The pangolin: a mammal often confused with being a reptile – or sometimes a pinecone! These animals are the only scaly mammal, a fact which makes them both extremely unique and puts them in danger. Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked mammal because their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine. An estimated 1 million have been removed from the wild in the last decade. They are shy, rare, and elusive animals that are usually incredibly hard to find, and because of this we have no idea how many there are or how trafficking impacts their population. My research is testing a new method of estimating pangolin population numbers by using camera traps to monitor their activity in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. This ultimately aims to improve our understanding of how threats like trafficking impact local populations, which is key for conservation planning.

School of Applied Sciences

Lead supervisor: Bryony Tolhurst