An Introduction
This project was based around the endangered pangolins. When I started I intended to make a museum exhibit displaying these animals so people could see what they looked like and hopefully cared about them a little more. In the ended up making a to scale* African giant ground pangolin.
*to scale, pangolins have scales, it's a joke : )
Art:
I made it by scrunching up newspaper and taping it together to make a form. Then I put on about 4 layers of paper machete. Finally I cut out scales and glued them on with hot glue. This whole process took about 2 weeks.
English/History:
For these sections I intended to write and make a psa, but as far as the script.
Script:
When you think of endangered animals, a few you might know right off the top of your head are tigers, gorillas, rhinos. But there’s a lot more than that.
For school I decided I wanted to make a project focusing on one of these animals as a way to share awareness of their soon to be extinction. So i checked on World Wild Life’s website and I came across a ton. I noticed an animal with no scientific name listed, the pangolin. I’d never hear of one before so I read their brief article explain them, and I fell in love. In case you don’t know what a pangolin is, this is what they look like (play videos of pangolins).
Pangolins are harmless, scaly mammals. There are eight species of pangolins, four are found in asia, and four in africa. Some can climb trees, while others are grounded, but they all are nocturnal. Pangolins are similar to anteaters because they also eat ants! Their diets consists of insects like ants, termites, bee larva, flies, worms, and crickets. They have a long, sticky tongue to catch the bugs. Their tongues muscle actually starts at their last rib, near their pelvis, so when fully extend its longer than they are! They also have sharp claws that they use to dig for insects or dig burrows. Pangolins have a squishy stomachs that they protect by rolling into a ball. They are covered in hard scales made of keratin, that big cats can’t even peirce.
So how did pangolins become endangered if they’re harmless and don’t have any predators? One thing is they have a difficult time repopulation. The males are about 50% larger, but can get up to 90% in some species. Females also only have one baby a year. Not only that but pangolins usually live in solitary, so they have difficulty finding each other. Pangolins also can’t be raised in captivity because of their diets. Since there is still so little known about these animals, no ones what to feed them. One of the only zoos in North America that housed on was the San Diego zoo, where they feed them special pellets made out of incests. Pangolin’s may also be killed from predators like leopards, lions, and tigers, but their main threat is humans. They’re trafficked to china and vietnam where their meat is sold to restaurants. It’s considered a delicacy. Rich people will buy and eat it as a status symbol to prove their wealth. Pangolin is very expensive because it’s illegal to trade, making it that much harder to come by. Pangolins are also trafficked for their scales, which are considered medicinal in places like china and vietnam, although there isn’t much real proof. Pangolins are actually the most trafficked animal in the world, just due to the sheer number. WWF says that from 2011 to 2013, 116,990-233,980 pangolins were killed. They estimate this to only be 10% of traded pangolins. National Geographic predicts that nearly have been killed this past decade. Asian pangolins have been the main source of supply, but in recent years african pangolins have also began to be trafficked. All four species of african pangolin are all listed as vulnerable, while two of the asian pangolin are listed as endangered. The other two, Sunda and chinese pangolin, are critically endangered.
Luckily pangolins have been protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES. They have banned trade of all pangolins. Although this slows down the rate of the trafficking, it still happens. Now because it is much harder to obtain pangolin, the demand is way up. Pangolins are still being trafficked illegally.
For school I decided I wanted to make a project focusing on one of these animals as a way to share awareness of their soon to be extinction. So i checked on World Wild Life’s website and I came across a ton. I noticed an animal with no scientific name listed, the pangolin. I’d never hear of one before so I read their brief article explain them, and I fell in love. In case you don’t know what a pangolin is, this is what they look like (play videos of pangolins).
Pangolins are harmless, scaly mammals. There are eight species of pangolins, four are found in asia, and four in africa. Some can climb trees, while others are grounded, but they all are nocturnal. Pangolins are similar to anteaters because they also eat ants! Their diets consists of insects like ants, termites, bee larva, flies, worms, and crickets. They have a long, sticky tongue to catch the bugs. Their tongues muscle actually starts at their last rib, near their pelvis, so when fully extend its longer than they are! They also have sharp claws that they use to dig for insects or dig burrows. Pangolins have a squishy stomachs that they protect by rolling into a ball. They are covered in hard scales made of keratin, that big cats can’t even peirce.
So how did pangolins become endangered if they’re harmless and don’t have any predators? One thing is they have a difficult time repopulation. The males are about 50% larger, but can get up to 90% in some species. Females also only have one baby a year. Not only that but pangolins usually live in solitary, so they have difficulty finding each other. Pangolins also can’t be raised in captivity because of their diets. Since there is still so little known about these animals, no ones what to feed them. One of the only zoos in North America that housed on was the San Diego zoo, where they feed them special pellets made out of incests. Pangolin’s may also be killed from predators like leopards, lions, and tigers, but their main threat is humans. They’re trafficked to china and vietnam where their meat is sold to restaurants. It’s considered a delicacy. Rich people will buy and eat it as a status symbol to prove their wealth. Pangolin is very expensive because it’s illegal to trade, making it that much harder to come by. Pangolins are also trafficked for their scales, which are considered medicinal in places like china and vietnam, although there isn’t much real proof. Pangolins are actually the most trafficked animal in the world, just due to the sheer number. WWF says that from 2011 to 2013, 116,990-233,980 pangolins were killed. They estimate this to only be 10% of traded pangolins. National Geographic predicts that nearly have been killed this past decade. Asian pangolins have been the main source of supply, but in recent years african pangolins have also began to be trafficked. All four species of african pangolin are all listed as vulnerable, while two of the asian pangolin are listed as endangered. The other two, Sunda and chinese pangolin, are critically endangered.
Luckily pangolins have been protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES. They have banned trade of all pangolins. Although this slows down the rate of the trafficking, it still happens. Now because it is much harder to obtain pangolin, the demand is way up. Pangolins are still being trafficked illegally.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Actman, Jani. "The World’s Most Trafficked Mammal Just Got Desperately Needed Help." National Geographic. N.p., 28 Sept. 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/wildlife-watch-most-trafficked-mammal-just-got-help/>
I used this article to learn more about CITES ban on the trade of pangolins. It went into more specifics than most other cites did. This article also lead me to a few others that provided helpful facts.
Kelly, Guy. "Pangolins: 13 Facts about the World's Most Hunted Animal." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/pangolins-13-facts-about-the-worlds-most-hunted-animal/>
This website provided some little facts I didn’t find at other places. For instance, pangolins have really long tongues, male pangolins are larger than the females, and their name means “roll up”.
"Mammals | Tree Pangolin." Tree Pangolin. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tree-pangolin>.
I used this site to learn more about San Diego’s zoo. Since it was one of the only zoo’s to house these animals, it was interesting to see how they took care of these animals. This site also had some basic facts about them too.
"Pangolin." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/pangolin>
This website had a lot of basic information that helped build my credentials because it was coming from a well known source. I used this site mostly to point to a place helping the problem.
"Support the." Smutsia Gigantea (Giant Ground Pangolin, Giant Pangolin). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
I used this website to view how endangered each species was. I also used it to view where each of them resides.
Sutter, John D. "The Most Trafficked Creature You've Never Heard of." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
This article was written by someone who actually went to southern asia and wrote about their experience. It shows a lot of insight into the actual trafficking. It also shows a much more personal side to the issues at had. The whole article was unique and provides new little facts.
"What Is A Pangolin?" Save Pangolins. N.p., 21 Nov. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
<http://savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin/>
I used this site for a lot of the facts I got about pangolins rather than trafficking. It had a lot of everything, though, and is also a place that helps stop trafficking.
"Zoo Day: Baba the Pangolin." - CBS News 8. N.p., 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.cbs8.com/story/30013508/zoo-day-baba-the-pangolin>.
I used this site to find footage of baba, the pangolin from San Diego’s Zoo. It also had a brief description of pangolins.
Actman, Jani. "The World’s Most Trafficked Mammal Just Got Desperately Needed Help." National Geographic. N.p., 28 Sept. 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/wildlife-watch-most-trafficked-mammal-just-got-help/>
I used this article to learn more about CITES ban on the trade of pangolins. It went into more specifics than most other cites did. This article also lead me to a few others that provided helpful facts.
Kelly, Guy. "Pangolins: 13 Facts about the World's Most Hunted Animal." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/pangolins-13-facts-about-the-worlds-most-hunted-animal/>
This website provided some little facts I didn’t find at other places. For instance, pangolins have really long tongues, male pangolins are larger than the females, and their name means “roll up”.
"Mammals | Tree Pangolin." Tree Pangolin. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tree-pangolin>.
I used this site to learn more about San Diego’s zoo. Since it was one of the only zoo’s to house these animals, it was interesting to see how they took care of these animals. This site also had some basic facts about them too.
"Pangolin." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/pangolin>
This website had a lot of basic information that helped build my credentials because it was coming from a well known source. I used this site mostly to point to a place helping the problem.
"Support the." Smutsia Gigantea (Giant Ground Pangolin, Giant Pangolin). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
I used this website to view how endangered each species was. I also used it to view where each of them resides.
Sutter, John D. "The Most Trafficked Creature You've Never Heard of." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
This article was written by someone who actually went to southern asia and wrote about their experience. It shows a lot of insight into the actual trafficking. It also shows a much more personal side to the issues at had. The whole article was unique and provides new little facts.
"What Is A Pangolin?" Save Pangolins. N.p., 21 Nov. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
<http://savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin/>
I used this site for a lot of the facts I got about pangolins rather than trafficking. It had a lot of everything, though, and is also a place that helps stop trafficking.
"Zoo Day: Baba the Pangolin." - CBS News 8. N.p., 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.cbs8.com/story/30013508/zoo-day-baba-the-pangolin>.
I used this site to find footage of baba, the pangolin from San Diego’s Zoo. It also had a brief description of pangolins.
