Hey Everyone! Ready to learn about Pangolins. They need a lot more help than you think.

First things first. Let’s talk about what a pangolin is. Pangolins have been around for over 80 million years. As you see in the picture they kind of look like reptiles, but looks can be deceiving. Pangolins are actually mammals. They are the only mammals that are fully covered in scales. They use their scales to protect themselves from any predators they might encounter in the wild. When under attack, they will tightly roll up into a ball and wait until there is no more danger and the predator has left. Although they don’t look like it, many species of pangolin live in trees, hanging on branches by their giant tails. They can also swim for a long period of time and dig burrows more than 130 feet deep! These animals can almost live anywhere, their many different habitats consist of savannah grasslands, tropical and subtropical areas, flooded areas, and dense woodlands. Pangolins will eat termites, ants and larvae. Pangolins are also sometimes referred to as “the scaled anteater”. Since they have no teeth they use their sticky tongues which are longer than their bodies. The average pangolin consumes up to 70 million insects a year. Now that you know a little more about pangolins let’s get to the real problem. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world. Since their only defense mechanism is to roll up into a ball and wait, they are easy targets for poachers. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in some areas and their scales are used in some traditional medicines. Even though all 8 species of pangolins are protected under both international and national laws people still continue to illegally kill and trade them. In only three years an estimated 1 million pangolins were poached just for their scales. The rate that these pangolins are traded and sold across the world is continuing to rise. Prices go all the way up to $3,000 dollars per pangolin. The rate that these pangolins are being taken from their habitats and getting killed means the illegal organizations that are poaching and trafficking them are making a fortune from harming these animals. Like I said before pangolin scales are used in some medicines and that is necessary but not all the pangolins that are getting killed illegally are being used in medicines. Especially in China and Vietnam pangolin meat is a delicacy. Sometimes the pangolins are killed on the table right in front of the customers to ensure that what they will be served is pangolin meat. Although there is not a lot of it there is some good news for pangolins. In June of 2020 China increased protection for pangolins to the highest possible level. In addition, the Government is no longer allowing pangolin scales to be used in traditional medicines. This is a huge win for the pangolins considering that over 195,000 pangolins were trafficked in 2019 for just their scales. 

You may be wondering how you can help. Well you can go HERE and make a pledge to help the World Wildlife Federation get to their goal of 80,000 pledges to help save the pangolins. You can also go HERE to symbolically adopt a pangolin which raises money to help save the pangolins and you can get a few goodies. Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you learned something new and want to try to help pangolins. Feel free to leave a comment saying something new you learned or what you are going to do to help save the pangolins. Make sure to leave a link to your blog so that I can stop by. -Bella