Chiang Mai Journal of Science

Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is a critically endangered species throughout its range due to illegal hunting, poaching, trafficking for its scales and meat, and fragmentation of natural habitats. Mostly rescue programs for the Chinese pangolin have had limited triumph due to the rarity of literature on the behavior, ecology, and diet. This study investigated the faecal composition of the Chinese pangolin in a subtropical forest associated countryside in South China. Chinese pangolin mainly predates on ants and termites but prefers to eat their eggs and larvae. Other than ants and termites, a variation was recorded that is the presence of undigested beetle body parts (heads, mouthparts, thorax, abdomen, elytra, and legs). Analysis of faecal content further revealed that the undigested matter (by weight) was largely composed of grit (55.85%), insect matter (32.44%), plant matter (7.21%), and hair (4.50%). As compared to ants and beetles, the digestibility of termites (heads, mouthparts, abdomens, and legs) was observed high. This digestibility difference was observed from the presence of considerably more body parts of ant and beetle in faecal matter, compared to that of termites. However undigested termite wings were observed. The main prey species of the Chinese pangolin were termites of the genus Odontotermes, ants of the genus Carebara, Pheidole and Anoplolepis, and beetles of the genus Harpalus. The findings of this study on the Chinese pangolin faecal composition have suggestions in husbandry, captive rearing, and conservation in wild.