Pangolin road kill: Strayed too far in search of supper?

Recent road death of pangolin puts focus on need to protect rare local creature and raise awareness
Dhany Osman, Straits Times 17 Aug 08;

Pangolins avoid humans but one of these rarely seen anteaters strayed onto Jalan Bahar on Aug 9, and instantly became a road-accident victim.

A nocturnal animal, it probably strayed too far in search of its supper - ants and termites - that night.

Although pangolins are not considered to be endangered in Singapore, there is currently a lack of information as to their actual numbers.

Fittingly, it was long-time wildlife enthusiast Ben Lee who saw the dead animal and picked it up so that its body would not be further mangled by passing vehicles.

Mr Lee, 47, founder of Nature Trekker Singapore, an outdoor adventure and nature appreciation group, said: 'As a nature enthusiast, I felt deeply for the loss of its life.'

He had seen a pangolin only once before in his 30 years of trekking in Singapore. 'I considered myself very lucky to have seen such a rare local creature.'

The Sunday Times spoke to experts to find out more about this shy creature.

'Pangolins have a typical anteater shape, with a scaly exterior, handy when they raid ant and termite mounds,' said Mr Norman Lim, 29, a research assistant at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. The researcher, with his passion for small mammals, spent a year studying the creatures for his master's thesis.

Pangolins are toothless, with long tongues to help reach their prey, and will sometimes curl into a ball when threatened.

In the course of his research, Mr Lim tracked down 20 pangolins on Pulau Tekong alone. He suspects there may be many more on the mainland, around forest edges in places like the Bukit Timah area. Some have also been spotted near housing estates next to the forest reserves.

'Pangolins are simply amazing. They can climb, swim, burrow and are very adaptable,' he said.

The Singapore Zoo has three pangolins donated by the public. Mr Biswajit Guha, the zoo's assistant director of zoology, said valuable information has been learnt by studying the animal's activities.

An artificial diet - one that replicates their normal nutrient intake - has been perfected by the zoo staff for pangolins. This is important in the zoo's conservation efforts.

Pangolins are now protected - their meat was once found in Chinatown shops in the 1960s - under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, with a zero-trade quota enforced by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.

But they are still poached and traded in places like Vietnam and China for their meat and scales, Mr Guha said.He spearheads a programme to create an educational package for schoolchildren in the region, to help raise awareness of the animals and the need to protect them.

'They are a unique part of our biodiversity and deserve to be conserved,' he said.

PANGOLIN FACTS

Common name: Sunda Pangolin
Scientific name: Manis Javanica
Size: 80cm to 100cm
Weight: Adult males weigh around 7kg - 8kg while females weigh about 5kg
Habitat: Found across South-east Asia. Locally, they dwell in the Central and Western catchment areas, as well as on Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin.
Characteristics: Covered in overlapping scales and armed with strong claws, the Sunda Pangolin burrows into termite mounds and ant nests, using its sticky tongue to snag its prey.

A good climber, it can be found asleep in trees at times. Female pangolins are thought to produce one young one a year, which is carried on the mother’s back.
When threatened, pangolins usually try to climb away from danger or resort to curling
into a protective ball.

Threats
Within South-east Asia, they face threats from illegal poaching and trading for their
meat and scales.

This is despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence for the supposed medicinal or tonic properties associated with their consumption.

A seizure in Indonesia earlier this month netted 14 tonnes of frozen pangolins, the largest ever haul, ready to be shipped to China. Publicity surrounding that seizure has helped to raise awareness and galvanised various international animal conservation groups to push for collective action.