When pangolins feel threatened, they roll into a ball to protect themselves; on top of that, they can release a foul-smelling fluid from a gland at the base of their tails. Pangolins possess elongated snouts and remarkably long tongues that they employ to consume ants and termites. They excavate these insects from mounds using their robust front claws before lapping them up. They can close their noses and ears to keep ants out when eating.
Pangolins are about 150 mm long when born and weigh about 340 grams. Male and female pangolins differ in weight; in most species, males are 10-50 per cent heavier than females; that said, a pangolin’s scales make up one-fifth of its entire body weight.
Pangolin species exhibit a range of sizes, with three larger species leading the scale. The largest among them is the giant pangolin, with an average adult weight of approximately 33kg. Following closely is the Indian pangolin, reaching around 13kg, and then Temminck’s ground pangolin, reaching up to 12kg.
The remaining four pangolin species are relatively smaller. The Sunda pangolin weighs around 4.9kg, while the Chinese pangolin weighs approximately 3.6kg. The white-bellied tree pangolin weighs about 2.7kg, and the smallest species, the black-bellied tree pangolin, weighs a mere 1.5kg.