Pangolins: Top 10 Facts About The world's Most Hunted Animal

• Report rights infringement
• published: 16 Feb 2015
• views: 56937

With its armoured shell and peculiar gait, the humble pangolin looks more like an anteater prepped for medieval battle than an animal under threat. Illegal trade in South Asia, however, has now rendered the scaly mammals the most trafficked animal on earth, with some estimates claiming that sales now account for up to 20 per cent of the entire wildlife black market. In response to the pangolin's plight, numerous campaigns have been launched to raise awareness, including the SavePangolins organisation and an app, Roll with the Pangolins, which was endorsed by Prince William in his role as President of United for Wildlife. What's more, in 2012 Sir David Attenborough chose the Sunda pangolin, a species distributed throughout South East Asia, as one of his ten favourite species he would 'save' from extinction. So what is it that makes pangolin so special, and why has nobody heard of them? Here are 10 facts to get you up to speed on one of the most threatened species on Earth. 1) There are eight species of pangolin 2) A pangolin’s tongue can be longer than its body 3) Pangolins are the only mammals in the world covered in scales 4) The name means 'something that rolls up' 5) Some climb trees, others dig holes 6) Even big cats don't know what to do with them 7) Nobody knows how long they live 8) They emit a noxious acid like skunks 9) Millions have been traded and killed in the last decade 10) Their eyesight is dreadful