Georeferencing Sunda pangolin records 67
FIG. 2 Biplot of Sunda pangolin rescues, roadkills and sightings during 2011–2020 in Singapore (Fig. 1) with the associated R2 values.
Heng et al., 2023). However, further studies are needed to determine whether the increase in rescued individuals re- presents a rise in the number of pangolins requiring rescue, increased rescue capacity or more public reporting. Our finding that many pangolin rescues and roadkill
occur along the fringes of core forested areas can help indi- cate hotspot areas where mitigation actions should be fo- cused. These actions could include erecting barriers at road sides, creating wildlife crossings to improve ecological connectivity, and implementing animal detection systems for motorists. Such measures have been shown to reduce wildlife mortality elsewhere (Rytwinski et al., 2016). Of the two current wildlife bridges in Singapore (Fig. 1), at least one is known to be used by Sunda pangolins (NParks, 2015). An underground culvert along Rifle Range Road has also been used by pangolins for crossing (NParks, unpubl. data, 2023), suggesting similar structures could be beneficial at rescue and roadkill hotspots. Identifying these hotspots can also aid public outreach efforts to encourage wildlife- friendly driving or increased reporting of distressed animals. Although hotspot identification was not our initial focus in creating this database, it is a useful starting point for further studies. We found that subadults and adult males were rescued most often and were the main roadkill victims. This could
be because of their dispersal or roaming behaviour, with movement outside forests and into urban areas putting them at a higher risk of collision with vehicles. This behav- iour is consistent with that seen in Temminck’s ground pan- golins Smutsia temminckii:males travel further than females and young pangolins sometimes travel tens of kilometres before establishing a stable home range (Pietersen et al., 2014). Gray et al. (2023) found no statistical difference in daily movement between Sunda pangolin sexes, but on aver- age males moved longer distances. Threat mitigation and post-rescue release strategies could focus on at-risk groups (e.g. releasing adult males far away from urban areas) to help achieve better conservation outcomes. The presence of pangolins in the urban environment far
from core forested areas indicates they sometimes foray into more urbanized areas of Singapore before being seen or requiring rescue. How they move through the city remains unclear because there is insufficient knowledge of the spe- cies’ ecology, such as its dispersal ability and response to habitat disturbance. Further research using telemetry or camera traps could reveal movement pathways and inform pangolin rescue strategies. This database has already been put to use for pangolin conservation. By March 2023, it had been used to provide spatiotemporal pangolin data for environmental impact as- sessments in four development projects in or around pango- lin habitats. Because of their rarity and cryptic behaviour, pangolins are often not detected during environmental im- pact assessment surveys in areas where they occur (M.A.H. Chua, pers. obs.), so the georeferenced database can be a useful aid to inform decision-making for land development projects. Access to the database is available for conservation purposes upon request to the Singapore Pangolin Working Group. It is not openly available because of the need to pro- tect this highly trafficked, Critically Endangered species. A limitation of the database is that it is based on public
reports and rescue data that have not been collected system- atically. Additionally, the database does not focus on pan- golins in their natural habitats, so should not be viewed as a complete representation of pangolin distribution in Singapore. The main challenge that we encountered was the lack of accurate location information in the data, result- ing in the removal of 65 records. When reporting wildlife re- cords, we recommend the use of precise location data, for example by using GPS pin drops or by referring to nearby landmarks. To implement this in Singapore, the Singapore Pangolin Working Group has established a standardized form for reporting sightings of live, injured and dead pan- golins; it includes mandatory fields and records are added to a central database that also collates records of rescued individuals (Singapore Pangolin Working Group, 2024). The Singapore Sunda pangolin georeferenced database
FIG. 3 Sunda pangolin rescues in Singapore from September 1996 to June 2021 by sex and age.
demonstrates the value of citizen science and collating wild- life data from various sources. Beyond our initial findings,
Oryx, 2025, 59(1), 65–68 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000206
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