Thick-tailed Pangolin

About this species

Size

84–122cm from head to tail; tail 33–47cm

Weight

10–16kg

Diet

Almost only ants and termites, including their eggs and larvae

Habitat

Forest types from plains to middle hills; prefers soft, semi-sandy soil for burrowing; recorded to 2,300m in the Nilgiris

Range

Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka

Litter size

Usually one young

Gestation

65–70 days

The Indian pangolin, or scaly anteater, is a solitary, shy, slow-moving, nocturnal animal covered in 160–200 large overlapping keratin scales that act as armour. It is 84–122 cm long from head to tail and weighs 10–16 kg. It has no teeth and feeds almost entirely on ants and termites, finding nests and mounds by scent and breaking into them with claws as long as its forearm, then catching prey with a long sticky tongue (Wikipedia, general species account).

It has been recorded in various forest types and from plains to the middle hills, including at 2,300 m in the Nilgiri mountains. It is mainly active between about 17:00 and 05:00. It digs two kinds of burrow, small feeding burrows and larger ones for resting by day, and prefers soft, semi-sandy soil. Gestation is 65–70 days, usually producing a single young that the mother carries on her tail. Poaching for meat and scales and habitat loss are the main threats (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)