Pangolin
(Manis javanica)
Subtropical and tropical forests from India and South China to Southeast Asia.
Also known as the “scaly anteater”, you can find me snacking on ants and termites in the pale moonlight.

About me

I’m nocturnal, and my happy place is hanging out in the dark by myself. I’m a strong, independent pangolin, who doesn’t need a lot of friends. I like my alone time to feed and stay safe from predators.

But it’s hard for me to hide from my biggest threat, humans. I’m the most trafficked mammal in the world. In fact, populations of Asian pangolins are estimated to have declined by up to 80 percent in the last 10 years! Yikes, right? I’m scared for me too. In the last decade alone, over 850,000 of my fellow pangolins were traded internationally.

Fast Facts: Did you know?

That I am the only mammal in the world that grows scales? I don’t like to lose any scales, but if I do I can make new ones to keep me safe.
That Taiwan has put in a lot of effort to protect me and now has the highest pangolin population density in the world? That Taiwan really gets me and my struggles to survive. Pangolins need more friends like Taiwan.
That when I’m in defense mode, I roll myself up into a scaly ball? My scales are hard to bite through, so I used them to throw my enemies off the trail.
That my tongue can be longer than my entire body? I’m not going to let a little distance get in the way of me and a good meal.

Tell Brands & Banks: Keep Forests Standing!

17 corporations are making massive profits by driving their destruction and the violation of human rights. That has to end NOW.

Take Action

Why I want to Keep Forests Standing

The biggest threat to pangolin survival is humans, but not just because of trafficking. Deforestation destroys the habitat I call home and new roads established by logging and palm oil companies become superhighways for poachers keen to poach me, my family and friends that thrive in untouched forest ecosystems, and all four pangolin species’ forest homes in the subtropical and tropical forests from India and South China to Southeast Asia. If deforestation continues at this rate, my species will be more exposed to traffickers, and even closer to extinction.