Pangolins: Habitats and Behavior

Summary: There are many different habitats that pangolins call home. Join Kiersten as she talks about these diverse areas.

 

For my hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes.

 

Show Notes: 

animaldiversity.org

africanpangolin.org

animalia.bio

Pangolin Conservation Organizations: 

Rare and Endangered Species Trust - www.restnamibia.org

Save Vietnam’s Wildlife - www.svw.vn

 

Transcript

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Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

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Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

 

This episode continues pangolins and my eighth favorite thing about pangolins is their diverse habitats and behaviors! Pangolins have a few basic behaviors in common, such as eating ants and termites, curling into a ball to defend themselves, and carrying their pangopups on their backs but there are also some behaviors that are unique to each species.

 

Asian species:

Let’s start with our four Asian species.   

Chinese pangolin - Chinese pangolins can be found in a variety of forest habitats including Primary and secondary tropical forests. Primary tropical forests are pristine untouched tropical forests that exist in its original condition; whereas, secondary forests are those that have been disturbed in some way, such as logging, and then replanted. They are also found in Bamboo forests, Limestone forests, which are unique ecosystems that consist of a limestone ground upon which a forest grows, Broadleaf forests and coniferous forests. They have been found in forests up to 5000 meters above sea level. They can also be found in agricultural fields and grasslands.

 

Chinese pangolins are mainly terrestrial animals which mean they spend most of their time on the ground. They dig burrows with their strong front claws to sleep in and to raise their pups in. These burrows can be up to 8 feet deep and it can take them only 3 to 5 minutes to dig them. That’s rightI I said 3-5 minutes to dig an 8 foot deep burrow! 

 

When they enter their burrows they close up the entrance behind them to camouflage their location while they are sleeping.

 

Even though they are mainly terrestrial, they have been seen in the forest canopy up to 20 feet above the ground, so they are also good climbers.

 

The Chinese pangolin is nocturnal and fairly secretive and that is one of the reasons we know very little about their day to day behaviors.

 

 

Sunda or Malayan pangolin - The Sunda or Malayan pangolin is typically found in primary and secondary forests typical of southeastern Asia. They can also be found in open savanna country which is defined as an area dominated by grasses with few to no trees. Vegetated areas with thick brush can also be home to the Sunda pangolin. Sometimes they will visit cultivated gardens and plantations.  

 

Just like the Chinese pangolin, they are mainly terrestrial inhabiting burrows when they need to rest. They line their burrows with vegetation for insulation and the burrows can often be found near termite or ant mounds. Why not build your bedroom right nest to the kitchen, right?

 

Sunda pangolins can climb well and will occasionally spend long periods of time in the trees resting or hunting for arboreal ants. 

 

This species is typically nocturnal and solitary, but pairs have been spotted together in the wild. Whether the pairs are males and females seen together before or after mating, or mothers with young that are almost ready to head out on their own, we do not yet know.

 

 

Palawan or Philippine pangolin - The Philippine pangolin is one of the pangolins that we know the least about but when it come to habitat they have been seen in lowland forests, grasslands, and agricultural areas. Due to habitat destruction these pangolins are being forced into more developed areas. 

 

Philippine pangolins are mainly arboreal which means they live in trees. They use their feet and tails to help them climb and cling to tree trunks and branches as they follow their noses to arboreal ant nests. When they sleep they prefer to settle down in a hollow tree. They are mostly nocturnal which is another reason we know so little about them. They are also only found in the Palawan Province of the Philippines. 

 

Indian or Thick-tailed pangolin - The Indian or Thick-tailed pangolins are a bit different from their other Asian cousins in the fact that they prefer slightly drier areas. They are well adapted to desert areas and prefer barren, hilly landscapes. They are often found in subtropical thorn forests. 

 

Thorn forests are defined by their temperate climate, scrub vegetation, and very little rainfall. It is mainly composed of thorny small trees that are deciduous meaning they shed and regrow their leaves yearly.

 

The Indian pangolin can also be found in the Salt range of India, a mountain range with long escarpments, jagged peaks, rolling hills, and desolate ravines. They can be found up to 2500 feet above sea level. They prefer soil that is soft and semi-sandy. Even though they prefer drier habitats they can survive in tropical forest, open land, grasslands, and areas around villages.

 

Indian pangolins are mostly nocturnal spending the day time in burrows or in darker areas of trees. When foraging for food they spend most of their time on the ground, but they are good climbers and do spend some time in trees. 

 

African species:  Now let’s switch continents and talk about the African pangolins.

 

Tree or White-bellied pangolin - The African Tree pangolin, also known as the White-bellied pangolin, is most often found in tropical forests. They have also been able to adapt to use mosaic forests found in their region. Mosaic forests are forests that are more of a patchwork of wooded areas combined with open grassland areas or forests that are in various stages of growth. They are typically the result of humans using the land for various reasons such as logging or cattle ranching.

 

From their name you can probably guess that they are comfortable in trees and they do spend a lot of time there, but they will also spend time on the ground. They are considered an arboreal as well as terrestrial pangolin.

 

They are also one of two pangolins considered to be completely diurnal which means they are awake during the day. Most of their days are spent hunting for ants and termites. We are not sure why they are more active during the day, since the majority of pangolin species are nocturnal.

 

Giant ground pangolin - The Giant ground pangolin is the largest of all the species and is completely terrestrial. They are found in forests and savannas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe the area of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The Sahara desert is located along the northern most boundary of the African continent. 

 

This pangolin seeks shelter under fallen debris or in burrows. They will dig burrows that are several meters deep or they will use burrows abandoned by other animals. 

 

The giant ground pangolin is restricted to the Sub-saharan region of Africa because it has the most consistent year-round source of ants and termites. Giant ground pangolins are thought to completely nocturnal, spending the daylight hours in their burrows. Even though they are found in forested areas they never climb trees and that may be due to their large size. They can weigh up to 77lbs. It could be pretty difficult getting that weight up a tree! 

 

Similar to the other species of pangolins , the giant ground pangolin lives a solitary life. They do establish home ranges in the areas where they live. A home range is a specific area in which an animal travels in search of food or mates.

 

It is very common in ground pangolins for males to have larger home ranges than females. These ranges can be so large that individuals will have several burrows spread throughout the area that they can use when needed.

 

Cape or Temminck’s Ground pangolin - The Cape Ground Pangolin is a bit of an all around habitat pangolin. They can be found in habitats with both high rainfall  and low rainfall, such as forests, thick brush habitat, open grassland and savannas. Because of this, they are the most widespread African pangolin species. Their adult size will vary dependent on region with smaller animals living in arid, or dry, environments and larger animals living in more moist environments.

 

This pangolin is often thought of as nocturnal but this can vary with age and where they live. Pangolins living in the Kalahari region become diurnal during the cooler months of winter. Young juveniles are often more diurnal than adults. 

 

Like the giant ground pangolin, they are completely terrestrial. They are seen walking bi-pedally more often than other species of pangolins. This means they walk on their back feet with their front legs pulled up underneath their chest and balance with their long thick tails. As with many other terrestrial pangolins, they do use burrows to rest when not foraging for food. They can dig their own burrows but often use older burrows dug by other animals such as aardvarks, porcupine, or warthogs.

 

Long-tailed or Black-bellied pangolin - Our last pangolin is the Long-tailed or Black-bellied pangolin. This is a strictly arboreal pangolin spending virtually all of their time in trees. They sleep and rest in hollow trees or epiphytes. Epiphytes are other plans that grow on or in the tree but do not harm the tree, such as ferns or air plants. 

 

They reside in tropical riverine forest, swamp forest, and rainforest. They are excellent swimmers and are almost always found near water. They have actually been seen dropping from tree branches into the water. They prefer the interior of the forest avoiding the outer edges of forests. They spend the majority of their time in the forest canopy. The canopy of a forest is the upper most layer of the forest characterized by the crowns of the trees.

 

The long-tailed pangolin is primarily diurnal and their black coloration helps them blend into the shadows of the trees as they hunt for arboreal ant nests.   

 

Something that all pangolins share is their importance in the ecosystems where they live. Since all pangolins eat mainly ants and termites, and can eat up to approximately 70 million insects a year, they are extremely important in controlling ant and termite populations. 

Our terrestrial digging pangolins are also important in aerating the soil in the ecosystems where they hunt and live.

For more detailed information on the specific regions where these pangolins are found, please listen to the episode titled Pangolins: Species.

 

Join me next week for another ten minute podcast focusing on another thing I like about pangolins. 

 

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This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.