How Sad

I  seem to be finding a lot that links back to my A-Z Challenge posts. It's not intentional. Things just keep turning up that connect to what I was writing about.

This one is about the harmless and very endangered pangolin which is under threat everywhere in its range. This, you might think, would mean that anyone with the capability of thought would avoid killing or otherwise harming them. Instead, sadly, the illegal trade in wildlife is flourishing and these and many other creatures are being taken and sold as pets and, even worse, are killed and sold as exotic meat.

The authorities in most areas are doing what they can to break the trade and this recent raid on a warehouse in Sumatra in Indonesia was one success. I have to say that I found the photo of thousands of frozen pangolins heart wrenching and the accompanying text makes it clear that many, many more animals - and not only pangolins because they also found bear paws - had already been sold on. Truly, I despair of humanity sometimes. At least the 96 live pangolins recovered now have a chance of a good life.

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Pangolin

Well, I saw this video - apologies for the advertisement at the beginning - and thought I had to write about this fascinating, nocturnal creature.

The pangolin, also known as the scaly anteater, gets its name from its covering of thick, overlapping scales. These scales are made from keratin, just as our hair and nails - and, for that matter, the horn of the rhinoceros - are. They are an effective protection against predators, though, when they roll themselves into a tight ball. Its strong front legs are well adapted for burrowing and they use their rear legs and tail for balance and to remove the excavated dirt. As its alternative name implies the pangolin uses its extremely long, sticky tongue to feed predominately on ants and termites, although sometimes it includes other invertebrates. Although most species are ground dwellers, there are several that are adept climbers some of which even sleep in on branches or in tree forks.

Pangolins are found through Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and are under threat from land clearance, which is robbing them of their habitat, and the illegal wildlife trade. This has made them one of the most endangered mammals in the world.