More surprises-from the African elephant to the Scaly ant-eaters
What makes my camera trapping work thrilling is the big number of images (and surprises
that come with them) we get from the forest. Last year we captured twenty and four
species of mammals and birds respectively. Despite missing a few expected species, images
included those of the enigmatic and secretive threatened African Golden cat, the
endangered mountain gorilla and chimpanzees, and the locally less known honey badger.
However, even with 15912 images, the animal species list of Bwindi is far from complete.
This is evident from images of this year’s TEAM network camera trapping.
After setting and retrieving cameras at 60 different locations, I was so ecstatic to do the
species identification. This year’s first surprise was of the African Elephant!!, captured so
close to the camera with a lot of its details shown. Just last night as I was identifying and
attaching scientific names to the animals from the images, a rush of excitement ran through
my body when I saw a quite unusual animal. My first thought was of the scaly ant eaters,
YES!! I may be wrong, but I suspect that these images are of the African White-bellied
Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis). This animal is listed as Near Threatened on the
International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species.
Interesting facts about scaly ant eaters or the pangolins: these animals are epitomized by
long, very muscular tails. Their bodies are covered with a hard, scaly covering that makes
them look more like reptiles than mammals. They are the only mammals with over 40
bones in their tails. As their general name suggests, Pangolins eat mostly ants and termites,
using their pointy snouts and their long, wormlike sticky tongues. Pangolins are toothless,
thus their prey is ground up with sand in their gizzard like stomach. They protect
themselves from predators by rolling themselves into a tight ball and sticking their sharp
scales out.
This animal has so far appeared at two different locations in the lower elevation forest of
the park. Unlike the elephant, this animal did not spend so much time close to the camera.
It was captured while on motion. It is comforting to know that I still have images of animals
from twenty six cameras to identify and attach names. I will come again to share with you
more of Bwindi’s natural heritage. Our dear readers, allow me to share with you some of
the images of this amazing creature.
Figure 1 Here he comes....
Figure 2 He gives us his clear view….note the dark coloring around his eye
Figure 3 He is passing by the camera
Figure 4 and more of him…
Figure 5 note the pointed ending of his tail
Figure 6 From a different location-there is a small pangolin. So cute!!!
My best regards,
Badru