The Magical Pangolin

A rare ancient treasure

Ages 5+ Video Links Require Adult Supervision 3 minute reading  + additional video links 1hr

The Pangolin is, "the world's only truly scaly mammal", says Sir David Attenborough in the ABC documentary, Pangolins.

The Pangolin is a prehistoric and somewhat  mythological looking being  that has it's origins on the continent of Africa and Asia. Looking somewhat similar in appearance to an Aardvark but with scales like pine cones covering nearly all of its body. The Pangolin is a slow-moving, shy and defenceless mammal.

Pangolin is the most hunted mammal on the planet and because of black market poaching also one of the rarest.

Living on planet earth for more than 40 million years, the Pangolin are almost extinct because of the demand for their meat and scales in the Asian pharmaceutical and restaurant trade. Pangolin scales are worth more than ivory on the black market, and with dwindling supplies of the rare animal on the Asian continent, poachers now source Pangolin illegally from Africa.

Extinction is imminent.

In Africa and Vietnam, amazing wildlife warriors are working to save the pangolin in the wild, establishing conservation and rehabilitation projects which are leading the way to understand and protecting the dwindling Pangolin species. Education and community are crucial to saving our very precious planet and the gorgeous and rare creatures that inhabit it. All over the world animals are being lost forever, never to be seen or heard again. Animals that have lived here for millions of years, before the time of humans are vanishing before our eyes and it is our fault.

To find out more:

Watching Pangolins: Narrated by David Attenborough in iview

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/pangolins-narrated-by-david-attenborough?isMobile=iOS

Conservation

REST’s number one aim in being a good wildlife centre is to practice good conservation first. Founder, Maria Diekmann feels strongly that although research and education are key, conservation of a species must take priority. Extinction makes all other aspects irrelevant to survival. Of course research and education benefit from such efforts.

https://www.restnamibia.org

Guest Contributor: Emily Rack Business Name: Horatio’s Jar Publisher: Digital Schools Emily Rack is a yoga teacher, meditation instructor, freelance writer and visual content creator. She incorporates a unique creative flair into her yoga and meditation classes, courses and workshops. Emily hosts events and classes in schools and the wider community & is passionate about teaching the art of mindfulness. ——- PUBLISHER’S DISCLAIMER: The publisher of this blog post (Digital Schools PTY LTD) works in partnership with the school as a 3rd party provider to help build and maintain the school website. Digital Schools sources a range of experts who provide products and/or services to educational institutions and we work with them to produce and publish topical information in the form of blog posts that we think  may be relevant, interesting or topical to families within the community. The views, opinions and content listed in this blog post are that of the guest contributor and/or publisher (Digital Schools). It should be noted that whilst the publisher and guest contributors are acting with the best intentions and in the best interests of the school and their community to provide helpful or interesting information, sometimes the content may not necessarily reflect the views of the school. The information in this blog post is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician.  The school and the publisher of this blog post  are not responsible for any person reading or following the information in this article who may experience adverse effects. Any references to external websites or sources are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement by the school or publisher in any way and the publisher and/or school cannot guarantee accuracy of information listed. If you have feedback on any content on this platform, you can submit it to the publisher using the feedback link provided at the bottom of this page.