Welcome to Fast Facts with Reasons for Hope!
I’m Carl Kerby. We’ve been talking about the pangolin’s amazing design features, but this time we’re looking at their babies.
A pangopup is only 6 inches long and weighs about 12 ounces when it’s born. Its scales are soft and pink leaving it completely defenseless. For the first three months, pangopups are pretty helpless and will cling to mama’s tail or back as she carries them around and feeds them. When in danger, she’ll curl up around them for protection.
By the age of two, they’ve figured out how to find and devour ants and termites, so momma will slowly wean them and then abandon them. Hey, mama did her job and prepared them to be able to survive on their own! And now, thanks to those incredible claws, long tails, sticky tongues, and overlapping keratin scales these pangopups are perfectly designed to make it on their own!
Check back with our next Fast Facts with Reasons for Hope and we’ll investigate even more amazing creatures. Until then … stay bold!
Carl Kerby is the founder of Reasons for Hope and co-creator of the DeBunked apologetic video series. His radio feature, Fast Facts, is heard weekly on VCY America, Saturdays at 9:25 AM Central.
