The Pangolin May Get a Little Help
The pangolin is easy to catch and nice to eat.
This week the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed federal protections for several pangolin species in Asia and Africa. Listing under the Endangered Species Act would give law enforcement resources to protect the world's most trafficked mammal.
Pangolins are small, nocturnal creatures covered in tough scales made of keratin —the same protein that helps form nails and hair in humans. Their long, sticky tongues are ideal for extracting ants, termites, worms and other insects. Their habitats – savannas, woodlands, and forests – are constantly under threat by human development.
“Pangolins are particularly vulnerable to wildlife trafficking due to their slow and peaceful demeanor,” says the USFW press release. “With limited defenses beyond their scaly exteriors, they often roll into a ball when threatened.”
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have determined that “the vast majority of pangolin hunting in African forest landscapes is done for meat consumed by people in the region,” rather than for the scales so prized in Asia.
“Pangolins face a lethal combination of threats,” says Charles Emogor, who led the research for Cambridge’s Department of Zoology. “Pangolins are easy to hunt, breed slowly, taste good to humans, and are falsely believed to have curative properties in traditional medicines. In addition, their forest habitat is being destroyed.”
Poachers in Africa are a threat to both pangolins and the humans trying to save them. This week the journal Nature reported on a sanctuary in Zambia that rehabilitates pangolins.. “The exact location is secret, and I’m staying anonymous for this interview,” says a sanctuary worker. “The poachers, who are usually armed, could target me or follow me to the sanctuary. Only my parents know what I do.”
Environmental groups have petitioned the US government for years to list pangolins under the Endangered Species Act. Now it might finally happen.
Photo credit: Alex Moore / University of Cambridge
