Pangolins: The most harmless creatures around the world

Pangolins: The most harmless creatures around the world 

Pangolin is an animal that lives in Africa and Asia 12 inches (30.5 centimetres) to 39 inches (99 cm) long.They weigh from about 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kilograms) to 73 lbs. (33 kg) 

Pangolins have scaly skin on their back when they’re out looking for dinner. Pangolins are not very ferocious, they don’t even have teeth and it’s not very fast either. It has to wobble on its hind legs and tail. 

It has two formidable tools,the first it has are it’s claws,they are huge and it can rip up dry ground to find ants and termites. Once it rips open the side of the ant/termites colony it dives its heads first. Its second tool is its long sticky tongue, which it uses to slide through cracks and crevices. The tongue gathers thousands of ants/termites every day.

Ants use the old way to save the colony, swarm and bite but the pangolin has protected armour so it can’t feel a thing. It’s eyes have a thick lid, it’s ears and nose have special valves that close off when the ants/termites attack.When the ants gather up and rebuild their home the pangolin will destroy it all over again.

Pangolins are not really reptiles, they are actually mammals, there are eight species of them, four in Asia and four in Africa, all of them are threatened with extinction.Pangolins are shy nocturnal animals mostly found in forests, they live either on the ground or up in the trees sheltering in hollows. 

Pangolins mean roller, the word pangolin comes from the Malay word pengulling  meaning something that rolls up because they curl up into a ball when they feel threatened. Pangolins are often called scaly anteaters due to their love of ants and the way that their scales overlap across their body. Their scales are made from keratin which are the same as our own hair and fingernails. 

They’re also the only mammal in the world to be completely covered in scales which provides them with protections from predators. Pangolins can eat up to 70 million insects each year. They walk from their knuckles and they do this to protect their long sharp claws. Pangolins can help to introduce air into the soil using their long snouts, claws and long tongues too.

There are over eight different species in africa and asia they are called: