Species Fact Profile: Tree Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis)

Tree Pangolin (White-Bellied Pangolin, Three-Cusped Pangolin)

Phataginus (Manis) tricuspis (Rafinesque, 1821)

Range: West and Central Africa

Habitat: Lowland Rainforest, Wooded Savannah

Diet: Ants, Termites

Social Grouping: Solitary.  Males have larger home ranges than females, with their home ranges overlapping those of several females.  Females typically do not overlap

Reproduction: Breed year round.  Males and females come together only to breed.  Single offspring born after 150 day gestation period.  Infant is carried on the back of the mother, near the base of the tail.  Weaned at three months old, independent at five months

Lifespan: 10-15 Years

Conservation Status: IUCN Vulnerable, CITES Appendix I

• Body length 30-45 centimeters.  Weigh 4.5-14 kilograms.  Elongated snouts.  Males are slightly larger than females.
• Except for the face, underbelly, and insides of the legs, the body is covered with three-cusped brown or yellow scales.
• Can walk on its hind legs, but usually walks on all four, walking on its front knuckles to protect its claws from damage.  Good climbers, often found in trees.  Also good swimmers, filling themselves with air to increase buoyancy before entering the water.
• Primarily nocturnal – poor sense of sight, but good sense of smell
• When threatened, rolls into a ball, leaving only its tough, scaly skin exposed to predators.  Their hides are soft at birth, but begin to harden within a few days.  Mothers with young may curl up around the infant as well.  It may also secrete a foul-smelling musk when startled.
• Catches insects using its 25-70 centimeter long tongue, which is coated with mucous.  Sometimes feed on insects that are on the ground, other times break into nests using their powerful claws
• Intensely hunted for bushmeat, as well as for local traditional medicine.  Increasingly seen in international trade, sent to Asia to satisfy markets for pangolin scales there that dwindling Asian pangolin populations cannot satisfy.  Populations believed to have declined by 25%. 
• Tolerant of habitat modification, if left unharassed will live on agricultural land

Zookeeper’s Journal: Until quite recently, I viewed the pangolins in the same way that I think animal-lovers one-hundred years earlier viewed gorillas – as rare, near-mythic creatures that I had very little chance of ever seeing in a zoo.  They had an abysmal track record in zoos – many animal collectors simply wouldn’t deal with them, as few would survive long enough to make it to America or Europe, where few zoos would be willing to buy them.  Their poor survivorship under human care proved to be a major issue in recent years.  Pangolins are one of the most heavily-trafficked groups of animals in the world, and when illegal shipments were seized and found to contain live ones (not that often), the prognosis of saving the animal was usually slim.  The challenges mostly seemed to be associated with providing a diet to replace live ants and termites.  I remember seeing my first pangolin at the San Diego Zoo (where it was only publicly displayed for a brief demonstration once a day) and thinking that I’d probably never see another one again.  Times have changed dramatically.  Following a recent import, pangolins can be found in half-a-dozen US zoos, some of which are even having breeding success.  Hopefully, future rescues of confiscated pangolins can be used to develop a sustainable captive population as insurance against extinction and raise awareness of the plight of these endangered, unique little animals