White-bellied pangolin

White-bellied pangolin

We are delighted that the dermatological practice Manfred Wittenhorst, "Haut im Zentrum", has taken on the sponsorship of the white-bellied pangolin.

With its muscular prehensile tail, the pointed-faced white-bellied pangolin(Phataginus tricuspis) is ideally equipped for climbing. White-bellied pangolins are typical canopy dwellers in the rainforests and other forest formations of West and Central Africa. Among the pangolins (Pholidota), this species is one of the smaller representatives.

While they sleep during the day in tree hollows or between perching plants in branch forks, they track down their food at night mainly with the help of their fine nose: Termites and ants, which they pick up with the help of their exceptionally long and sticky tongue, make up the lion's share of their prey. When threatened by an approaching enemy, such as a leopard or python, they curl up into a ball - the spiky, hard scales facing outwards and the fur-covered, vulnerable ventral side well protected inside.

However, humans are the main threat to the white-bellied pangolins: the unsustainable hunting of the animals, which are eaten as "bush meat" or used for medicinal purposes, and the progressive destruction of their habitats have already led to the species being classified as "near threatened" (on the early warning list) in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).