Forest department officials in India have returned a ten kilogram pangolin to the wild, after it wandered into a populated area.
IBNLive reported on the story, which unfolded in Betanda-Balisahi earlier this week.
Ranger, Sarat Chandra Sahu, explained that people are often afraid of the toothless animals, which they mistakenly perceive as a dangerous threat.
Pangolins are not a threat to humans
He added that there is a strong need to educate the public about these animals to dispel such myths and replace them with facts: pangolins are completely harmless to humans (unless you attempt to physically handle them) and are an important part of the forest ecosystem, serving as natural pest controllers and soil caretakers.
Their large and elongated claws enable them to burrow underground for shelter and to excavate ant and termite nests for food.
In doing so, the soil is mixed and aerated—much like what happens when we till gardens or plow crop fields.
This improves the nutrient quality of the soil and aids the decomposition cycle, providing a healthy substrate for lush vegetation to grow from.
Additionally, it is said that a single pangolin consumes as much as 70 million insects per year—mainly ants and termites. Seventy million!
That’s about 191,780 insects per day! Imagine an area that is home to 15 pangolins. Those animals alone could potentially eat as many as 1.05 billion insects annually!
Read more about the important role pangolins play in the ecosystem here.
Author: Sarah Pappin. Read more about Sarah here.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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