Rhiannon stroked the pangolin’s back, trying not to look at the sprawled body on the floor. She never meant to hit him.

The little animal had been dead for a century and no longer cared. It stared at the world, sardonic as only a scaly anteater could be. The taxidermy of an earlier age called for arsenic but that is not what killed the man. He lay unmoving by a child-savaged lion that had seen better days generations ago.

Although Manis tricuspis is a harmless creature, the same could not be said for the wooden plinth it was mounted on.

THE END

Biographical note:

This piece was written when the author worked in a Natural History exhibition at City Museum in Sheffield. This ran for nine months in 2002 but there were never any fatalities.

Biological note:

Pangolins or Scaly Anteaters belong to the genus Manis. Length (exclusive of tail) ranges from 30-90 cm – 12 to 36 inches. They are insectivorous; their hard scales are made from cemented hair and they roll into tight balls when threatened by predators. Manis tricuspis is the scientific name for the Tree Pangolin, an African species; others include Manis pentadactyla – the Chinese Pangolin and Manis gigantea – the Giant Pangolin from West Africa.

Recommended links

• Information on tree pangolins and pangolins from Wikipedia
• Pangolin information from the African Wildlife Foundation
• Picture of a Pangolin

© R.S. Pyne