Lesser-known facts about the ancient, ghostly pangolin Nica Richards Picture: Michel Bega Trying to get the number of wild pangolins ‘is like trying to count a ghost – it is almost impossible’. Pangolins are some of the worldâs oldest inhabitants, but illegal trade may see a species that has called earth home for at least 84 million years disappear. They may look like amphibians, but pangolins are mammals, covered in tough, overlapping scales. But underneath their hard exterior, they have soft, slightly furry bellies. Tot the pangolin is held by wildlife rehabilitation specialist Nicci Wright of the Johannesburg Wildlife Vet Hospital, 19 February 2021, in Johannesburg, during a measuring and weighing procedure. Saturday 20 February 2021 is World Pangolin Day. Picture: Michel Bega