Ghana April 2023 PART 4: In search of a pangolin

 

White-bellied Pangolin

Following our successful encounter with the White-necked Picathartes (following post) our minds turned to another creature well-known from rainforests in the vicinity of Bonkro in central Ghana: the White-bellied Pangolin. Pangolin sits high on the wishlists of many critter lovers. The only mammal to be wholly covered in scales, the survival of several species is in the balance as pangolins are slaughtered in their tens of thousands. Pangolin scales are considered to have considerable value as traditional medicines in east Asia, especially China and Vietnam, but there is no evidence supporting this. Shy and harmless, the pangolin is believed to be the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal. As pangolin populations in Asia disappear, the trade increasingly has shifted to Africa, where the four pangolin species are now absent or rare throughout their ranges.

Before our tour, the group agreed with my suggestion for a $US50 reward for anyone in the villages around Bonkro who found us a pangolin, the stipulation being that we had to be taken to the pangolin and not the other way around. A man with tracking experience came forward and one of our Ashanti guides, Ibrahim Entsie, also had past form in finding pangolins. With these two guys, our group set out at sunset on Day 11 of our trip to find a pangolin. This was not going to be easy. We followed the trackers up and down ridges, along creeks, through regrowth and primary rainforest - often in rough terrain with no paths.

Following the trackers

We spotlighted a sleeping African Pygmy Kingfisher and located a delightful Beecroft’s Anomalure, a kind of flying squirrel.

African Pygmy Kingfisher

Beecroft's Anomalure

Three hours later, the trackers froze when they detected a rustling in the undergrowth: a pangolin feeding on the ground. As soon as the animal realised we were on to it, it rapidly climbed a densely foliaged tree. The pangolin was hard to keep track of as it crashed through the branches but we all managed good looks, although the foliage and its constant movements made photography challenging, as these images demonstrate. The first image in this post is of an animal jumping between branches. In the second image below, it is clinging to the side of the tree, its head visible.

Jeff Skevington had more success with his images below.

We were one very contented group following this encounter.

Later, Ibrahim Entsie explained his personal history with pangolins. His family lived in an impoverished village near the city of Cape Coast, eking out a living from farming palm nuts. He hunted pangolins and other game for bushmeat to sell for several years to raise money to help him finish his school education. The meat was much sought after and the scales were disposed of. Today, a dead pangolin fetches about $US20 on the black market, he says: “It is the Chinese traders who are buying them now for the scales and they might become extinct if it keeps going on.”

Ibrahim Entsie

The pangolin was not the last of the goodies at Bonkro. We had two nights at Ashanti’s new lodge. In and around the picathartes forest we found two wanted specialties: Tessmann’s Flycatcher and Yellow-throated Cuckoo.

Tessmann's Flycatcher

Other birds included a White-crested Hornbill (below) showing nicely in the early morning light.

In the afternoon we visited a logging road in the nearby Kwebene Sam Forest. Here we saw Red-headed Malimbe, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Tiny Sunbird, Cassin’s Honeybird and Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike. We were back at the logging road the next morning, seeing the distinctive western race of Yellow-billed Barbet, more Red-billed Helmetshrikes, Western Nicator, Violet-backed Hyliota and large numbers of Red-fronted Parrots.

Red-headed Malimbe

After checking into Royal Basin Hotel in Kusami, Ghana’s second biggest city, we visited the nearby Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary in the late afternoon. The highlight here was a Black Dwarf Hornbill feeding its young at the nest.

Black Dwarf Hornbill

The next morning – Day 13 of our tour - saw us depart Kumasi to head north on the highway that extends from the coast in southern Ghana north to the Burkino Faso border. Two hours north of Kumasi we stopped at a forest remnant called Opra, a key site for the scarce Fiery-breasted Bush-shrike. Some of the group managed brief views of the elusive bird. Other birds included Brown-crowned Tchagra, Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Grey Tit-Flycatcher and Bearded Barbet.

Brown-crowned Tchagra

We arrived at our next destination, Mole National Park, in the late afternoon after stopping to rescue a Graceful Chameleon (below) by removing it from the busy highway.