Home ranges and activity patterns of Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) in Vietnam

Abstract Current knowledge of Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) movement ecology has only been recorded from a small island in Singapore, which may not be representative of their range throughout Southeast Asia. Here we provide an update on Sunda pangolin movement ecology from radio telemetry projects in three distinct ecoregions of Vietnam, including a montane region, lowlands, and wetlands. In this study, we radio-tracked 12 pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and translocated to protected areas where existing conspecific populations had been previously detected. We used an autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation (aKDE) method to identify the home ranges of each pangolin. Finally, we supplemented our movement ecology analyses with 177 camera trap images to identify activity patterns of Sunda pangolin populations in each location. Activity periods of Sunda pangolins occurred most frequently from 03:00–04:00 (range: 24:00–04:00). The average home range of translocated Sunda pangolins examined throughout our projects in various ecoregions of Vietnam is estimated to be 1.58 km2 and did not vary significantly between sexes, mass, or habitat. However, there was a marked decrease in range size with decreasing size of suitable forest space.