Small, shy, and superbly equipped for life in the trees, the White-bellied pangolin is the nimble climber of Africa’s pangolin clan. Cat-sized and lightly built, it wears flexible, overlapping scales like a suit of pinecones over everything except its pale throat and belly—hence the name. A long, muscular tail ends in a bare, grippy pad that works like a fifth limb, letting it hang, brace, and pivot among branches. Up front, curved claws act like ice axes for bark. Unlike its heavier ground-dwelling cousins, this species spends much of its time off the forest floor in West and Central African woodlands, farms, and edges, threading along lianas after dark.
Everything about the White-bellied pangolin is built for ant and termite raids. It has no teeth; instead, a long, sticky tongue—stored deep in the chest—slides out to vacuum up insects by the thousands. When it rips open a nest with those big claws, it can seal its nostrils and ears to keep angry ants out, and a tough, scaly eyelid protects its eyes. Its stomach even works like a grinder, helped by swallowed grit and coarse fibers that mash the insect paste. By night it patrols a route of productive trees and fallen logs; by day it tucks into hollows, vine tangles, or dense leaf nests. It’s a solitary, nocturnal creature, and a quiet one—more a whisper of scales than a presence—so most people never notice it even where it still occurs.
Family life is simple and endearing. Mothers typically have a single “pangopup,” which rides curled at the base of her tail or clings to her back while she feeds. If threatened, she wraps around the youngster and coils into the classic armored ball, the scales clicking softly as they lock. That curl-and-wait defense works on leopards and eagles, but not so well against people.
Distribution
Angola
Benin
Burundi
Cameroon
Central Af. Rep.
Congo-Brazzaville
Côte D’ivoire
DR Congo (Kinshasa)
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Kenya
Liberia
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
ZambiaAnything we've missed?
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Terrestrial / Aquatic
Altricial / Precocial
Polygamous / Monogamous
Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic
Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal
Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Herd
Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore
Migratory: Yes / No
Domesticated: Yes / No
Dangerous: Yes / No
