Critically Endangered
Sunda pangolin
Manis javanica
Sunda pangolin is a mammal in the family Manidae (order Pholidota) — Manis javanica, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
Unlike other mammals, pangolins are covered by rows of scales (made of keratin) and fibrous hair to protect them from danger. The Sunda pangolin's scales are brown in color. Some even have white scales along their tails for an unknown reason.
The head-body length of this pangolin can measure 40–65 cm (16–26 in), tail length is 35–56 cm (14–22 in), and its weight is up to 10 kg (22 lb).
Range and habitat
It is native to Southeast Asia, among them Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It prefers forested primary, secondary and scrub forest habitats, but also lives in rubber and palm oil plantations.
Habitat labels include shrubland and forest.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
In these three months, the range of the mother Pangolin drastically decreases as she travels and forages with her offspring. Only a few weeks before the offspring becomes fully independent, the mother and her young can display brief spikes in diurnal activity.
Pangolins are sometimes found in pairs, but normally they are solitary, nocturnal, and behave timidly.
In crisis
Pangolins as a family are among the most protected animals due to heavy poaching, exploitation, and trafficking. Despite having protected status almost everywhere in its range, an illegal international trade, largely driven by Chinese buyers, has led to a rapid decrease in population. The Sunda pangolin is currently considered to be critically endangered.
Pangolins are also facing habitat loss that has accelerated their population decline. Due to their small population numbers and nocturnal nature, it is difficult for scientists to study them within their natural habitat.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Sunda pangolin is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Sunda pangolin, Wikidata item Q269728. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
