Can pangolins be farmed artificially? Farming conditions and profit-making methods

Pangolins are widely farmed because of their high medicinal value, but to farm pangolins you need to meet certain conditions and management techniques, and only then can you create high returns. So can pangolins be farmed artificially? What conditions need to be met? How do you farm them to make money?

Pangolins can be farmed artificially, but they cannot be bred artificially; the pangolins in farms today are all small pangolins captured in the wild.

Farming condition requirements:

1. Creating a quiet, imitated ecological environment with a temperature of 24-26° and a humidity of 65% is a prerequisite for successfully farming pangolins.

2. Whether there is sufficient high-quality natural animal feed such as ants and mealworms is the foundation for raising pangolins well.

3. Farming pangolins requires applying for a “License for the Domestic Breeding of Nationally Key Protected Terrestrial Wild Animals”, and the following materials must be submitted (in quadruplicate):

1. The farmer’s administrative licensing application to the provincial Forestry Department;

2. An application report;

3. The “Application Form for Administrative Licensing Matters Concerning Wild Animal Protection and Management”;

4. The “Application Form for a License for the Domestic Breeding of Nationally Key Protected Wild Animals”;

5. Valid documents or materials proving the applicant’s identity and qualifications;

6. A photocopy of the other party’s farming license and the introduction contract;

7. Land use proof;

8. Proof of funding sources;

9. Proof of technical personnel;

10. A feasibility study report or overall plan for engaging in the domestic breeding of wild animals;

11. Photos of the breeding site;

12. The review opinion of the local municipal Forestry Bureau;

Special note: at this stage, if the technology has not been mastered, the relevant departments will not approve artificial pangolin farming projects, especially individual farming of an experimental nature. In addition, pioneering and research-oriented farming like this generally requires no small amount of financial support, and not everyone is suited to attempt it. At the same time, do not easily believe advertisements claiming that farming pangolins is profitable.

Farming methods:

1. Site setup

For pangolin breeding sites, it is best to choose a cool place near water and against a mountain. First dig out the topsoil, then mix quicklime, coarse sand and yellow mud into a mixed soil, let it dry in the sun, and then pour a smooth cement floor. Then use stones or bricks to build a 2 m high wall around the finished cement floor, and plaster the surrounding surfaces with cement to make them smooth, so that pangolins cannot dig holes and escape. Then put the topsoil back into the site and pile it into a rockery, planting trees, grapes, flowers and plants on the mountain to regulate the microclimate in the site, achieving warmth in winter and coolness in summer. The rockery inside the wall must not exceed 1.5 m in height and must be more than 1 m away from the wall. Beside the rockery, build a small pool for pangolins to drink water and swim. The size of the site is determined by the number raised; generally 2 pairs are raised per 10 sq m.

2. Feed preparation

Pangolins feed exclusively on ants. Under artificial breeding conditions, relying on catching termites by hand to feed them is very difficult, because each pangolin needs to eat 80-120 g of termites per day, and generally a termite nest contains no more than 1000 g at most. Moreover, termite nests are hard to find, and even if there is a nest, digging it out is especially labor-intensive, so the following measures must be taken.

① Artificial termite cultivation: the cultivation method is to dig pits in the ground, use rotted pine trunks, branches and leaves, and introduce termite species for large-scale reproduction.

② Artificially prepared feed: the formula of artificially prepared feed must be reasonable, the proportions of various components must be appropriate, and the prepared feed must be palatable and readily eaten. Newly captured pangolins used for breeding initially refuse artificially fed feed, so they must be fed termites or black ants, and afterward the feed proportion should be gradually changed until they slowly become accustomed to the artificial mixed feed. For the few that refuse food for a longer time, artificial force-feeding can also be carried out.

3. Feeding management

The breeding room must be disinfected regularly, drinking water and the soil of the manure pit must be changed frequently, the food basin must be washed once a day, moldy feed must not be used, and feeding must be done once a day at a fixed time and in a fixed amount, with 150-200 g of artificially prepared feed each time. After feeding, put the pangolins into the activity area to move around for 2-3 hours. Because pangolins are accustomed to a wild, burrowing life, they have relatively poor ability to adapt to changes in ground temperature differences. Once the temperature and humidity of the breeding room are improperly controlled, they are prone to catching cold and developing pneumonia and dying. The room temperature should be controlled at 18-25℃, and the relative humidity should be controlled at 60%-70%, so that the breeding room can basically achieve warmth in winter and coolness in summer, which is favorable for the growth and development of pangolins.

4. Cub management

Newborn pangolin cubs weigh 90-130 g, have closed eyes, no scales, and are light white in color; they open their eyes at half a month of age. After 1 month, they gain 200-500 g, and the scales gradually become keratinized and are mostly dark brown. After 2 months, they can go out with the mother pangolin to forage. At 6 months, the cub can weigh 1500-2000 g and can leave the mother to live independently. Cubs born in the first year can reach sexual maturity in the second year and be mated for breeding.

5. Disease prevention and control

When pangolins change from wild to domestic, both food and environmental conditions change considerably, which sometimes causes temporary physiological maladaptation. Pile some disinfected river sand in the site, that is, mix river sand with a 1000-fold solution of 90% trichlorfon crystals. After mixing evenly, let the pangolins take sand baths, which can prevent diseases and also make the pangolins’ scales smooth and plump.

① Lice disease: occurs on the body surface; use 10 ml of lice-removal essence diluted in 3-4 kg of water for a medicated bath on the body surface.

② Gastrointestinal disease: if pangolins develop diarrhea and eat little, then furazolidone, oxytetracycline or chloramphenicol should be added to the bait and fed continuously for 4-6 days.

③ Coccidiosis: affected pangolins are generally thin and anorexic; sulfur powder can be added to the bait (add 2-3 g to 0.5 kg of bait) and fed continuously for 3-4 days.