Facts about Pangolin Ant Poaching
- 06
Pangolins possess specialized claws on their front feet that can exceed 4 centimeters in length, enabling them to excavate hardened termite mounds during ant poaching activities.
- 05
Some pangolin species consume tens of millions of ants and termites per year, making them ecologically significant controllers of insect populations.
- 04
Lacking teeth, pangolins grind ingested ants and termites using keratinous spines inside their muscular stomachs along with swallowed grit.
- 03
The sticky saliva coating a pangolin's tongue allows it to capture hundreds of ants or termites in a single feeding session.
- 02
A pangolin's tongue can be longer than its entire body, allowing it to reach deep into ant and termite colonies.
- 01
Pangolins are sometimes called ant poachers because they use their long, sticky tongues to extract ants and termites from mounds and logs.