The tree pangolin is found in secondary forests with female territories solitary and small, less than 10 acres, and they rarely overlap. Males have larger territories, up to 60 acre, which overlaps many female territories resulting in male/female meetings that are brief unless the female is in breeding condition. Pangolins are native to most of mainland and insular Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka but Manis tricuspis is known from Africa only: Senegal to western Kenya, and south to Zambia. They create burrows in the ant or termite hills they previously vacated and often sleep in the trees. The two smaller species that live in trees in rainforests curl up to sleep in the fork of a branch or lie among the plants.
When the brief male/female meetings happen while the female is in breeding condition they breed. Gestation of young occurs for 150 days and one young per birth is normal. The young pangolin is carried on its mother’s tail until it is weaned after three months, but it stays with its mother for five months. At first the newborns scales are soft but after a few days they start to harden. In captivity females have been known to adopt the young of others.
Tree pangolins eat insects such as ants and termites from ant nests and tree termite nests, or the armies of ants moving on the trees. It relies on its thick skin for protection, digs into the burrows with its long clawed forefeet and uses it’s up to 16 inch tongue with gummy mucus to stick to the insects. Pangolins eat between 5 and 7 ounces of insects a day.
The tree pangolin has many adaptations. When threatened they roll up into a ball, protecting themselves with their thick skin. When the mother is threatened with young it rolls up around the young which also rolls into a ball. While in a ball they can extend their scales with its three points up. They make an “aggressive huff noise” when threatened but that is the extent of their noise making. They can walk on all fours or on their hind legs using their prehensile tails as balance. Tree pangolins can climb up their own tail in the absence of branches. When walking on all fours it walks on its front knuckles with its claws tucked underneath protecting the digging claws from wearing down. Their anal scent glands also secrete a noxious fume. They have well developed scent but as a nocturnal animal poor sight. Instead of teeth they have a gizzard-like stomach full of stones and sand they ingest. African tree pangolins fill their stomachs with air before entering the water to aid in buoyancy for well developed swimming.
Its natural predators are leopards, hyenas, and pythons. But its unnatural predator is its biggest threat, humans. The meat is used and considered a delicacy and is especially popular with local African people, particularly the Cape pangolin. Pangolin hide is used for boots and other leathery goods. The scales are thought to have medicinal value as an antiseptic, fever combatant, defense against skin disease, and aphrodisiac. The scales are used as is or ground in to powder for potions. These “uses” have led to reduced pangolin population even though there are bans on commercial trade of all pangolin species. The seven species of pangolin are all becoming extremely rare as a result of hunting.
