Roux the Sunda Pangolin
Sunda Pangolin Facts:
Sunda Pangolins are critically endangered
Common Name: Sunda Pangolin
Class: Mammalia Family: Manidae
Diet: Consumes 70 million insects per year, mainly ants and termites
Average life span: Unknown in the wild, up to 20 years in captivity
Size: Length 45-52cm (16-20″)
Weight: 9 – 17lbs (4.2 – 7.5kg)
Social: Solitary animals (apart from mothers and young), meeting only to mate
Habitat: Primary and secondary forest but can be spotted in gardens, plantations, and areas near human settlements
Activity: Nocturnal
Offspring: Usually 1 pango-pup per year
Distribution range:
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Main threats:
- Pet trade
- Poaching for body parts, especially their scales
- Habitat encroachment
- Large-scale agriculture and illegal logging
Fun Facts!
- Sunda Pangolins are the most traffiked mammal in the world, their scales are very highly sought after in the illegal trade.
- Pangolins are very difficult to breed or even keep alive in captivity, partly due to their specialised diet.
- Their name derives from a Malay world – pengguling meaning ‘thing that rolls up’ because when threatened they curl into a tight ball, their scaly armor protecting them from predators.
- Their tongues can be up to 25cm long!
- A pangolin’s scales make up about 20% of their body weight.
- Infant pangolins ride on their mothers’ tails for around 3 months.
- Pangolins have long claws to tear into ant and termite nests, swim long distances, and dig burrows up to 40-meters long.
- Pangolins have semi-prehensile tails that aid them when climbing and allows them to hang from branches, making them very agile in trees.
