Sunda Pangolin

• It is the most illegally trafficked mammal in the world.
• When threatened it rolls into a tight ball armoured by its scales.
• It eats almost nothing but ants and termites, caught on its long sticky tongue.
• comportamientoIt can wrap its scaled body right around its young to shield them when a predator is near.
• Its scales are made of keratin, the same protein as our nails and hair. They have no medicinal properties whatsoever, despite what is claimed by the traditional medicine that fuels its trafficking.
• Its population is estimated to have fallen by 80% between 1998 and 2019, and some 200,000 individuals are estimated to have been trafficked illegally over the last decade.
• Since 2016 all eight pangolin species have been listed in Appendix I of CITES, which bans all international trade.
• The mother carries her young on the base of her tail for the three or four months she cares for it.
• It does not dig burrows of its own: it sleeps in tree hollows or at the bases of trees, and climbs with its claws and prehensile tail.
• Captive breeding has failed almost every time because of dietary problems and infections, which greatly complicates recovery programmes.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton covered in keratin scales (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Primary and secondary forest, open savannah and farmland of South East Asia

Birth weight

100 - 500 grams at birth

Size at birth

Soft scales at birth, hardening steadily afterwards

Sexual maturity

Roughly 1 year old (some studies suggest maturity is possible from 6-7 months)

Gestation / incubation

~130-180 days (estimates vary between studies: ~130 days according to ADW, up to 6 months by other sources)

Litter / clutch size

1 young (rarely 2)

Sources consulted: PLOS One (weaning study); Animal Diversity Web; ResearchGate (reproductive parameters); World Land Trust; Interesting Animals; BioOne (Journal of Vertebrate Biology)