Critically endangered pangolin born at Mandai Wildlife Reserve, the first in 10 years

SINGAPORE – Mandai Wildlife Reserve welcomed a baby Sunda pangolin on March 1.

The pup joins three other Sunda pangolins at Mandai, including its father Radin, its mother Gumby and another female that is expected to give birth in the coming months.

In a social media post on March 19, Mandai said the pup was the first to be born there in 10 years.

The Sunda pangolin (Manis Javanica) is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which means it is at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Mandai said: “This tiny pangopup is part of the Night Safari’s conservation breeding programme for the species, with each birth deepening our understanding of the species, supporting ongoing research into pangolin behaviour, health and best‑practice care.”

In videos shared by Mandai, the pup can be seen riding on its mother’s tail, a natural behaviour for infant pangolins.

“At nearly three weeks old, the pup is currently about the size of a large avocado and covered in soft, pale scales that will gradually harden with age,” Mandai said in a statement.

Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, deputy chief executive and chief life sciences officer at Mandai Wildlife Group, said: “Gumby has taken to motherhood naturally, caring attentively for her pup, which feeds regularly and stays close at all times.”

Mandai added that zookeepers are monitoring the pangolins via CCTV to minimise disturbance to the animals.

Visitors will be able to see the pangolin pup via a live-streaming camera at the Night Safari’s Pangolin Trail while preparations are under way for it to make its public debut in April.

Mandai had teased about the new arrival for a few days. On March 12, it posted a photo of an ultrasound on social media, inviting followers to guess what was the “tiny secret (that) is growing at Night Safari”.

“Check out that tail!” it hinted.

On March 17, it posted a close-up photo of a pangolin’s scales, which many of its followers identified and greeted with delight.

Prior to the arrival of Gumby and Radin’s baby, the Night Safari had successfully bred the Sunda pangolin for the first time in 2011. There were two more successful births after that.

Gumby and Radin were paired in August 2025 as part of a conservation breeding programme for the species at the Night Safari, which aims to maintain genetic diversity and ensure the species’ long-term survival.

Gumby’s pregnancy, her first, was confirmed in October and was followed by months of monitoring and preparation, including adjustments to her diet and changes to her habitat to encourage nesting and reduce climbing risks, said Mandai.

There are eight species of pangolins worldwide. In the last decade alone, an estimated one million pangolins were poached to feed the illegal appetite for the species’ meat, skin and scales, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

In Singapore, the Sunda pangolin resides in forested areas such as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Western Catchment and Pulau Ubin, and can occasionally wander into residential areas.

The National Parks Board (NParks) estimates that only about 100 of them are left in the wild. The biggest threats to the species are vehicles and habitat loss from development.

Between 2021 and 2023, NParks received an average of about 20 reported cases of pangolins killed on roads annually, up from a yearly average of around four cases in the previous three years.

On average, the animal hospital at Mandai Wildlife Reserve receives about 40 rescued pangolins a year from across Singapore.

About 89 per cent of rescued pangolins that arrive alive are successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild, Mandai said.

Conservation efforts are guided by Singapore’s National Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the Sunda Pangolin, which adopts a One Plan Approach – a coordinated strategy that integrates actions both in the wild and in human care to strengthen the overall impact on the species’ protection.

Key focus areas include rehabilitation of injured and displaced wild animals and conservation breeding programmes outside the animals’ natural habitat. This involves integrating rescued pangolins like Gumby into the managed population to support conservation breeding.

The pangolin gives birth to one or two offspring a year. Infants, which are born fully covered in scales, depend on their mothers for around three to six months.

The birth of the Sunda pangolin follows that of two capybara pups and three Sri Lankan leopard cubs at Mandai Wildlife Reserve in January. The death of one of the capybara pups was announced by Mandai on March 19.

In 2025, about 1,000 babies across more than 150 species were born in Singapore’s five wildlife parks under Mandai Wildlife Reserve.