The Shy Pangolin
by Lai Chia-yu · Oct 2026
Have you ever seen a pangolin? Most people in Taiwan haven't, even though these animals live in the hills near many of our cities. The pangolin is a small, quiet, animal. It sleeps during the day and comes out at night. It is the only mammal in the world that is covered with hard scales.
A pangolin has no teeth, but it doesn't need any. It eats ants and termites. It breaks open their nests with its strong claws. Then it uses its long, sticky tongue to catch the insects. One pangolin can eat millions of insects in a year, so it helps farmers and forests a lot.
When a pangolin is in danger, it does not run away or fight. Instead, it rolls up into a tight ball. Its scales are so hard that even a big cat cannot bite through them. For millions of years, this trick has kept pangolins safe. Sadly, it doesn't work against people. A rolled-up pangolin is very easy to pick up.
Today, pangolins are among the most traded animals in the world. In some places they are hunted for their meat, and their scales are sold as medicine, although scales are made of the same thing as our fingernails. Because of this, several pangolin have become very . Their forest are getting smaller, too.
Here is some good news: Taiwan has done a lot to protect its pangolins. Hunting them has been against the law for years. Farmers who find hurt pangolins call animal hospitals, and many of the animals have been sent back to the wild. So if you ever see one on a mountain road at night, let it go on its way. You are looking at a true .