What a nice video taken by Rul. The sighting of a pangolin in the wild is generally regarded as the Holy Grail of sightings as they are rare and very difficult to find. Their nocturnal habits also does not help. The name Pangolin comes from the Malay word “pengguling”, meaning “something that rolls up”. They are the only animals with keratin scales covering their skin and they can curl up into a ball when threatened, with its overlapping scales acting as armour and its face tucked under its tail. Food consists mainly of ants and termites which they catch with their long, sticky tongue. They have glands in their chests to lubricate the tongue with sticky, ant-catching saliva. Pangolins have a very poor sense of vision, and therefore rely heavily on smell and hearing.
I have seen pangolin twice in 19 years of guiding. So please visit Pondoro and try your luck. If you see one, my advice would be to go on the first plane to Las Vegas!
Post by Robbie Prehn
