Roux the Sunda Pangolin

  • Roux the Sunda Pangolin
  • Lucy, my previous sponsor and Roux’s mother!
  • Roux and her mother Luxy

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.