Do Pangolins Exist

On April 23, 2015, officials investigated a supposedly abandoned warehouse near the Belawan port in Medan, Indonesia. Inside, they found sixty poultry crates filled with ninety-six terrified and dehydrated pangolins. Also inside of the warehouse were two refrigerated shipping containers. They held boxes and bags of dead pangolin alongside bags of pangolin scales and meat. In all, five tons of frozen pangolins were discovered. There were also over 220 pounds of pangolin scales. These obscure scaly creatures could possibly be the most trafficked mammals in the world. Despite this fact, people rarely know about the pangolin. Pangolins are being killed and they could be extinct before most people realize it exists. Or perhaps, they are slaughtered because of that fact.
Pangolins are said to closely resemble an armadillo with scales. They have hexagonal overlapping scales made of keratin, a material that is also found in human hair and nails. Pangolin scale color can vary from a light yellow-brown to a dark olive-brown, and they
Pregnancy lasts from sixty five days for the Indian pangolin to 139 days for the Cape and Tree pangolins. Pangolins are sexually dimorphic, meaning they only differ in weight. Male pangolins can be ten to fifty percent heavier in comparison to females, while the Indian pangolin can be up to ninety percent heavier. Almost all pangolins give birth to one offspring. When babies are born, they are six inches long and weigh about twelve ounces. They are soft and pale and will begin to develop hardened scales by the second day. Young pangolins will nurse for three to four months but will start eating ants and termites at one month. The mother pangolin will roll around the baby when sleeping or when danger is near. Pangolins will live in burrows until they are old enough to ride on their mother's tail to forage for insects. If the mother deems the burrow unsafe she will move the baby to a new