With Brookfield Zoo Chicago being just one of only a few zoos in the U.S. to have successfully bred and birthed pangolins, the new “pangopup” is a welcome addition to a small population that lives in zoological settings and helps advance experts’ understanding of the species’ reproductive behaviors and needs.

“Having pangolins in professional care provides a great opportunity for scientists and zoo specialists to learn as much as we can about the species’ natural history, which allows us to share this vital information and collaborate with in situ partners to ensure conservation success for pangolins in the wild,” said Mark Wanner, associate vice president of animal care and conservation. “It also gives us the opportunity to raise awareness about the plight all pangolins world-wide are facing due to illegal and unsustainable harvesting for food and scales.”

In 2016, Brookfield Zoo Chicago led the way to establish the North American Pangolin Consortium with the objective to have a sustainable population of white-bellied pangolins under professional care to aid in better understanding the unique animal’s behavior and physiology and to support field conservation efforts for this endangered species.

Over the past eight years, Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s animal care and veterinary staff has gained significant insight, and has published five papers about this nocturnal mammal, which is nicknamed the “scaly anteater.” For instance, it was thought gestation for the white-bellied pangolin was about 140 to 150 days, which has been documented in other pangolin species. However, at Brookfield Zoo, staff recorded gestation to be upwards of just over 200 days that might suggest a delayed embryo implantation. Additionally, young stay with their mothers until about 5 to 6 months of age and are sexually reproductive at about 18 months.

Caring for these animals in a zoo environment is a delicate process. Being one of only a few zoos in North America that cares for pangolins provides Brookfield Zoo Chicago unique opportunities for zoo-based scientists and staff to expand their knowledge about the species. Husbandry techniques and the animal’s diet have been modified and improved upon over the past several years. The Zoo’s director of nutrition has formulated a diet that provides the pangolins with all the nutrients they need as well as developed a consistency for the diet allowing the animals to more easily consume the food to mimic a more natural way of feeding. Also, it is known that pangolins are solitary animals, only coming together to mate or when a mother raises its young. To gauge interest for potential mating, modifications have been made to the pangolins’ behind-the-scenes habitats, including installing a tunnel system, which allows the animals to see one another, but not come in direct contact.

Just recently, Brookfield Zoo Chicago staff was able to successfully test a newly developed thermal camera, designed to detect arboreal species, on the pangolins in its care. The documenting of the pangolins’ movements is providing valuable insights into the mammals’ behaviors during their peak activity hours, and is part of a project, called Operation Pangolin, which was initiated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN) Pangolin Specialist Group. Knowledge learned from testing the camera on the Zoo’s pangolins can be transferred to monitoring the species in the wild, which can aid in learning more about the species’ natural behaviors, determining population sizes, and even identifying if poachers are in certain areas illegally.

Ranging from vulnerable to critically endangered, there are four species of pangolins native to Asia and four are native to Africa—and the populations for all eight species are declining. Annually, upwards of 200,000 individual animals are poached from the wild for food in the illegal bushmeat trade. Their scales are also used in Asian medicines and in pieces of jewelry. Efforts to prevent uncontrolled poaching have failed to reduce losses. Habitat loss and degradation is another main threat to the species. The situation for pangolins has reached a critical level in Asia and could soon reach the same critical level in Africa.

Pangolins have a distinctive look with a cone-shaped head, a long prehensile (grasping) tail, and a body that is covered with sharp, artichoke-shaped scales made of keratin, the same material human fingernails are made from. Their belly and face have soft hairs. A full-grown white-bellied pangolin measures between 24 and 40 inches long, with the tail comprising approximately half of its length. The pangolin does not have teeth, but rather swallow its prey, which are predominantly ants and termites, whole. An adult pangolin can eat up to 20,000 ants and termites a day. To protect itself from a predator, a pangolin will curl up into a tight ball and use its scaled body like a coat of armor.