INDIAN PANGOLIN

 INDIAN PANGOLIN

Local name : Kidikhau, Shalvo, Silu, Pingaroo

Physical measurements & life cycle 

Length : 60-100 cm (Female is little smaller than male)

 Weight : 8-10 kg

 Tail length :  40 cm 

Gestation    : 75 days 

 Life span : 8-10 years

Breeding : Winter  

Description

Pangolin is a long and toothless primitive looking mammal. It has slim mouth with a long, 'gummy', round, smooth tongue. Brownish grey coloured hard scales covering each other as in 'Pineapple'. The scales are in fact, the modified hairs arranged in rows on entire body. This cover of scales is very hard which protects pangolin from becoming a prey of a predator.

Food 

Insectivorous. It feeds on insects; especially ants, termites etc.

Distribution 

 It is distributed all over Gujarat state.

Habitat 

Inhabits grasslands, scrub and open forests, wastelands etc. 

Behaviour 

Nocturnal. Rests by the day-time and moves in search of food by night. It searches for food beneath the leaves fallen on land and in the termite mounds. It digs out the mound deeper and deeper to reach termites and termite- eggs. It can also walk only on its hind feet with the support of its hard tail. On suspecting a danger or an emergency, it can turn into a form of a ball and in turn, relying on the armour of its overlapping super-hard scales for self-protection. It can also run away from an enemy and sometimes it attacks enemy using its head and scaly tail. It can even spray its urine onto its enemy or climb up for self- protection.

Signs of presence: 

Pugmarks and burrows, especially close to a termite mound

 Population :   Low.

The Indian pangolin, a survival from past ages, is an Old World anteater. The nam "pangolin" is derived from the Malay word pengguling meaning "something that rolls up". The scales are soft on newborn pangolins, but they get harden as the animal matures. The scales are made of keratin, the same material of which human fingernails are made, Dueto its peculiar appearance owing to the cover of the overlapping scales, the pangolin is often compared to a 'walking pine cone'. Pangolins have an enormous salivary gland in their chests to lubricate its tongue with sticky, ant-catching saliva.

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