DID YOU KNOW

Breeding

It is absolutely crucial that pangolins are successfully kept, and more importantly, bred in captivity in order to help safeguard their future on this planet. They are not safe in their wild habitat as it currently stands and will be wiped out within a short time if nothing urgent is done to stop it. Therefore, it seems sensible to attempt to create self-sustaining populations of pangolins in captivity, and at the same time give people the opportunity to see these wonderful animals and to raise awareness of their plight.

In more recent years the husbandry of pangolins has greatly improved, although they are still very challenging to maintain. They are easily disturbed and can be prone to stereotypical behaviour if kept in a noisy public location, so pangolin enclosures should be designed with care and consideration.

Notably, Taipei Zoo in Taiwan and Leipzig Zoo in Germany have been more successful. In 2008 a pair were sent from Taipei Zoo in Taiwan to Leipzig Zoo in Germany. Taipei has had some breeding success with their Formosan/Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla), the first was born in 1997, a second was born in 2005 - but it did not survive, then a third and fourth were born in 2010. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength.

Then in 2014 a consortium of six American zoos, including Brookfield and Chicago Zoo, decided they would import 30 white-bellied tree pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis). With a lack of captive-bred animals being available, there was no other option but to bring in wild-caught pangolins. When the pangolins arrived in 2015 the zoos made a concerted effort to establish the species in cooperation with the organisation Pangolin Conservation However, the plan was not without its controversy, as it was argued that to import such a large number of pangolins was in itself perpetuating the trade. At Brookfield Zoo, two of the animals which arrived pregnant, gave birth to pups. Since 2015 the animals have continued to flourish and numbers have increased from 30 up to 50 individuals, with another youngster (second generation) born to a captivebred animal, helping to justify the original decision to bring these animals into captivity.

Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic has recently joined the small number of elite collections in Europe now keeping pangolins, since a pair (1.1) of Formosan pangolins –a female called “Jun Hou Tang” and the male called “Kuo Pao” arrived from Taipei Zoo in Taiwan as part of the breeding programme. It was agreed in August 2020 that Taipei Zoo would loan surplus pangolins to a small number of European collections that were able to maintain and hopefully breed the species whilst Taipei Zoo had over 10 pangolins in its collection. The Formosan pangolin (Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) is said to be a sub-species of the Chinese pangolin.

Conservation – what can people do to help?

The easiest way that people can help towards the conservation of pangolins is to donate to one of the pangolin charities, of which there are several. Save Vietnam`s Wildlife are particularly deserving as they are the only organisation actively rescuing pangolins and preventing the illegal trade at the source.

Visit; www.svw.vn for more information or to donate. There are also plenty of other pangolin conservation charities that you can support such as; Pangolin Conservation - www. savepangolins.org, The Pangolin Project – www.thepangolinproject.org, The Tikki Hywood Foundation – www. tikkihywoodfoundation.org and www. pangolincrisis.org.

In addition both the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the Fauna & Flora International have fund raising programmes specifically for pangolins. In Africa there is the African Pangolin Working Group – www.africanpangolin. org and the Ugandan Pangolin Conservation Fund – www.ugandacf. org, meanwhile in Singapore they have their own Singapore Pangolin Working Group and in Palawan there is the Palawan Pangolin Conservation Programme. Here in the UK the ZSL London Zoo also fundraise for pangolin conservation in cooperation with the IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group and Save Vietnam`s Wildlife.

The top image is of a giant pangolin that was kept at ZSL London Zoo in the 1960s. Two animals were acquired in 1964 (©ZSL).

Below; this giant pangolin arrived at Antwerp Zoo on 2nd February 1966 from Barcelona Zoo and it died on 10th September 1970. It was kept in the old reptile building in a glass-fronted exhibit. (©Antwerp Zoo).

The author has worked in zoos for 30 years, during that time he spent a few years working with a relative of the pangolins - the giant anteater. To try to improve the anteater`s diet a dry powdered feed, mixed with water, called “Termant” was developed and trialled in conjunction with Mazuri Zoo Foods.

This was successful and went on to be produced commercially by Mazuri and distributed to other zoos. The author considered whether this diet would have been suitable for pangolins, although with none in the UK, it was not able to be tested.