World pangolin day

18 February 2017 is World Pangolin Day. It is held every year on the third Saturday in February, and this year is the 6th year.

From the pangolins.org website:

World Pangolin Day is an opportunity for pangolin enthusiasts to join together in raising awareness about these unique mammals — and their plight. Pangolin numbers are rapidly declining in Asia and Africa.
The demand for pangolins comes mostly from China, where pangolin scales are unfortunately believed to be a cure-all of sorts and pangolin flesh is considered a delicacy. In Vietnam, pangolins are frequently offered at restaurants catering to wealthy patrons who want to eat rare and endangered wildlife. There is no evidence to support claims regarding medicinal properties of pangolin scales or any other part of the pangolin.

I've only seen pangolins in the wild a couple of times in Malaysia. And then there are rumours of some in Cator Park in SE London!

Pangolins are considered to be the world's most trafficked mammal. In Malaysia they are definitely on the decline, due to large numbers being captured for restaurants. Read more on The Star 18 Feb.
The Malayan pangolin,  (Manis javanica) – is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.


© Liz Price

Pangolins in SE London?

Are there wild pangolins in South East London? These signs in Cator Park suggest there could be. The first notice to appear was this one, at the end of Oct 2016

A few days later it was replaced by this notice

Both notices suggest that pangolins do live in the area. The second one certainly shows animals that live in the English countryside - except of course the pangolin which is not native.

So are there pangolins here, perhaps escaped pets or dumped pets that were unwanted?

Cator Park is located between Lower Sydenham, Penge and New Beckenham. The actual park is quite small, but the other side of a brook is an area of fenced waste land. The notice has been placed on the gate into the area. There is also a notice about possible building on this site -

Pangolins are native to SE Asia, especially in Malaysia. My blog of pangolins.

Pangolins in Malaysia

As far as I can remember, I've only seen 2 wild, live pangolins in Malaysia. I quite often read news reports about van loads of pangolins that have been captured from the wild and are being taken somewhere where they will end up on dining tables, either in local restaurants or overseas. There is a huge demand for pangolin meat. It is not just the meat however, as the scales are also used in Chinese medicine.

The Star on 4 August 2014 had a distressing report, taken from The Guardian, "Pangolins: Eaten to extinction",

Pangolins are only found in Africa and Asia, and Malaysia has just one species, the Sunda pangolin, Manis javanica. Pangolins are the only mammals to have scales. They roll into a ball when threatened to protect the soft underbody. Their diet is mostly ants and termites.

The Malayan pangolin is now on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered.

The first pangolin I saw was crossing the road at night time. We managed to stop the car in time for me to jump out and take a photo as the pangolin disappeared into the bushes

 

Note the long tail, which is prehensile so the animal can grip trees and branches when climbing. At the other end is a long pointed muzzle.

 

My second sighting of a pangolin was during day time in 2007. The animal was in a small public park. There was a group of us so we probably made quite a noise and the pangolin soon rolled into a protective ball

 

 

 

 

We caught it and after taking photos we took it to a quieter area where we released it

 

 

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission