WORLD PANGOLIN DAY

Do you know what a Pangolin is? Did you know there was a World Pangolin Day? Or that it is celebrated each year on the third Saturday of  February? 

Before last Saturday, I had never heard the word "Pangolin," so I had to learn more. When I saw the first images of these creatures, they looked to me like some strange humpback lizards. Looks can be deceiving, right? 

One writer wrote, "Pangolins look like a mix between a small anteater and a pinecone." However, although they eat ants,  they are not related to anteaters, which are in the biological order Pilosa that also includes sloths and armadillos.  

Dictionary.com defines pangolins  as "any mammal of the order Pholidota of Africa and tropical Asia, having a covering of broad, overlapping, horny scales and feeding on ants and termites." It is pronounced "pang duh' lin." They are the only animal in the biological order of Pholidota. Its name originates from a Malaysian dialect called "bazaar Malay"..."pang" (a prefix for agency) + "guling" ("roll up"). Thus, a "pangguling" is an animal who rolls itself up. The anglicized term "Pangolin" emerged between 1765-1775, and it i" s an animal who rolls or curls itself up into a ball when it senses danger."

Pangolins are the only mammals with scales. Only their small faces and underbelly are void of scales. Their scales account for around twenty percent of their weight. African pangolins have short hairs between their scales; Asian ones do not. These sharp, overlapping  scales are made of keratin, the fibrous protein of which hair, fingernails, horns, hoofs, claws, scales, etc., are made.  

One online image I saw showed a tightly rolled up pangolin on the ground  unharmed between two lionesses. They were looking out across the savannah, likely looking for their next meal. They were completely disinterested in this ball at their feet. Maybe they had learned in a previous encounter that this is no ball with which to toy. The only predator not intimidated by this spiny scaled ball is man. This excellent defense is an "Achilles heel" for pangolins because it makes it easy for poachers to bag them.

Their habitats include deciduous, pine & rain forests; savannahs, and grasslands. "Generally, pangolins live where large numbers of ants and termites can be found to feed their large appetites for insects." 

Adults pangolins are one to three feet long, not including their tails. Their tails add another 10 to 28 inches to their length. Adult pangolins weigh between ten and sixty pounds. "Their colors range from light sandy shades to dark browns, perfectly matching their environments, whether it’s the forest floor or the savannah."

Pangolins are mostly nocturnal and solitary, "meeting only to mate and produce a litter of one to three offspring, which they raise for about two years." The fathers leave after their initial input. The length of their pregnancies  "can vary from 70 to 140 days, depending on the species. Infant pangolins' scales are soft; these harden as they grow. The babies are raised by their mother. They "ride on their mother’s tail for the first few months of their life." 

Their keen sense of smell leads pangolins to their prey, and their long, sticky tongues catch them. Its tongue is "longer than its body, and is stored in a cavity near its pelvis when not in use."  Their dining favorites are ants and termites, "supplemented by other insects, especially larvae." Each pangolin ingests 5-7 ounces of insects daily or 70 million insects per year. Talk about pest control!

Some pangolins live in hollow tree trunks or logs; more, in burrows they dig. Evidently, ground dwelling  pangolins like spacious dwellings. "Large chambers have been discovered in terrestrial pangolin burrows that are big enough for a human to crawl inside and stand up." Two species of African pangolins hang out in trees; they have extra long prehensile tails to help them maneuver safely through the forest canopy. 

There are eight species of pangolins. Four live in sub-Saharan Africa ("the black-bellied pangolin, the white-bellied pangolin, the giant ground pangolin and Temminck's ground pangolin"). Asia is home to the other four ("the Indian pangolin, the Chinese or Formosan pangolin, the Malayan or Sunda pangolin, and the Palawan pangolin"). Their longevity in the wild, if not poached, averages 20 years.

All eight pangolin species are listed as "threatened" with extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Under "Threatened," there are three subcategories: "Vulnerable," "Endangered," and "Critically Endangered." "Two of the four Asian species...are now listed as 

'Critically Endangered'." The other two Asian pangolin species are categorized as "Endangered." All four African species are listed as  "Vulnerable" to extinction.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) reports, "Pangolins have become a highly prized commodity, illegally trapped, killed, and trafficked by organised crime networks between countries and continents... In just ten years, it’s estimated that  1,000,000 pangolins have been poached. These pangolins are often destined for the traditional medicine markets in Asia or bushmeat markets in Central and West Africa." Even in the  USA, there is a market for illegally imported  Pangolin leather to be made into  "boots, bags, and belts." 

"All eight species of pangolins are protected under international law, with trade prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)." Overall, the illegal trade of pangolins is "worth between $19-23 billion"  per year. 

The Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online (CEWTO) was convened by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to stop the proliferation of illegal  sales of products using body parts of threatened animals. With all its benefits, a disadvantage of the internet makes it easier for criminal networks to operate and makes law enforcement to stop them more difficult.

Besides the loss of Pangolins caused by poaching, the species have lost habitats due to deforestation to convert land to agriculture. Another culprit is encroaching development.

This loss of Pangolins threatens the health of forests, jungles, savannahs and grasslands. Fewer  pangolins means more termites, which eat tree wood. Burrowing animals like pangolins help turn over the soil in grasslands, savannahs, and forests. This helps nourish and aerate the soil of their habitats. "Pangolins are like the conservation world’s rock stars, playing an essential role in controlling insect populations and thus, maintaining the balance of their ecosystems."

So, how many pangolins are there? "The honest answer is, we don’t know. Because pangolins live such secretive, secluded lives, no population studies have been able to successfully estimate how many pangolins live in the wild." What is known is poachers  take about      "200,000 pangolins from the wild every year. That’s one every four minutes."

Sources:

https://www.ifaw.org/international/news/world-pangolin-day

Viewed on February 15, 2025

Dictionary.com definition & etymology of pangolin

Viewed on February 15, 2025

https://www.bing.com/search?q=what%20is%20the%20biological%20classifications%20for%20pangolins%20&cc=US&PC=SANSAAND&form=LWS001&ssp=1&darkschemeovr=1&safesearch=moderate&setlang=en

Viewed on February 16, 2025

https://animalfact.com/pangolins/

Viewed on February 16, 2025

https://www.britannica.com/animal/pangolin

Viewed on February 16, 2025

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin

Viewed on February 17, 2025

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/pangolin

Viewed on February 17, 2025

https://davidshepherd.org/species/pangolins/facts/

Viewed on February 17, 2025

https://iucn.org/

Viewed on February 17, 2025

https://www.pangolins.org/2014/08/15/all-8-pangolin-species-threatened-with-extinction-2-species-now-critically-endangered/

Viewed on February 18, 2025

https://animals.net/pangolin/

Viewed on February 18, 2025

https://wildestofficial.com/wildlife/pangolin/

Viewed on February 18, 2025

JONAH: NOW & THEN

The news has been awash in reports of a Chilean father Dell Simancas and his adult son Adrián kayaking together in the Straits of Magellan off the coast of Patagonia. The wild and beautiful region is on the southernmost part  of South America; it is shared by Argentina and Chile.

Suddenly, a humpback whale arose out of the depths behind the son. The whale took the man and his kayak completely into its mouth. His father was a short distance away and was filming his son. Fortunately, for both his son and the whale, it spit the son and his kayak out. His father captured all the action in a video that has gone viral. All major media outlets carried the story.  The video, the first one to record a large sea mammal or fish to take a human completely into its mouth, went viral.

Of course, those of us who believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God are not surprised. The first chapter of the Book of Jonah,  tells the story of how and why Jonah ended up in the belly of a great or large "fish" in the Mediterranean Sea. Verse 17 says, "Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (NIV)

The Hebrew word translated "fish" is dag דג. Hebrew does not have a separate term for "whale." Perhaps a more accurate translation might be "sea creature." That would include whales, fishes, sea monsters, and dragons.

To view the video, use the first URL under Sources below. 

Sources:

https://people.com/kayaker-survives-getting-swallowed-by-whale-dad-captures-ordeal-on-camera-11679558

Viewed on February 13, 2025

https://apologeticspress.org/was-jonah-swallowed-by-a-fish-or-a-whale-2830/#:~:text=It%20may%20very%20well%20have,swallowed%20Jonah%E2%80%9D%20(2003).

Viewed on February 14, 2025

FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

 Given the love story that inspired the dish, Fettuccine Alfredo is a popular dish on Valentine's Day. This simple dish was  made originally with only three ingredients -- fresh butter, grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, and plain  fettuccine pasta.

Fettuccine means  "little ribbons in Italian. It is made from Semolina flour & egg yolks, rolled & cut out in wide, thick strips. Sometimes, other ingredients, e.g. spinach, mushrooms, garlic and/or other spices/herbs may be added to the dough before it's rolled out.

This popular dish was created out of necessity by Chef Alfredo Di Lelio in 1908. His wife Ines was very weak and had little appetite after giving birth to their first child, Armando, on February 27, 1908.

 "Alfredo strove to come up with a food that would be nourishing yet easy to digest, to help get his wife back on her feet." It worked, and she loved it. She suggested he add it to the menu at his mother's  Roman Piazza Rosa trattoria, "a small restaurant that serves simple foods" where he worked.

In 1914, DiLelio opened his own restaurant Alfredo all'Augusteo in central Rome. Of course, Fettuccine all'Alfredo was on the menu. Instead of being prepared in the kitchen, DiLilio prepared the dish table side with theatrical flair.

American superstar actors Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart," and Douglas Fairbanks, the "King of Hollywood," dined at the restaurant while on their honeymoon in 1920. They returned in 1927, "bearing an unexpected gift with enormous publicity potential: a gold fork and spoon engraved with the dedication 'To Alfredo the King of the noodles'."

They and other celebrities raved about this wonderful new dish. Sinclair Lewis mentioned it in his 1922 novel Babbitt. "At one point in the story, the protagonist meets an upper-class American lady who confesses her infatuation with Rome. But the object of her affection is not the city’s paintings, music or antiquities: rather, it’s the 'little trattoria on the Via della Scrofa where you get the best fettuccine in the world'."

"In 1927, the restaurant was reviewed in the Saturday Evening Post by George Rector—a food expert, prolific essayist and host of a CBS radio show." He called Di Lelio a "Maestro" as he prepared the dish table side.

Di Lelio sold the restaurant to two of its waiters in 1943, in part due to the rationing of eggs and cheese during World War II. As with pizza, returning American GIs sought the dish in Italian restaurants.

In 1950, Di Lelio decided to open a new restaurant with his son Armando. it was named "II Vero Alfredo" or "Alfredo Di Roma" on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore.

Today, his grandson Ines Di Lelio operates the restaurant in the same location. "'Il Vero Alfredo - Alfredo Di Romeo is in the registry of  'Historic Shops of Excellence' of the City of Rome Capitale." Its walls are lined with photos of all the famous people who have eaten there. Mementos include the gold fork & spoon given to Alfredo by the Fairbanks in 1927.

Many consider this restaurant a "must do" for travelers to Rome. Reservations are very highly recommended. Reviews on Trip Advisor show an average of 3.5 stars. The vast majority of reviews had 4 & 5 stars. Most critical reviews cite slow or rude service; only a few complained about the food quality.

Since its creation, a recipe for  Fettuccine Alfredo "turns up in over 800 American cookbooks published from 1933 to  the present." The dish became ubiquitous in the Sixties in American restaurants. However, most use an Americanized version of the recipe that adds heavy cream. Additional ingredients often seen are chicken, seafood, 
mushrooms,  tomatoes, garlic &/or  herbs. Rare is the USA cookbook or restaurant that offers the simplicity of the original dish.

Mark your online calendar for 2026 and beyond. Every February 7th is National Fettuccine Alfredo Day. Today, Feb. 9, 2025, is National Pizza Day and Superbowl Sunday in the USA. Perhaps a Spinach, with or without Chicken, Alfredo Pizza would satisfy the appetites of your Superbowl fans. Both Domino's and Papa John's offer them; so do some local pizza restaurants.  Enjoy your meal or Buon Apetito.

Sources: https://www.blindmulerestaurant.com/events/27-national-fettuccine-alfredo#:~:text=Alfredo%20di%20Lelio%2C%20ana%20Italian,of%20noodles%2C%20cheese%20and%20butter.
Viewed February 7, 2025

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine_Alfredo
Viewed February 7, 2025

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d9459333-Reviews-Piazza_Augusto_Imperatore-Rome_Lazio.html
Viewed February 8 & 9, 2025

https://lithub.com/the-invention-of-fettuccine-alfredo-a-love-story/
Viewed February 8, 2025