The climate of South Africa poses many challenges for its wildlife species. However, an additional challenge for many animals is a changing climate, which is rapidly shifting to hotter and drier conditions, changing the availability of food for many animals. One of South Africa's current inhabitants – the endangered Temminck's pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) – is no exception and must contend with changes in its environment. Given that the animal is also at risk from the illegal wildlife trade, researchers are interested in how this unusual creature alters its physiology and behaviour to cope with changes in the abundance of ants and termites, its primary food source, due to climate change and droughts. This question led Wendy Panaino and colleagues from the University of Witwatersrand, the University of Pretoria and Tswalu Kalahari Reserve (all in South Africa) to find out how wild Temminck's pangolins survive when faced with difficulties finding food in a rapidly changing climate.
Between April 2015 and March 2017, the team gently collected 10 Temminck's pangolins (5 male and 5 female) in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. They then equipped each pangolin with a tracking transmitter attached to one of its scales, before releasing the animal and allowing it to roam freely. This allowed the researchers to follow the pangolins to their burrows and set up camera traps there to monitor the activity of the pangolins. After a few months, the team successively recaptured seven of the animals and then fitted them with an internal thermometer to measure their core body temperature every 5 min before rereleasing them into the wild. The team also collected information on the climate of Tswalu Kalahari Reserve – measuring the temperature and rainfall throughout the study period. Importantly, the researchers recorded the quantity of ants available in the reserve for the pangolins to consume each month too, using 300 pitfall traps placed into the ground.
The team then analysed the changes in the food available for the pangolins throughout the seasons and years, and the changes in pangolin activity and body temperature. Throughout most of the year, the pangolins maintained a consistent body temperature (34–36°C); however, during the winter seasons (June–August) and during the year when the pangolins experienced a drought (study year 1), the their body temperature fluctuated more, falling as low as 32°C. This period also coincided with a drop in the ant population (56% lower than the following year). This led the researchers to conclude that the pangolins were able to reduce their body temperature and metabolism, thereby decreasing the amount of energy they burn. Interestingly, during the winter when there were fewer ants, the pangolins shifted from being active at night, to being more active during the day. The team concluded that they did so to reduce the amount of energy they use to stay warm during the colder nights. However, the shift meant the pangolins were being exposed to higher temperatures (up to 37°C) during the day. As pangolins have small bodies and are poorly insulated against the heat by their scales, the hotter temperatures caused them to have higher body temperatures, which could impact their welfare.
Overall, Temminck's pangolins show flexibility in their body temperature and activity patterns when there are fewer ants around, likely reducing the energy they burn. Climate change is rapidly altering the conditions that all wildlife face daily. However, the question remains whether the pangolins’ ability to adapt to changing climate conditions is going to be enough to prevent this species from disappearing from South Africa all together.
