The Herald 12 October 1988
The laws which protect endangered species will now be enforced in full against those who capture pangolins, even if it is for the purpose of handing them over to senior Government officials.
The Government has made this decision as a result of the death of a number of pangolins which were removed from their natural habitat by people who gave them to Government officials, even though they were later released into the safety of the Department of National Parks.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Cde Victoria Chitepo, said yesterday in an interview with The Herald that pangolins, like a number of other animals in its category, could only survive in their natural habitat and the best way to protect them was for the people to leave them alone.
Pangolins live on vast quantities of ants. It has since been realised that upon being taken to national parks, the pangolins which are sometimes held in captivity for some time before handed over to officials and then to national parks officials, die of hunger as they would have to start all over again looking for ants. It had been suggested before that the transition between captivity and release to national parks could be sustained by feeding the pangolins with very finely minced meat mixed with ants.
Lessons for Today
- Pangolins are solitary and nocturnal animals that eat only certain species of ants and termites.
- Pangolins are endangered species and they need to be protected
- National Parks and Wildlife had started educational programmes to teach communities about the value of wildlife and the importance of protecting endangered species.
