What to Pay Attention to When Raising Pangolins

Pangolin, I think many people are not particularly familiar with it. Perhaps everyone has heard its name, but they are not particularly knowledgeable about its effects and functions, so pangolin breeding is not very common on the market today.

What is a pangolin  

Pangolin (Latin scientific name: Manis) is the collective term for the genus Manis in the family Manidae, with a total of 8 species. It is a ground-dwelling mammal with an elongated body, scales covering the whole body, short and thick limbs, and a flat and long tail with a slightly raised back. Pangolins mostly live in subtropical deciduous forests. During the day they often hide in burrows and block the entrance with soil. At night they mostly come out to forage, being nocturnal, and when encountering enemies they curl up into a ball. Pangolins are rare in the wild, and in China, private hunting and eating of them is prohibited.

What to pay attention to when raising pangolins  

The pangolin is also called the scaly anteater or qilin. It is a rare medicinal animal. The pangolin has high medicinal value. Li Shizhen recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica: “Its scales can treat malignant sores, madness, promote menstruation, and promote lactation.” Both its meat and scales can be used as medicine.  

The pangolin belongs to Mammalia, Pholidota, Manidae. Its body length is generally 40 to 55 cm, and its tail is flat and thick, shorter than the body. The body and tail are covered with imbricate horny scales; the head is small, the snout is pointed, the mouth, ears, and eyes are all small, it has no teeth, and its tongue is slender and can extend from the mouth opening to lick food. Its limbs are short, and its claws are strong and sharp, used for scratching the ground to forage or dig burrows to live in. It mainly feeds on ants or insects. In the wild it is mainly distributed and produced in China's southern warm and humid provinces and regions such as Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Taiwan, China, inhabiting forests, shrublands, and grassy areas in hilly and mountainous regions.  

The pangolin is a national second-class protected animal, and hunting it is strictly prohibited. Its scales are a precious traditional Chinese medicinal material. In recent years, because wild pangolins have been overhunted and their numbers have sharply declined, and there are few artificial breeders, supply on the traditional Chinese medicinal materials market is tight, prices have soared, and economic value is relatively high. But if you want to raise them, you need to solve three major problems: first, seed selection. You must first obtain approval from the local forestry department and capture pangolins in the wild; second, you need to create an ecological environment suitable for pangolins to survive and reproduce; third, the feed problem. Pangolins mainly feed on termites, and also eat black ants and ant larvae, so the problem of artificial mixed feed as a substitute must be solved.  

Newly captured pangolins generally refuse to eat. At this time, the method of forced feeding should be used, and feeding by gavage for 2 to 3 days is enough.  

Pangolins can reproduce in all four seasons. One male is paired with 4 females, and they produce at least 2 litters each year, with 1 to 2 young per litter. Newborn young have no scales, are white in color, and are nourished by breast milk. After reaching a body weight of 250 grams, they can live independently and forage on their own.  

Three issues to note during the breeding process  

1. In the bait, appropriately add (1) vitamin C and E; (2) trace elements plus zinc and iron tablets; (3) hormones, and pay attention to timely replacement of the bait.  

2. During the breeding process, prolonged noise from the outside should be prevented, escape should be prevented, and the water pool should be kept with continuously flowing water.  

3. A pangolin generally can reach a body weight of about 500 grams by winter

The living habits of pangolins  

1. Environment: Pangolins grow in tropical and subtropical regions, living in moist areas of mixed woodlands at the foot of mountains, hills, or plains. They especially like earthy mountain and muddy ground mixed with small stones, and dig burrows to live in. The burrows are often built in muddy soil areas, with a depth of 2-4 m and a nest at the end.  

2. Activity: Pangolins often hide in burrows during the day and come out at night to move about. When walking, the backs of the front feet face the ground, and they walk on the backs of their claws. They can climb trees and often use the tail as a grasping organ. Their vision is relatively weak. When encountering enemies and being startled, they curl into a ball and use their scales to protect the head and abdomen, so they are very easy to capture.  

3. Feeding habits: Pangolins mainly eat small insects such as termites, ants, and bees. When foraging, they first use the long claws of the front feet to break part of the nest, then insert the snout into the ant hole and use the sticky, highly extensible tongue to lick up the ants.  

4. Reproduction: Pangolins usually live with males and females together. When body weight is generally above 2 kg, they enter the reproductive stage. They generally go into estrus and mate from May to July each year, and give birth from November to December. The gestation period is 5-6 months. The duration of estrus is relatively long. Males remain in estrus throughout their estrous period and do not show periodicity. Females have 2-5 estrous cycles during the estrous period, with an estrous cycle of 12-25 days. Females no longer go into estrus after conception. During the estrous period, males search everywhere for females. During the estrous and mating period, males and females live together, and after mating they separate. Pangolins produce 1 litter per year. Under artificial breeding conditions, they can produce 3 litters in 2 years.

In the process of raising pangolins, we first need to understand their living habits. Pangolins are national second-class protected animals and cannot be hunted at will. Pangolins not only have high food value, but also high medicinal value.