The Activity Rhythm and Home Range Characteristics of Released Chinese Pangolins (Manis pentadactyla)

TL;DR

This study used GPS and accelerometers to track the nocturnal activity and home range of five released Chinese pangolins, providing insights for their conservation.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of combining GPS and accelerometer data to monitor cryptic behaviors of released Chinese pangolins.

Findings

Pangolins were primarily active between 22:00 and 4:00, showing a clear nocturnal pattern.

The core home range of the pangolins was 596.21 ± 265.58 hectares based on KDE analysis.

All five pangolins survived and remained active during the tracking period of 21–72 days.

Abstract

GPS positioning technology has become an effective means for researchers to study wildlife and protect the biodiversity of the Earth. It can obtain the spatial location, movement, and time information of wildlife and is widely used in the field of wildlife conservation. The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) has become an endangered flagship species due to its unique morphological characteristics (e.g., scale-covered body), specialized ant-/termite-eating behavior, and critical conservation status. As a charismatic yet cryptic species, it plays a key role in mobilizing public support for biodiversity conservation efforts. This study used GPS positioning and accelerometer technology to analyze the activity rhythm and home range of five Chinese pangolins released into the wild. The results showed that the nighttime activity of the pangolins began after 18:00, mainly concentrated between 22:00 and 4:00, and the core range of activity was 596.21 ± 265.58 hm2 (hectares). These data are necessary for related areas such as evaluating Manis pentadactyla habitat quality, habitat selection, and species carrying capacity evaluation. This study highlights how advanced tools like accelerometers can enhance the understanding of cryptic behaviors, aiding targeted conservation efforts for this endangered species.

As a mammal with unique ecological habits, the Chinese pangolin, Manis pentadactyla, exhibits nocturnal behavior and has a hidden, cave-dwelling lifestyle. Severe habitat degradation and fragmentation have led to a rapid decline in its wild population. Moreover, the immature state of artificial breeding technology restricts the availability of research samples, particularly with regard to behavioral and ecological data. This makes it extremely difficult to continuously monitor the pangolin’s ecological habits and population dynamics for a long time. The comprehensive research archive is yet to be established, greatly limiting the in-depth understanding of this species’ ecological behavior. To mitigate this data shortage, this study installed GPS positioning and accelerometer technology devices on five Chinese pangolins that were rescued from Zhejiang and released into the wild. Activity rhythms and home ranges were then analyzed based on the collected data. The results showed that all the five released Chinese pangolins were active in the wild and survived throughout the tracking period (21–72 days). The pangolins were mainly active at night, with activity starting after 18:00 and being mainly concentrated between 22:00 and 4:00. The home range of the Chinese pangolins based on MCP was 777.41 ± 426.26 hm2, and the core range based on KDE was 596.21 ± 265.58 hm2 (50% KDE). This result confirms that high-frequency GPS positioning combined with accelerometer data can effectively determine the home range sizes, habitat utilization, and fine-scale activity rhythms of wild-released pangolins.

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