Indian pangolin

The existence of the Indian Pangolins inside the deep, dense forest of Gobaria in Ajodhya Pahar from the local villagers of Ajodhya Pahar. When a study was conducted in the Kalimati Beat of the Baghmundi Range, I visited the village named Saldabar, where I found some holes in the ground which are seems to be the holes of the Indian Pangolins. These holes are measured and it is about 1 feet to 1 foot and 5 inches wide and long. I also find termite stack near the holes which is very strongly suggested that those holes are the holes of the Indian Pangolins. I also pointed out that the local peoples are trying to hide the existence of Pangolins in the area and they claim that they never see any animals like this ever in their area. But this is very unnatural as the existence of holes near the termite stack. It is true that the pangolins are nocturnal but is it possible that these pangolins are hidden to very local people of the area until we found it? Or more big things are related with this hiding? Things like illegal poaching and illegal wildlife trades of the Indian Pangolins. It is known to all that Pangolins are the most trafficked animal in the world. This finding opens a great window for new research works in Ajodhya Pahar.

Despite being heavily exploited, pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) have been subject to limited research, resulting in a lack of reliable population estimates and standardised survey methods for the eight extant species. Camera trapping represents a unique opportunity for broad-scale collaborative species monitoring due to its largely non-discriminatory nature, which creates considerable volumes of data on a relatively wide range of species. This has the potential to shed light on the ecology of rare, cryptic and understudied taxa, with implications for conservation decision-making. We undertook a global analysis of available pangolin data from camera trapping studies across their range in Africa and Asia. Our aims were (1) to assess the utility of existing camera trapping efforts as a method for monitoring pangolin populations, and (2) to gain insights into the distribution and ecology of pangolins. We analysed data collated from 103 camera trap surveys undertaken across 22 countries that fell within the range of seven of the eight pangolin species, which yielded more than half a million trap nights and 888 pangolin encounters. We ran occupancy analyses on three species (Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis and giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea). Detection probabilities varied with forest cover and levels of human influence for P. tricuspis, but were low (<0.05) for all species. Occupancy was associated with distance from rivers for M. javanica and S. gigantea, elevation for P. tricuspis and S. gigantea, forest cover for P. tricuspis and protected area status for M. javanica and P. tricuspis. We conclude that camera traps are suitable for the detection of pangolins and large-scale assessment of their distributions. However, the trapping effort required to monitor populations at any given study site using existing methods appears prohibitively high. This may change in the future should anticipated technological and methodological advances in camera trapping facilitate greater sampling efforts and/or higher probabilities of detection. In particular, targeted camera placement for pangolins is likely to make pangolin monitoring more feasible with moderate sampling efforts.

Conservation breeding programmes as an essential tool for conservation of endangered species require a sound knowledge on
behaviour of the species. At present time, knowledge of behaviour and biology of Indian pangolins is inadequate and inconsistent.
During the present study, an ethogram was developed based on the behavioural observations of seven Indian pangolins (Manis
crassicaudata) at Pangolin Conservation Breeding Centre, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India, between February 2012
and January 2013. A total of 27 behaviours of seven distinct behavioural categories (stationary body positions, locomotory patterns,
maintenance behaviours, explorative behaviours, defensive behaviours, reproductive/social behaviours, and others) were described
and illustrated. The results offer a consistent frame of reference for further studies on behavioural patterns of Indian pangolins.
Besides, these preliminary observations could be useful in management and breeding of the species in captivity.

Conservation breeding programmes as an essential tool for conservation of endangered species require a sound knowledge on behaviour of the species. At present time, knowledge of behaviour and biology of Indian pangolins is inadequate and inconsistent. During the present study, an ethogram was developed based on the behavioural observations of seven Indian pangolins (Manis crassicaudata) at Pangolin Conservation Breeding Centre, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India, between February 2012 and January 2013. A total of 27 behaviours of seven distinct behavioural categories (stationary body positions, locomotory patterns, maintenance behaviours, explorative behaviours, defensive behaviours, reproductive/social behaviours, and others) were described and illustrated. The results offer a consistent frame of reference for further studies on behavioural patterns of Indian pangolins. Besides, these preliminary observations could be useful in management and breeding of the species in capt...

The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is under threat due to hunting for local consumption and illegal trafficking of scales and meat. The dearth of scientific studies on the ecology of the M. crassicaudata has impaired accurate assessments of its conservation needs. This study investigated the habitat preference and burrow characteristics of M. crassicaudata in a tropical lowland rainforest in southwest Sri Lanka. A total of 75 burrows (54 feeding burrows and 21 resting burrows) of M. crassicaudata in four different habitat types i.e. secondary forest, Pine-dominated forest, rubber cultivations and tea-dominated home gardens bordering forest were observed using fixed-width transects in order to characterize resting and feeding burrows of this species. The highest density of resting burrows was recorded from the secondary forest (4ha-1), followed by rubber cultivations (2.5ha-1) while no resting burrows were recorded in the Pine-dominated forest and the tea-dominated home gardens bordering forest. Feeding burrows were more abundant in the Pine-dominated forest (5.7ha-1). The burrow depth, burrow opening height, and width were significantly larger in resting burrows compared to feeding burrows. Resting burrows were located at higher elevations (75-100m) with moderately high slopes (45 0 −60 0), dense canopy cover (>75%) and away from human habitation. Feeding burrows showed a greater variability in terms of associated environmental features. The study further revealed that Indian pangolins exclusively prefer habitats with rocks and boulders under which they dig resting burrows while the location of feeding burrows largely overlaps with the distribution of prey species. The resting burrow design consisted of a bending tunnel that initially slopes downward and then gradually inclines at an angle between 20 and 30 0 , leading to the resting chamber. Our study highlights the importance of conserving fragmented secondary natural forests in changing landscapes of the southwest lowlands of Sri Lanka as these habitats appear to be critical to sustaining populations of M. crassicaudata.

Haematological and serum biochemical values of a sick, adult female Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) were determined. Results obtained showed a higher total leukocyte count, low haemoglobin value and erythrocyte count in comparison to haematological values reported on other pangolin species. The study also determined cytomorphomentric values for erythrocytes and leukocytes. The present paper also described red cell polymorphism in Indian pangolin.