Recently, a scientific expedition team from the Guangdong Zijin Baixi Provincial Nature Reserve Management Office detected a wild Chinese pangolin in Jiuhe Town, Zijin County, during a wildlife scientific survey. This is the second area in Zijin County where a wild Chinese pangolin has been discovered, following the detection of a Chinese pangolin population in Longwo Town, Zijin County in 2020.
It is understood that the Chinese pangolin captured on camera was seen moving rapidly towards the foot of the mountain at 4 a.m., passing through the area identified by infrared cameras. Based on the video footage, it is speculated that the wild Chinese pangolin is an adult individual. Its outing may have been foraging for food and then looking for water or to defecate. It will return to its burrow soon afterward.
Chinese pangolin
File photo
The Chinese pangolin is a Class I protected wild animal in China, belonging to the genus *Pangolin* in the family Caryopsidae of the order Pholidota. It is the only extant mammal with scales and no teeth, using its long tongue to trap prey and swallow it directly. Its vision is largely atrophied, but its sense of smell is exceptionally acute. It primarily feeds on termites and ants, prefers hot climates, can climb trees, and is nocturnal. It generally inhabits areas with minimal human disturbance, abundant food and water, and dense vegetation. When threatened, it curls into a ball, using its hard scales for defense. Pangolins have a low reproductive rate, typically giving birth to only one offspring per year.
Zijin County is located in the east-central part of Guangdong Province, in the southeastern part of Heyuan City, on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Dongjiang River and the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River, and is the source of the Hanjiang River. Zijin County is a region with complex natural geography and magnificent ecological landscapes, which has fostered and developed biodiversity, thus preserving rich vegetation types. Zijin County currently has 1,868 species (including varieties and forms) of wild vascular plants, belonging to 227 families and 859 genera, including 43 species of nationally protected wild plants, of which 2 are classified as first-class and 41 as second-class. It also has 194 species of terrestrial wild vertebrates, belonging to 67 families, including 33 species of nationally protected wild animals, of which 2 are classified as first-class and 31 as second-class.
Collared Scops Owl
Leopard cat
A relevant official from the Guangdong Zijin Baixi Provincial Nature Reserve Management Office stated that they will continuously strengthen scientific research and monitoring of wild flora and fauna, increase publicity efforts for the protection of wild flora and fauna, raise public awareness of ecological environment and wildlife protection, create a strong atmosphere of protection, and build a solid green ecological barrier.
