Four pangolin species live in Africa, spread across a wide band of the continent from West Africa through Central Africa and into eastern and southern regions. Each species occupies a distinct niche, from dense tropical rainforests to dry savannahs, though their ranges sometimes overlap. Here’s where to find each one and what kind of habitat it depends on.
The Four African Pangolin Species
Africa is home to half of the world’s eight pangolin species. Three of them, the white-bellied pangolin, the black-bellied pangolin, and the giant pangolin, live primarily in the tropical forests of West and Central Africa. The fourth, Temminck’s pangolin, is the outlier: it ranges across the savannahs and woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. All four are now classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List.
White-Bellied Pangolin
The white-bellied pangolin is the most widespread of the three forest-dwelling species. Its range stretches from Senegal and Guinea in West Africa eastward through the Congo Basin, covering countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lives in tropical lowland forests but is adaptable enough to cross and survive in areas that humans have partially cleared, which helps it maintain connectivity between populations even where forests have been fragmented.
Cameroon sits at the center of this species’ range and is one of the hotspots of the illegal pangolin trade. Genetic research has identified distinct regional lineages within the white-bellied pangolin population. One lineage is concentrated in western Central Africa, extending from Cameroon south into Equatorial Guinea and northern Gabon, while another spans much of Gabon and reaches into southern Cameroon. The two lineages overlap in parts of their range, suggesting these animals still move between regions despite growing habitat loss.
Black-Bellied Pangolin
The black-bellied pangolin is the smallest of the African species and the most specialized in its habitat needs. It lives in the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa, with a range that largely overlaps the white-bellied pangolin’s territory. Countries where it’s found include Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
What sets this species apart is its preference for riverine and swamp forests, the wet, dense strips of vegetation along rivers and in flooded lowlands. It’s also more active during the day than other pangolins, spending much of its time in trees. This combination of daytime activity and reliance on waterlogged forest makes it particularly vulnerable to logging and land clearing along river corridors.
Giant Pangolin
The giant pangolin is the largest pangolin species in the world, reaching over a meter in body length. It lives across a broad swath of Central and West Africa, from Senegal through to Uganda and western Kenya. Unlike its two forest-dwelling relatives, the giant pangolin isn’t restricted to dense rainforest. Habitat modeling in Cameroon found that suitable areas for giant pangolin burrows were patchily distributed across dense forests, ecotone zones (where forest transitions to grassland), and savannah. Only about 19% of the study area was considered suitable habitat, and just 1% was rated highly suitable.
This patchiness matters. The giant pangolin is a ground dweller that digs large burrows and depends on areas with high densities of ants and termites. It needs landscapes with enough ground cover, fallen logs, and undisturbed soil to support both its burrowing and its food supply. Where forest gives way to farmland or roads, those resources disappear.
Temminck’s Pangolin
Temminck’s pangolin is the only African species found outside tropical forests. Its range covers much of eastern and southern Africa, from Chad and Sudan in the north down through Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and into South Africa. It’s the species you’d encounter on safari in the bushveld or in miombo woodland.
This pangolin favors savannah and woodland habitats, particularly areas with low canopy cover. Research in northwestern Zimbabwe found that Temminck’s pangolins show a preference for mopane woodland, a type of dry, deciduous woodland dominated by mopane trees, where active anthills and termite mounds are plentiful. Their feeding sites are concentrated around trees, shrubs, and woody debris. Fallen logs, cut stumps, leaf litter, and underbrush all harbor the ants and termites these animals rely on. Areas with more ground-level debris tend to support higher prey densities, which is why pangolins gravitate toward them. They occasionally climb onto fallen stumps and the lower trunks of trees to reach prey.
What Their Habitats Have in Common
Despite their different ecosystems, all four African pangolins share core habitat needs. They require landscapes with abundant ants and termites, sufficient ground cover or canopy cover to provide shelter, and minimal disturbance from roads and human infrastructure. Habitat quality depends on a combination of climate, canopy and ground cover, litter depth, slope, distance to roads, and the type of soil or substrate underfoot.
The underbrush layer is especially critical. Shrubs, fallen logs, and leaf litter aren’t just background scenery. They’re the microhabitat where ants and termites build colonies, and where pangolins do most of their foraging. When that layer is stripped away by clearing, burning, or development, the food base collapses even if the broader landscape still looks intact.
Habitat Loss Across the Continent
All four species face serious pressure from habitat destruction. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing rapid population growth, and the resulting demand for land and resources is shrinking the forests and woodlands pangolins depend on. The leading driver is agricultural land conversion, particularly the shift toward cash crop production. In the rainforest regions occupied by the white-bellied, black-bellied, and giant pangolins, an average of roughly 590,000 hectares of rainforest were lost annually between 1990 and 2000 due to logging, road construction, urban development, and agricultural expansion.
The damage goes beyond simply removing trees. Agricultural conversion increases pesticide use, which can poison pangolins directly and reduce the availability of ants and termites. Roads fragment habitat and make previously remote areas accessible to hunters and traffickers. For the white-bellied pangolin, deforestation has been most severe in the western portions of its range. For the black-bellied pangolin, West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been hardest hit. The giant pangolin’s already patchy habitat is further reduced by the same forces, while also facing increased human contact as settlements push deeper into transitional landscapes.
Cameroon illustrates how these pressures converge. It harbors all three forest-dwelling species and remains a major hub for the illegal pangolin trade, exporting large volumes of scales from Africa to Asia. The white-bellied pangolin is by far the most heavily trafficked species in this trade.