Zoological congres

Tariq Mahmood, *Nausheen Irshad, Riaz Hussain, Muhammad Rais, Iftikhar

Hussain, Maqsood Anwar and Muhammad Sajid Nadeem

DISTRIBUTION, POPULATION AND FOOD HABITS OF INDIAN PANGOLIN (Manis crassicaudata)

IN DISTRICT CHAKWAL, PAKISTAN

INTRODUCTION

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia• Phylum: Chordata• Class: Mammalia• Infraclass: Eutheria• Order: Pholidota (Weber, 1904)• Family: Manidae (Gray, 1821)• Genus: Manis (Linnaeus, 1758)• Species: crassicaudata

Basic Information

Pholidota means"the scaled animal" (Atkin,2004).

“Pangolin" is derived from the Malay word pengguling which means, "something that rolls up".

Local name "Salla”

Appearence

Species and Distribution

Species Common name Biogeography Status

Manis culionensis Palawan Pangolin Asia near threatened

Manis crassicaudata Indian pangolin Asia near threatened

Manis pentadactyla Chinese pangolin Asia endangered

Manis javanica Malayan pangolin Asia endangered

Manis tetradactyla Long-tailed or black-bellied pangolin

Africa

Manis gigantea Giant ground pangolin

Africa near Threatened

Manis temminckii or Temminck's ground pangolin

Africa

Manis tricuspis Tree or African white-bellied pangolin

Africa near Threatened

Distribution in Pakistan

The only pangolin species present in Pakistan is Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata).

Punjab (Sialkot, Jhelum ,Gujrat, Attock, Wah) Khyber Pakhtoonkha (Kohat,Mardan, Peshawar) Sindh (Dadu and Lerkana) Baluchistan (Mekran, Lasbela)

(Roberts, 1997)

Economic Importance

Food Medicine Clothing Ornamental Pest control Trade

Population Status and Major Threats

“Near threatened” (IUCN, 2006). Appendix II of the CITES (Inskipp & Gillett 2005) vulnerable to over-exploitation

can be easily hunted used for trade have a very slow reproduction rate and do not easily breed in captivity

(Lim and Ng, 2007)

Objectives

To determine distribution of the Indian pangolin in Chakwal district.

To estimate the size of its population. Investigation of the food habits of the species.

METHODOLOGY

Study Area

Figure 1. Map of Punjab showing Chakwal district

Distribution of Indian pangolin

extensive surveys burrows, fecal samples ants and termites colonies traditional knowledge distribution map of the species

Population Estimation

Population estimation

Direct method Indirect method

Visual observation/capture Of animal

Borrow count Foot tract analysis

Feeding

Living

Active

Inactive

D = n/A (D=density/km², n= no. of individuals, A=area surveyed)

Investigation of the diet composition of Indian pangolin

a) Fecal pellet analysis

b) Field obervations of the ants and termites colonies

RESULTS

Surveillance surveys

Starting Transect

Geographic Coordinates

Ending Transects

Geographic Coordinates

Distance Covered(km)

Results

Chakwal-More (Mandra)

N 33º 19’ 56.83” E 73º 14’ 31.41” Elevation 1569ft

Chakwal N32º 03’ 57.88” E 72º 58’06.88” Elevation1784ft

60 +

Tehsil Chock Chakwal city


Talagang Road m2

N 32º 55’20.06” E 72º 40’ 59.26 Eevation1702ft

18 +

Talagang Road N 32º 55’ 23.01” E 72º 45’ 15.14” Elevation 1697ft

Kallar Kahar Road

N 32º 50’42.82” E 72º 44’54.37” Elevation1881ft

06 +

Murred N 35º 53’ 47.77” E 072º 45’ 08.8” Elevation 1543ft

Bhaun N32º 53’ 33.7” E 072º 45’00.6” Elevation1605ft

15 +

Continue

Table 1: Details of the surveillance surveys (road surveys) conducted on motor vehicle to determine the distribution of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in Chakwal

district during the current study period from March 2010 to April 2011

Surveillance surveys

Chakwal city N 32º 55’ 99.1“ E 072º 53’ 49.7“ Eevation 1524ft

Jubair pur N32º 55’ 50.5” E 072º 54’12.7” Elevation1500ft

7 +

Chakwal city N 32º 54’ 52.65” E 72º 52’ 36.57” Elevation 1640 ft

Choa saidan shah

N 32º 43’38.28” E 72º 59’20.26” Elevation1628ft

30 +

Choa Chowk N32º 53’ 56.04“ E 72º 52’ 43.26“ Elevation 1733ft

Sehgal abad N 32º 53’12.31“ E 72º 57’15.22“

20 +

Chakwal city N 32º 55’ 09.37“ E 72º 51’ 23.51“ Elevation 1650 ft

Kallar Kahar N 32º 46’ 42.62” E 72º 42’ 14.74” Elevation2224ft

25 +

Bhaun Chowk N 32º 53’ 08.47” E 72º 48’ 47.93” Elevation 1766 ft

Khokar Zair dam N32º 48’ 17.44” E 72º 51’ 32.86” Elevation1897ft

10 +

Choa Saidan Shah


Basharat hills N 32º 45’05.29” E 72º 04’44.31”

10 +

Figure 2: Distribution map of Indian pangolin in Chakwal district

Population Estimation

Study site No of active living burrows

Area of study site (km²)

Density/km²Direct sightings

Reported sightings

Feacal samples count

Chumbi Surla

2 2 1 _ 5-7 3

Jubair Pur 2 2 1 1 4-5 2

Murreed 3 2 1.5 2 5-7 4

Bohn 5 6 0.66 0 3-4 0

Chokora 2 2 1 1 3-4 0

Khokar Zair 2 2 1 _ 1-2 0

Dohk Surla 3 6 0.5 1 3-4 0

Total 19 22 6.66 6 24-33 9

Mean 2.71 3.142 0.30

Table 2: Population Estimation of Indian pangolin By Burrows Counts in District Chakwal

Population density

1 1

1.5

0.66

1 1

0.5

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

Density

Jabairpur ChumbiSurla

Mureedvillage

Bhaun Chakora KhokharZer

DhokeSurla

Study Sites

Figure 3. Population density (per kilometer square) of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) at seven selected study sites in district Chakwal

Burrows counts

Study Sites Total Burrows Feeding Burrows Living Burrows

Active Inactive

Chumbi Surla 26 23 2 1

Jubair Pur 9 6 2 1

Murreed 20 17 3 0

Bohn 22 19 4 1

Chokora 20 18 2 0

Khokar Zair 25 20 2 3

Dhok Surla 32 29 3 0

Total 154 132 18 6

Mean 22 18.8 2.5 0.8

Table 3. Numbers of burrows of Indian pangolin in different selected sites of the study area.

Burrows Characteristics

Study Area Feeding Burrows ( inch) Living (Burrows (inch)

Length Width Depth Length Width Depth

Chumbi Surla 10.1 7.8 14.4 8 10.5 20

Jubair Pur 8.5 8 12 8.5 8.5 24

Murreed 8.5 10 8 8 10 35

Bohn 6.8 8 12 10 12.5 32

Chokora 8 10 8 8.8 12 28

Khokar Zair 10 12 12.5 8 12 22

Dhok Surla 10.5 10.5 14.5 7 10 28

Total 62.4 66.3 81.4 58.3 75.5 169

Mean ± SD 8.91 ±1.33 9.47 ±1.58 11.6 ±2.68 8.32 ±0.92 10.7 ±1.43 24

±5.385

Table 4. Characterisitcs of feeding and living burrows of Indian pangolin in district Chakwal

Body measurements

Area of Capture

Sex BodyWeight (Kg)

Head-body length (inch)

Tail length(Inch)

Total length(Inch)

Snout length(Inch)

Ear size (cm)

Paw size(cm)

Chakwal (Bhoun)

Male juvenile

7 14 11 25 1 1 1

Chakwal (jubair pur)

Male adult 19.3 34 28 62 6.25 2 -

Islamabad Male adult 15.4 29 28.5 57 6.25 2 5

Table 5. Body measurements of captured specimens

Scale measurements

scales number Scale size

dorsal ventral head trunk tail

Head trunk tail tail

40 78 130 70 2.5 cm 4.5 cm 3cm

79 81 158 106 3.5cm 5cm 4cm

50 81 105 40 3cm 6cm 8cm

Table 6. Body measurements of captured specimens

Fecal samples

Area of collection Sample No. Weight Length Diameter

(g) (cm) (cm)

1 8 4 6

Chumbi Surla 2 5 3 3

3 7 3 2

Jubair Pur 1 8 4 7

2 6 4 8

1 14 4 6

2 34 4 9

Murreed 3 38 7.5 8

4 32 4.5 7

5 38 7 9.5

Total 10 190 45 65.5

Mean ±SD 19 ±14.40 4.5 ±1.52 6.55 ±2.5

Table 7. Details of fecal samples collected from the the study area

Faecal analysis

Food items recovered % Frequency (N=10)

% Volume (N=10)

Insects (Ants) Heads 100 (10) 7.6

Other body parts 100 (10) 30.4

Termites 0.00(0) 0.00

Soil particles 100(10) 62

Table 8. Analysis of the fecal samples of Indian pangolin collected from the study area.

Fecal sample analysis

Figure 4. Percentage composition of fecal samples

8%

62%

30%

Insects head Other body parts of insects Soil particles

Fecal analysis

Figure 5. Photographs of faecal samples with seperated ants, head and other body parts

Pangolin Prey Species

Camponotus confucil Camponotus termitidae

Figure 6. Prey species of indian pangolin

Termite Species Odonto termis obesus

Recommendations

1. To highlight the role of Indian pangolin in Biological Pest management

2. To develop a Conservation Strategy

General habitat of area Termite colonies

Figure 7. General habitat of the area and termite colonies

Living burrow Feeding burrow

Figure 8. Living and feeding burrows of indian pangolin

Scales

Figure 9. Scales of indain pangolin

Thank you for your kind attention

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