart from the Giant Pangolin found in West to Central Africa, they are the only other terrestrial mammal that is bipedal (walks on two legs), other than human beings. The other species of Pangolin are mainly arboreal (tree dwelling) and considerably smaller with Temminck’s Pangolins being the second largest of the species reaching weights of up to 18kgs while their African tree climbing cousins max out at around 4kgs.
Many consider Temminck’s Pangolins to be nocturnal but in my experience, I have found it is more determined on temperature, with them preferring to come out of the burrows during the coolest hours of the day, which tends to be at night to forage for their very specific diet of ants and termites. Their solitary nature, complete lack of vocal cords, soft padded hind limbs, small size, nocturnal predominance, and camouflaged scales, which take most of their colouration from the sand and dirt from the area in which they grow up/live in, make them an understandably very rare sighting. This is why they are one of the most mysterious land mammals in the world with very little known about them, not even their lifespan is definitively known.
Their shy, elusive nature is why many people have never heard of them, as they are just not something you see often at all. The only real time their name occasionally surfaces is in the news, usually in conjunction with phrases like, ‘seizure’, ‘rhino horn’ and ‘ivory’. The disgusting illegal trade and poaching of Rhinos for their horns is heavily published and rightfully so, yet these little guys get much less of the attention, despite them being the most illegally trafficked mammal in the world. The statistics do not make for pleasant reading, on average around 450 rhinos lose their lives every year to the scourge that is illegal Rhino horn trade, however approximately 200 000 Pangolins are illegally trafficked every year globally, with more than half of that estimated to be coming from Africa. The year 2021 saw the largest illegal wildlife seizures to date, with 60kgs of Pangolin claws, 40kgs of elephant ivory and a sickening 17 000 Pangolin scales, equating to around 20 000 individuals.
The Pangolin population worldwide is in free fall, even with the population of many species unknown, every one of the 8 species is on the endangered list ranging from vulnerable to critically endangered. The traumatising statistics are clearly not sustainable no matter the population size. Their characteristic large keratinous scales, the same substance as Rhino horn and human fingernails, are used in Asia and Africa in traditional medicines, said to cure anything from the common cold to impotence to cancer. Like Rhino horn, there is absolutely no medicinal benefit, yet the demand is tragically still high.
It is not all doom and gloom though, the awareness about these innocent, quiet little creatures are growing, and we are learning more and more about them every day, leading to new and improved methods of poaching prevention and a deeper understanding of them. I continue to meet more and more people and guests who are curious about these enchanting but vulnerable animals and have been lucky enough to meet some of the people who are on the frontline of the poaching epidemic, people who go above and beyond on a regular basis to protect and save them. I have been fortunate to have met a few of these heroic individuals, who care so deeply for these animals, and they want the same thing, ‘Once you meet one, you will love them for life’, and I can proudly say, that I have been bewitched by them ever since I met my first Pangolin. On a rare occasion that we are lucky enough to find one at Sabi Sabi, I smile because there is nothing that makes me happier than the sight of a healthy, happy Pangolin in the wild.
Blog by Devon Jansen (Bush Lodge Ranger)
