PANGOLINS
"The shy, harmless pangolin is becoming increasingly well known for one reason: It’s believed to be the world’s most trafficked non-human mammal. Tens of thousands of pangolins are poached every year, killed for their scales for use in traditional medicine, and their meat.
There are eight species of pangolins. Four are found in Asia Chinese, Sunda, Indian, and Philippine pangolins and they’re listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. The four African species the ground pangolin, giant pangolin, white-bellied, and black-bellied are listed as vulnerable. All species face declining populations because of illegal trade. In 2016, the 186 countries party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the treaty that regulates the international wildlife trade, voted to ban the commercial trade in pangolins.
Pangolins are solitary and active mostly at night. Most live on the ground, but some, like the black-bellied pangolin, also climb trees.
They are largely covered in scales made of keratin. When threatened, they roll into a ball, like an armadillo, and they can release a stinky fluid! from a gland at the base of their tails as a defense mechanism. Though they look and act a lot like anteaters and armadillos, pangolins are more closely related to bears, cats, and dogs."
Source NatGeo: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/pangolins/
This is my way to make attention to these beautiful endangered animals.
Thanks for sharing these facts about the Pangolins, what an interesting looking animal.