Wild Singapore: The Sunda Pangolin

Protecting a Prized but Endangered Mammal

by Helena Cochrane

The forests that Singapore has been able to preserve amidst the enormous demand for development are writhing with wildlife that you might see and much that hides from view. Inherent in the shrinking of habitat is the threat to survival for the many species endemic to our island. Singapore is not the only place in Southeast Asia where competing needs pose dilemmas that require complex resolutions. Anti-poaching laws, and attention to conservation have made marginal inroads in protecting these animals. For some animals, Singapore may be their safest haven, even as highrises and manufacturing plants rise out of felled forests and open fields. The Sunda Pangolin, the world’s only scaled mammal, is said to be safer in Singapore, even with its shrinking habitat. In the last 12 years, over a million Sunda Pangolins have been hunted and killed throughout Southeast Asia for the magical, medicinal properties falsely attributed to these scales. They’re also hunted for their meat. In parts of China and Vietnam, pangolin meat is prized as a delicacy.

Sunda Pangolin. Credit: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Pangolins’ scales, formed from keratin, provided a solid defense against the tigers that used to inhabit Singapore. Since tigers were hunted to full extinction here in 1932, pangolins then foraged rather freely in forests and plantations, digging for the insects that made up their diets. Currently, they are known to live in Singapore’s central catchment area, in Bukit Timah, on Pulau Ubin, and in wooded areas near Nanyang Technological University in the west. As both foragers, and nocturnal, they’re unlikely to be seen in the daytime. In 2019, a Channel News Asia team filmed an immature pangolin with an infrared camera. The young animal had found its way into University buildings at night, evidence of how difficult it is for the animals to adapt to an urban environment.

Kampog Gelam Pangolin on mural by Jaba

The ‘scaly anteaters’ have snouts and long claws (but no teeth) that enable them to dig deep into ant and termite nests, while their scales keep the ants from stinging their bodies, and protect their eyes. They are fast walkers and nimble climbers, solitary and shy. Their ability to curl up in a tight ball, tucking their tails around their bodies and clenching in that position is another failsafe protection against insects and animal predators, but actually makes it easier for poachers to capture them. Pangolins walk on their hind legs, typically hunkering about with their shorter front paws under their bodies, like worried little armored bipedal cats, with long snouts. After they give birth about once each year, the pangopups ride on their mother’s backs and stay with them for up to two years. The life expectancy of a pangolin in the wild is about 20 years, during which time, they eat approximately 70 million ants. As the most widely poached animal in the entire world, pangolins are likely to be extinct in the wild within the next few years if there is no effective program against trafficking.

In Singapore, the Pangolin Working Group, a coalition formed through cooperation amongst ACRES (animal rescue), NParks and the Singapore Zoo, is tracking pangolin numbers and performing regular rescues. PWG is raising awareness of the rampant trafficking problem. In addition, they prioritize providing connected forested areas to avoid pangolins having to cross roads in order to pursue their foraging. It is a daunting task, with so much development even in previously more forested areas of the island. If you wish to support the effort to preserve these ecological pest-control creatures, please consider donating to WWF at support.wildlife.org, or to ACRES at acres.org.sg.

Since moving from Philadelphia in 2018, Helena has been active with AWA's Walking with Women, Writers' Group and International Choir as well as with Urban Sketchers of Singapore.