Pangolin Road Mortality and Wildlife Crossings

Published 9 June 2026 | 10 min read

Roads are among the most pervasive forms of human infrastructure on the planet. While their economic importance is beyond question, their ecological consequences are severe and often underestimated. For pangolins -- the most trafficked mammals on earth and already under extraordinary pressure from poaching and habitat loss -- road mortality represents an additional and growing threat. In South Africa, where Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) occupies savanna and bushveld landscapes increasingly intersected by road networks, the problem demands urgent attention from conservation planners and road authorities alike.

This article examines the scale of road mortality for pangolins, explains why these animals are uniquely vulnerable to vehicle strikes, reviews the science of road ecology as it applies to pangolin habitat, and outlines the wildlife crossing solutions that can make a measurable difference.

The Scale of the Road Mortality Problem

Quantifying pangolin road mortality is difficult precisely because the animals are rare, secretive and nocturnal. Road mortality data for pangolins is almost certainly an undercount: small carcasses on rural roads may be scavenged before they are recorded, and many roadkill events in remote areas go entirely unobserved. Despite these limitations, the available evidence points to a meaningful threat.

In South Africa, records compiled by the African Pangolin Working Group and provincial conservation authorities include documented cases of Temminck's ground pangolin roadkill in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Gauteng. The Lowveld region of Mpumalanga and the bushveld areas of Limpopo appear most frequently in these records, reflecting the overlap between pangolin range and expanding road infrastructure. While absolute numbers may seem small compared to roadkill figures for common species like hedgehogs or genets, the impact on pangolin populations is disproportionate because of the species' extremely low reproductive rate.

In Southeast Asia, the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) face similar threats. Roadkill surveys in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have recorded pangolin deaths on highways that cut through forested habitat, particularly where palm oil plantations have created habitat mosaics that force pangolins to cross roads to access remaining forest patches.

Why Pangolins Are Vulnerable to Vehicle Strikes

Several biological and behavioural characteristics make pangolins exceptionally vulnerable to road mortality, more so than many other similarly sized mammals.

Nocturnal activity patterns

Pangolins are predominantly nocturnal, emerging from their burrows or tree hollows after dark to forage for ants and termites. This brings them onto roads during the hours when driver visibility is lowest and reaction times are longest. As discussed in our article on pangolin nocturnal behaviour, peak activity periods for Temminck's ground pangolin often coincide with the hours between dusk and midnight, a high-traffic window on many South African roads.

Slow movement and the curling defence

Pangolins walk slowly, rarely exceeding a pace of two to three kilometres per hour. When crossing a road, even a narrow two-lane tarred surface, the time spent on the carriageway is considerable. Critically, a pangolin's instinctive response to perceived danger is to stop and curl into a tight ball, presenting its armoured scales outward. This defence is highly effective against lions, hyenas and other natural predators. Against a moving vehicle, it is entirely useless. The animal's reliance on this passive defence means it does not flee from oncoming traffic, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a fatal strike.

Low profile and poor visibility

A curled Temminck's ground pangolin presents a low, rounded shape on the road surface that is extremely difficult for drivers to detect, particularly at night. The animal's brown-grey colouration blends with asphalt and gravel surfaces, offering no visual contrast to alert approaching drivers.

Road Ecology: Fragmentation, Barriers and Edge Effects

Road mortality is only the most visible impact of road infrastructure on pangolin populations. The discipline of road ecology recognises three broader categories of harm: habitat fragmentation, barrier effects and edge effects.

Habitat fragmentation

Roads divide continuous habitat into smaller patches. For pangolins, which require relatively large home ranges to access sufficient ant and termite colonies, fragmentation can reduce the area of usable habitat below the threshold needed to sustain a viable population. Research into pangolin habitat loss in Africa has identified road development as one of several drivers of landscape-level fragmentation across the species' range.

Barrier effects

Even where roads do not directly kill pangolins, they can function as behavioural barriers. Traffic noise, vehicle vibration, artificial lighting and the open, exposed surface of the road may deter pangolins from crossing. Over time, this creates isolated sub-populations on either side of a road corridor. Reduced gene flow between these sub-populations increases the risk of inbreeding depression and reduces the population's capacity to adapt to environmental change.

Edge effects

Road margins create edge habitat that differs from the interior of natural landscapes. Altered vegetation, increased human activity, elevated noise levels and changes to microclimate along road edges can reduce habitat quality for pangolins in a zone extending well beyond the physical footprint of the road itself. Ant and termite colony distribution may also be affected by soil compaction and drainage changes associated with road construction.

Documented Cases and Data Collection Efforts

Systematic roadkill monitoring for pangolins remains limited, but several initiatives are building the evidence base.

South Africa

The African Pangolin Working Group maintains a database of pangolin sighting and mortality records across southern Africa. Individual reports from members of the public, conservation officers and researchers contribute to this database, which increasingly includes GPS coordinates that allow spatial analysis of mortality hotspots. Provincial conservation agencies in Limpopo and Mpumalanga have incorporated pangolin roadkill reporting into their broader wildlife monitoring frameworks.

Camera trap studies in the Waterberg region of Limpopo and along roads adjacent to the Kruger National Park have documented pangolins approaching and sometimes crossing roads, providing data on crossing frequency and behaviour at road margins. These studies suggest that pangolins do not actively avoid roads but also do not adjust their behaviour when on road surfaces, confirming their vulnerability.

Southeast Asia

In Malaysia, roadkill surveys along the East-West Highway in Peninsular Malaysia and along plantation roads in Sabah and Sarawak have recorded Sunda pangolin deaths. Vietnam's Save Vietnam's Wildlife programme has documented pangolin roadkill incidents in areas where road expansion has penetrated into national park buffer zones. These data, though incomplete, indicate that road mortality is a cross-continental issue for multiple pangolin species.

Wildlife Crossing Solutions for Pangolins

Road ecology research over the past three decades has produced a well-established toolkit of wildlife crossing structures designed to allow animals to pass safely beneath or over roads. Adapting these solutions for pangolins requires attention to the species' specific biology and behaviour.

Culverts and underpasses

Box culverts -- rectangular concrete tunnels beneath the road surface -- are the most practical and cost-effective crossing structure for ground-dwelling pangolins. To be effective, culverts must meet several criteria: a minimum internal height of 0.6 metres, a natural earth or sand substrate on the floor rather than bare concrete, and placement at intervals corresponding to known or predicted pangolin movement corridors. Pipe culverts with diameters of 0.6 metres or larger can also function as pangolin passages, provided they are dry and free of standing water during the periods when pangolins are active.

Dedicated fauna underpasses

Larger fauna underpasses, typically spanning two metres or more in width and height, serve multiple species including pangolins. These are most commonly incorporated into new road construction projects where elevated road sections (viaducts or bridges) create natural passage beneath the carriageway. In South Africa, examples exist along sections of the N4 highway and other national routes where bridges span drainage lines, providing incidental wildlife passage.

Eco-bridges and overpasses

Vegetated overpasses, sometimes called eco-bridges or green bridges, allow animals to cross above the road surface on a planted structure. While eco-bridges have proven highly effective for arboreal species and large mammals elsewhere in the world, their utility for ground-dwelling pangolins in southern Africa has not been specifically tested. They may be most relevant in areas where tree pangolin species occur in forested regions of Central and West Africa.

Exclusion fencing and guide walls

Crossing structures are only effective if animals are directed toward them. Exclusion fencing along road margins prevents pangolins from accessing the road surface while channelling them toward culverts or underpasses. For pangolins, fencing must extend below ground level to prevent the animals from digging beneath it, and the mesh gauge must be small enough that a pangolin cannot push through. Low guide walls constructed from natural stone or concrete blocks can serve the same function in areas where fencing is impractical.

Road Planning and Environmental Impact Assessments

The most effective way to reduce pangolin road mortality is to incorporate wildlife considerations into road planning from the earliest design stages. In South Africa, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process governed by the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) provides a legal framework for this integration.

For road projects in areas where pangolins are known or likely to occur -- including much of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West -- EIA practitioners should undertake the following steps:

• Baseline surveys: Commission specialist fauna surveys to establish pangolin presence, including camera trap deployments and consultation with local communities and conservation agencies.
• Movement corridor mapping: Use habitat connectivity modelling to identify likely pangolin movement routes that intersect with the proposed road alignment.
• Crossing structure placement: Specify the type, dimensions and spacing of wildlife crossing structures based on corridor analysis, and include these in the engineering design rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
• Construction phase management: Implement mitigation measures during construction to minimise disturbance to pangolin populations, including restrictions on night-time construction activities in sensitive areas.
• Post-construction monitoring: Require long-term monitoring of crossing structure use and roadkill rates to evaluate effectiveness and trigger adaptive management if mortality persists.

South African Road Development in Pangolin Habitat

Several regions of South Africa are experiencing rapid road development that intersects directly with prime Temminck's ground pangolin habitat.

In Limpopo province, mining-related road upgrades in the Waterberg and Sekhukhuneland areas are expanding the road network through savanna and bushveld where pangolin populations are known to occur. The N1 corridor through northern Limpopo and the R33 through the central bushveld are among the routes where pangolin roadkill has been recorded.

In Mpumalanga, road upgrades associated with mining, forestry and tourism infrastructure in the Lowveld and adjacent escarpment areas pose ongoing risks. The road network surrounding the Kruger National Park carries heavy tourist and commercial traffic through habitat that supports pangolins and numerous other threatened species.

In KwaZulu-Natal, road development in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and northern Zululand areas affects pangolin habitat that is already under pressure from land-use conversion. The expansion of the N2 corridor and associated provincial roads in these areas warrants careful assessment of wildlife crossing needs.

Community Reporting Programmes

Citizen science and community-based reporting are essential tools for building the roadkill dataset needed to identify mortality hotspots and prioritise mitigation efforts. Several approaches have shown promise in South Africa.

The African Pangolin Working Group encourages members of the public to report all pangolin sightings, including roadkill, via its reporting platforms. Each record should include the GPS coordinates of the sighting, the date and time, the name of the road, and a photograph if safely possible. These records feed into a national database used for research and conservation planning.

Community conservancy programmes in Limpopo and Mpumalanga have trained local residents to recognise and report pangolin roadkill as part of broader community conservation initiatives. These programmes are particularly valuable in rural areas where road mortality events would otherwise go unrecorded. Linking roadkill reporting to existing community-based monitoring networks ensures that data collection is sustained over time rather than depending on short-term research projects.

Recommendations for Road Authorities and Conservation Planners

Reducing pangolin road mortality requires coordinated action between road engineering authorities, conservation agencies and affected communities. The following recommendations address the most impactful interventions:

1. Retrofit existing roads with crossing structures at identified mortality hotspots, prioritising culverts with natural substrate and exclusion fencing in areas where roadkill data or habitat modelling indicates high risk.
2. Mandate wildlife-sensitive design in all new road projects within pangolin distribution range, including Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West provinces.
3. Establish speed reduction zones on rural roads through confirmed pangolin habitat, with signage alerting drivers to wildlife crossing risk during nocturnal hours.
4. Fund long-term roadkill monitoring programmes to track mortality trends, evaluate crossing structure effectiveness and identify emerging hotspots as road networks expand.
5. Integrate pangolin data into provincial road master plans so that habitat connectivity is considered alongside engineering and economic criteria during route selection.
6. Support community reporting networks by providing accessible reporting tools, feedback on data use and recognition for community contributions to monitoring efforts.
7. Commission targeted research on pangolin road-crossing behaviour, including movement patterns at road margins, response to different road surface types and use of existing culvert structures.

Road infrastructure will continue to expand across pangolin range states. The question is not whether roads will be built, but whether they will be designed and managed in ways that account for the survival needs of one of the world's most threatened mammal groups. With the right planning, engineering and community engagement, road mortality does not have to be an inevitable cost of development.