National Geographic USA – June 2019

Tikki Hywood

Foundation

Kampala

Yaoundé

Douala

UGANDA

GABON

CÔTE

D’IVOIRE

GHANA NIGERIA

TANZANIA

SIERRA

LEONE

LIBERIA

CONGO

MOZAMBIQUE

KENYA

ZIMBABWE

CAMEROON

INDIAN

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

AFRICA

EUROPE

Black-bellied

pangolin

Giant ground

pangolin

White-bellied

pangolin

Temminck’s

ground pangolin

Pangolin sizes relative

to one another

Termite
mound

Imperiled Pangolins

Pangolins—scaly, shy, and sensitive—are believed to be the world’s

most trafficked nonhuman mammals. Their scales, which are made

of keratin (the material in fingernails), have no scientifically proven

curative properties but are in demand for use in traditional Chinese

medicine. All eight species are threatened with extinction, despite a

2017 ban on international commercial trade, and experts estimate that

more than a million pangolins were poached from 2000 through 2013.

Temminck’s ground pangolin
Smutsia temminckii

This ground pangolin is the only
species that regularly walks on
hind legs, using its large tail as
a counterbalance. This keeps its
front claws sharp for digging.

Black-bellied pangolin
Phataginus tetradactyla

The smallest of the eight
species and the only one with
black skin, this pangolin has 47
vertebrae in its tail, more than
in the tail of any other mammal.

AFRICAN SPECIES

White-bellied pangolin
Phataginus tricuspis

The most common of the
tree-dwelling pangolins—and
the leading species poached in
Africa—lives in tropical forests
and dense woodlands.

Giant ground pangolin
Smutsia gigantea

The largest pangolin can weigh
over 75 pounds. Pangolins are
toothless and use a sticky tongue—
the giant’s stretches nearly two
feet—to feast on termites.

Europe has become an

important transit hub

for African pangolin

scales trafficked to Asia.

New poaching grounds

Countries in Southeast Asia

were once the main suppliers of

pangolins to the Chinese market.

Traffickers are now turning to

Africa to meet demand as Asian

pangolin populations plummet.