They're small, scaly, and look like little dragons. Aside from inspiring two Pokemon characters, few people outside Asia and Africa have even heard of pangolins - yet they're one of the world's most trafficked mammals.
Image: AP
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A small and scaly animal that looks almost like a pine cone with legs trundles slowly through the forest. It can barely see, and has no teeth. Hardly sounds like a formidable foe, but this unusual creature would strike fear into your heart - if you were an ant.
The pangolin, native to Asia and Africa, is perfectly adapted to killing its prey. With large claws, the animal can tear a hole in the side of any anthill. Its long, sticky tongue - with which it scoops up its prey - is the ultimate flypaper. The pangolin's hard, armor-like scales and ability to close its ears and nostrils render useless the ants' usual defense strategy: to swarm and bite.
The insects are helpless. But so, too, are pangolins - in the face of poaching and a burgeoning appetite for their meat and scales across Africa and the Far East, according to conservation group WWF.
In Africa, they are hunted as bushmeat. But their scales, which are made of keratin - the same substance found in rhino horn and human fingernails - and other body parts, including bones, eyes, claws and the heart - are also used in traditional medicines and cultural practices, such as rain-making ceremonies or to ward off evil spirits.
The animals are in highest demand in China and Vietnam. There, the flesh of both adults and fetuses is a delicacy, and believed to confer health benefits on those who eat it. The scales, blood and body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat ailments ranging from asthma to arthritis. Plummeting numbers
Little information is available on pangolin numbers. They are solitary and secretive animals, active mainly at night. All eight species are protected under international agreements, and range from vulnerable to critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
But based on reported seizures of dead pangolins and their availability in restaurants and markets, conservationists say they are all in decline - particularly in Asia - and are concerned that African pangolins will next be targeted to satisfy Asian demand.
With the help of conservation programs, it's possible to reintroduce pangolins into the wildImage: Getty Images/AFP
It's little wonder that the illegal pangolin trade continues in spite of sanctions and efforts to halt it. Live animals fetch up to 1,335 euros per kilo ($681 per pound) in Vietnam, according to a recent report.
This same investigation found restaurants openly selling pangolins for 223 euros per kilogram. In some places, live animals could be brought to the table, where their throats were slit and their blood served - as an aphrodisiac.
Protecting the pangolin
Despite this ravenous demand, conservation groups are working hard globally to protect the mammal. The African Wildlife Foundation is supporting communities living near pangolins to shift to sustainable agriculture and away from hunting threatened wildlife for food. Conservation groups are also campaigning to have all pangolin species added to Appendix 1 of the CITES treaty governing international wildlife trade. Such a move would allow trade of the animals only under "exceptional circumstances" and would acknowledge they are facing extinction.
Environmentalists are urging governments attending the World Wildlife Conference in Johannesburg this month to impose maximum restrictions on the trade of endangered pangolins.
WWF, TRAFFIC and WildAid are involved in campaigns to raise awareness around the pangolin's plight, and educate people about the lack of any medicinal or magical properties in pangolin scales.
In reality, these scales are merely a defense mechanism - when threatened, the animal curls into a ball, wearing the scales like armor. The name pangolin derives from the Malay word "pengguling," which translates as "something that rolls up." Despite its protective scales, preservation of the pangolin in the wild is the animal's only hope. They rarely survive in captivity - only six zoos in the world successfully keep pangolins.
Rare, shy, tiny predators of the desert
Hardly anybody will ever see a black-footed cat. They are only about half the size of domestic cats and live in the savannah of southern Africa. German zoologists are trying to find out how many of them are still there.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Almost unknown
Hardly any other wild cat has been less researched than the black footed cat. One reason: the animals are almost impossible to see. They are just about half the size of domestic cats. A full grown tomcat weights about four pounds, or 1.9 kilograms, a female about 1.3 kilograms. Researchers estimate the population at 10,000. In South Africa and Botswana they are strictly protected.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
An inhospitable home
Black-footed cats live in the dry zones of southern Africa, in the savannah and the semideserts of the Karoo and Kalahari. The main population centers are in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, but they can also be found in Zimbabwe and Angola.
Image: Christine Ritzen
Skilled hunters
Other animals: be warned! During its nightly raids, a black-footed cat will catch a rodent or a bird every 50 minutes. This northern black korhaan is almost half a meter in size - more than a foot and a half. The wild cats can catch birds in flight, jump 1.4 meters high and two meters in distance.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Brave and ready to fight
Even though black-footed cats are generally shy, they will fight bravely against attackers - even snakes. This picture was taken just before the cat attacked. And the cats will even eat non-poisonous snakes. Of course weaker animals fall prey to the cats much more easily. A cape hare is considerably smaller than a European hare, but at 2.5 kilograms, still a lot bigger than the cat.
Image: M. Kusters
A case for Dr. Sliwa!
Even when the black-footed cats live near human settlements, it is quite possible that no-one will ever see one. The animals are extremely shy. Alexander Sliwa from the Black-Footed Cat Working Group tries to detect animals, which he previously fitted with radio collars .The Cologne-based zoologist has been researching black-footed cats since 1992.
Image: Christine Ritzen
Welcome to kitty's cave!
Currently, twelve animals are fitted with radio collars. Sometimes the zoologists have to get a bit closer to the animals - but that is not easy. The animals live in burrows abandoned by spring hares, ground squirrels, old world porcupines or aardvarks. Empty termite mounds are also popular among the cats for their perfect natural air conditioning.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Protection from other predators
Young kittens are relatively safe in their cat-apartments. A female will have between one and two young after a pregnancy of 63 to 68 days. The mother often changes her housing location to prevent predators like jackals from finding the young ones.
Image: Martina Küsters
Get out the pickaxe
When the zoologists want to get a cat out of its underground dwelling, they have to use heavy tools: pickaxe and shovel. In the midday heat on a December summer day, this is real hard work.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Gotcha!
The cat is caught in the net! Don't let her get away! The researchers have to move fast, if they want to check the animal's condition thoroughly. To avoid stress, the cats get an anesthetic shot right away. Then the general medical checkup can begin.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
A predator on the examination table
Since 2005, an international working group has dedicated its work to the protection of black-footed cats. Researchers from the U.S., South Africa and Germany meet once a year for three weeks. They catch the animals, fit radio collars and take samples of blood, urine, feces, saliva, fatty tissue and sperm.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
The proof!
The foot is actually black! The feet of the black footed cats are not as well set up for climbing as those of domestic cats - because there are not many trees around, where they live. But they are good runners. A male cat will walk about 30 kilometers or 19 miles in one night.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Deadly metabolic disease
The zoologists are testing the felines for signs of a particularly dangerous metabolic disease called amyloidosis. The disease is fatal for the cats. First zoologists diagnosed amyloidosis in zoo animals after a dramatic decline in populations. Later the disease was also found in the carcass of a wild black- footed cat.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Wake up kitty!
After the check-up, kitty is given an anti-anesthetic. Then the cat will be released into its cave. There it can recover from its surprise capture. For the researchers, the real work is just about to begin. They want to understand not only the medical condition of the cats, but also their daily routines and habits.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Close-circuit TV in the desert
Two camera-traps are installed right in front of the cave. Are the cats going to behave normally after waking up from their nap? Are they doing allright? Let's see who sticks his snout out first! Video-traps start recording as soon as something starts moving in front of the lens.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
Smile please!
The cats are suspicious of the photo-cameras at first. Thentheir curiosity wins, and they start investigating them, cautiously. This cat obviously survived the medical check up well and is checking to see if the weird researchers have finally gone.
Image: Dr. Alexander Sliwa
On the red list.
Zoologist Alexander Sliwa has been the first to document the hunting, territorial and reproductive behavior of the black-footed cats. His research provided the data for an evaluation of the conservation needs of the species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature is listing the cats as endangered in their "Red List of Threatened Species".
