Understanding local Sunda pangolins

Sunda pangolin or Malayan pangolin

(Manis javanica)

The IUCN Status

LC Least Concern

CR Critically Endangered

EX Extinct

The challenge

Saving the world’s most poached mammal

Pangolins are the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, making it particularly challenging for conservationists across the world to prevent their eventual extinction.

Largely driven by demand in China and Vietnam, pangolins are poached extensively for their scales and meat. International trade of pangolins has reached epic proportions, with more than one million traded illegally in the last decade. Furthermore, as pangolins produce only one to two offspring each year, the global pangolin population is depleting at a much faster rate than it can reproduce.

In Singapore, Sunda pangolins are mainly distributed in nature reserves and adjacent nature parks on the mainland. They can also be found on the islands of Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong.

While there are no reports of pangolin poaching in Singapore, the species has suffered massive habitat loss due to the city-state’s rapid urbanisation. As a result, they have wandered into residential areas and onto roads, where they are easily injured or killed by vehicles.

Furthermore, while local rescued pangolins have been released into the wild, the challenge of monitoring them post-release should be carefully addressed, including suitability of release sites and evaluation of survival rates.

The goal

Monitoring rescued pangolins post-release

Helen Catherine Nash, a pangolin researcher from the National University of Singapore (NUS), is leading a project to track pangolins in the wild with radio and GPS tags.

Building on previous pangolin tracking studies, the project aims to further the understanding of how and where pangolins disperse and move about, as well as the range and criteria for their choice of habitat in Singapore. The results will provide insight into how pangolins interact with roads and the options that could be taken to minimise the risk of pangolin road kill. The research will also enhance conservation management plans for the local Sunda pangolin.

An improved understanding of pangolin home ranges can provide us with more accurate information on the pangolin population, and will complement the on-going camera trap project being conducted by the National Parks Board. The project will also help gain valuable information on how adult female pangolins choose habitats for breeding and raising their young in the wild.

Lastly, monitoring how pangolins interact among themselves will also be crucial for enhancing their population’s viability. To achieve these aims, this study will tag and track ten local Sunda pangolins using radio and GPS tags.

Finally, tracking the pangolins’ movements and behaviour will aid us in understanding their role in the ecosystem. Adult pangolins are known to consume about 70 million insects per year. In the process of digging for insects, they also help to loosen and aerate the soil.

Our role

Driving pangolin conservation efforts in Singapore

Being the authorised rescued centre for wildlife in Singapore, WRS rehabilitates and provides veterinary services for the rescued pangolins. This includes microchipping, obtaining blood and faecal samples, conducting physical checks, and radio-tagging the pangolins for this project. Apart from this, WRS staff also help to track the released pangolins.

Furthermore, two other projects on the Sunda pangolins are supported by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund (WRSCF). These look into pangolin diet and microbiome, and the training of conservation sniffer dogs to identify and locate wild pangolins.

The outcome

Better understanding of pangolin ecology

To date, as part of the pangolin tracking project, nine pangolins have been tagged, released and followed in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. The tracking programme has had a direct and positive impact on the survival of the threatened species. The results have helped increase understanding of pangolin home ranges, habitat selection and dispersal movements, as well as enhanced conservation management plans for local Sunda pangolins. The study is ongoing and findings will be compiled and analysed.