Pangolins are very vulnerable to overexploitation as they have low reproductive rates, are hunted easily and are notoriously hard to maintain in captivity. This means that all pangolins involved in the illegal trade come from the wild as they cannot be captive bred on a commercial scale. Animal trafficking is causing the pangolin populations to plummet so quickly that even experienced poachers now have trouble finding them in their usual hunts. It is evident that if we do not act quickly and decisively to conserve the remaining pangolin population, these scaly anteaters will soon disappear off the face of the earth.
“Pangolins save us million of dollars a year in pest destruction. These shy creatures provide a vital service and we cannot afford to overlook their ecological role as natural controllers of termites and ants” – Dr Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.
Pangolins feed on an estimated 200,000 ants and termites daily, playing a vital role in the forest ecological system as pest control agents. They protect the trees by ensuring that termite populations are kept in check and do not overrun the entire area.
Sunda pangolin feeding
In a broader sense, pangolins also help to maintain the delicate balance of our fragile ecosystems. As we know, all animals in the environment are interdependent on one another. When one species go extinct, there will be far reaching consequences. For example, without pangolins, ants and termites populations will increase exponentially. This in turn affects the flora and fauna in the area, which affect the herbivores and then the omnivores and carnivores. Sooner or later the impacts will reach us, and by then it will be too late. The overpopulation of termites may also wipe out plants that may be of potential importance to us.
Losing pangolins means we are one species closer to losing our biodiversity. As mentioned in the Convention about Life on Earth
” the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.”
If and when the pangolins go extinct, it is not just about the loss of one species, but also the loss of everything we could have potentially gained.