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| Image: savepangolins.org |
Pangolins, often called “scaly anteaters,” are covered in tough,
overlapping scales. These burrowing mammals eat ants and termites using
an extraordinarily long, sticky tongue, and are able to quickly roll
themselves up into a tight ball when threatened. Eight different
pangolin species can be found across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Poaching for illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss have made these
incredible creatures one of the most endangered groups of mammals in the
world.
Pangolin species vary in size from about 1.6kg (~3.5 lbs) to a
maximum of about 33kg (~73 lbs). They vary in color from light to
yellowish brown through olive to dark brown. Protective, overlapping
scales cover most of their bodies. These scales are made from keratin —
the same protein that forms human hair and finger nails. Overlapping
like artichoke leaves, the scales grow throughout the life of a pangolin
just like hair; scale edges are constantly filed down as pangolins dig
burrows and tunnel through the soil in search of termites and ants.
Pangolin undersides do not have scales, and are covered with sparse fur.
Unlike African pangolins, Asian pangolins also have thick bristles that
emerge from between their scales.
Challenges
Humans have taken their toll on the pangolin.
Pangolins are believed to possess magic or charms. When mixed with bark from certain trees, the scales are thought to neutralize witchcraft and evil spirits. If buried near a man’s door, they are said to give an interested woman power over him. Sometimes the scales are burned to keep lions and other wild animals away. In some areas, pangolins are sacrificed for rainmaking ceremonies; in other areas, they are hunted for meat.Solutions
Our solutions to protecting the pangolin:
Engage communities.
African Wildlife Foundation works with communities living near pangolins and other wildlife to provide them with tools and incentives for sustainable agriculture that allow them to move away from hunting threatened wildlife for food.
Promote public awareness.
AWF, along with partner organizations, creates public-awareness campaigns, like the "When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too" campaign with Yao Ming, to educate consumers of wildlife products about the damage being done to wildlife populations and the lack of any medicinal or magical properties in pangolin scales.
Sources: Savepangolins.org
African Wildlife Foundation
Good morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because through them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Zimbabwe? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Zimbabwe in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Calle Valencia, 39
28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez