Baby pangolin survives first month

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The baby pangolin we rescued has managed to survive for over a month now, even though we have had no previous experience in raising one. It is taken out to forage on it's own every evening when it wakes up, or on rainy days, mud termite mounds are brought to the property which it tears apart and ravages! It eats so much it's stomach looks like a balloon by they time he's done. Afterwards it likes to go over to it's water dish and soak in it for a bit while drinking.

Palawan scaly anteater has a
prehensile tail and curls up when
frightened leaving it defenseless to
human poachers.

These animals are amongst the fastest disappearing animals in Palawan. They are poached and sent to China to fulfill their gastronomic palates and they use the scales as medicine, although there is no scientific evidence of the effectiveness. Over 2023 were found by illegal traders of wildlife, 2000 of them dead and already neatly packaged up in plastic bags.

Unfortunately, due to lack of education the locals sell them to poachers or even each other for bush meat. Many don't even know it's illegal to kill them.

This animal has no teeth, it eats only termites and ants. Each adult can consume up to 70 million insects per year.  It is natures' pest control and in the Philippines, is found only on the island of Palawan. When it is scared it curls up into a ball making it easy pickings for a human poacher.

This is the video the first time I watched it climbed the bamboo leg of another cage in it's habitat to eat ants after it had it's fill of water. That same night we let it forage on it's own, which is has been doing ever since.


It is a daunting task to raise these creatures. According to the specialists out there, I am one of a few they know of that have raised a pangolin this long, most die within a week or less. And even now I am always fearful for it. I do not recommend that people take on this creature to raise as a pet. We do plan to release him as soon as he is strong enough to manage on his own.

This baby scaly anteater/pangolin would not take milk in any form from any tpe of dispenser either.
One night it walked off the pation on onto the base of it and began digging. I found an ants nest and licked furiouly away at them. From then on it has been taken to the forests to forge on it's own.

They do grow quite large, up to 2 1/2 feet long,with it's tail about a third as long. Although it looks reptilian it is a mammal which does not breed easily. Perhaps every two years the females will give birth and then only one offspring at a time. They predict that if it continues to be poached at today's rate, they will be extinct in 8 years or less. They live in primary and secondary forests and grasslands as well. There is a lot of information about them on this blog.
http://biology.knoji.com/facts-about-the-endemic-palawan-pangolin-or-scaly-anteater-manis-culionensis

Here is Balin, the balintong/pangolin getting weighed. We do weigh it everyday to see how fast it's growing. We also measure it's length every few days to get an idea of how fast it grows. Not much is known about these gentle creatures and we are collecting and writing down data about it from our own observations.

Here is a short video of it feasting on a large termite infested log on our property.