Pangolin and Wildfire: How Fire Ecology Affects Africa's Armoured Mammals

Fire has shaped African landscapes for millions of years. Savannas, grasslands and bushveld depend on periodic burning to maintain their ecological character, and the species within these biomes have evolved alongside flame. As ground-dwelling insectivores that forage across fire-prone landscapes in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, Temminck's ground pangolins (Smutsia temminckii) face wildfire as a regular ecological reality rather than a rare catastrophe.

Yet the relationship between pangolins and fire remains poorly understood. This article examines how veld fires affect pangolins directly and indirectly, how their burrow systems provide critical fire refugia, and what fire management approaches best serve pangolin conservation in a warming climate.

Fire Ecology in African Savannas and Grasslands

African savannas and grasslands are fire-adapted ecosystems. In South Africa, the Highveld grasslands, Lowveld bushveld and coastal grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal all experience regular fire, whether ignited by lightning during early-summer storms or set deliberately by land managers. Fire frequencies range from annual burns in moist grasslands to intervals of three to five years in semi-arid savanna.

Fire removes accumulated dead grass, stimulates fresh growth, controls woody plant encroachment and recycles nutrients. Without fire, many of these systems would transition to closed woodland, fundamentally altering their species composition. For pangolins, fire ecology matters because open savanna with moderate grass cover supports higher densities of surface-active ant and termite species than dense, fire-excluded bush.

Pangolin Burrows as Fire Refugia

The primary defence a pangolin has against wildfire is retreating underground. Burrows function as fire refugia, providing insulation against extreme surface temperatures. Research on subterranean temperature profiles during savanna fires shows that at 30 cm depth, temperatures rarely exceed ambient soil temperature by more than a few degrees, even when surface temperatures surpass 600 degrees Celsius during an intense head fire.

Temminck's ground pangolins use burrows extending 50 cm to over one metre below ground. A pangolin sheltering in a deep aardvark burrow during a fire would experience negligible temperature change in its resting chamber.

The coincidence of fire season with winter denning behaviour works in the pangolin's favour. During dry winter months, pangolins spend longer periods underground, emerging less frequently and reducing their probability of being caught above ground when a fire passes. However, this protection depends on burrow availability. Where burrowing mammals such as aardvarks have been eliminated, pangolins lack adequate underground refugia, indirectly increasing fire vulnerability.

Impact of Veld Fires on Pangolin Food Sources

Pangolins feed almost exclusively on ants and termites. The effect of fire on these prey organisms determines whether a burned landscape can support pangolin foraging in subsequent weeks.

Termite colonies

Termite mounds of the Macrotermes and Odontotermes genera extend deep underground. The colony's reproductive core, fungus gardens and food stores sit well below the fire-affected zone. Surface galleries may be scorched, but colonies typically survive intact and begin rebuilding within days. Harvester termites (Hodotermes and Trinervitermes), which forage on the surface, are more immediately affected but resume activity once post-fire grass shoots emerge.

Ant colonies

Most ant species relevant to pangolin diets nest underground and survive fire passage without colony-level mortality. The removal of grass and leaf litter exposes ant trails and nest entrances, which may paradoxically make post-fire foraging easier once colonies resume surface activity.

The post-fire foraging gap

The critical period is the first two to four weeks post-fire, when surface insect activity is suppressed. If a fire burns an entire pangolin home range simultaneously, the animal faces temporary food shortage. This is why mosaic burning, which leaves unburned patches within a landscape, is preferable from a pangolin conservation perspective.

Pangolin Keratin Scales and Heat Resistance

Pangolin scales are composed of keratin with a complex layered internal structure. While their primary function is predator defence, they offer a degree of thermal protection. Keratin begins to denature at approximately 200 to 230 degrees Celsius, well above the radiant heat temperatures a pangolin would experience at moderate distances from a grass fire front. A pangolin curled into its defensive ball presents a relatively heat-resistant outer surface to a passing flame front.

However, the ventral surface lacks scales entirely, and smoke inhalation poses a threat that scales cannot mitigate. The practical heat resistance of scales is best understood as a short-duration emergency buffer rather than a reliable survival mechanism. Observations of pangolins in recently burned areas without visible scale damage suggest brief, indirect heat exposure during low-intensity fires does not cause lasting harm.

Post-Fire Habitat Recovery and Pangolin Recolonisation

After fire passes through pangolin habitat, recovery follows a predictable sequence. In the first week, bare ground with ash cover supports minimal insect activity. Within two to three weeks, green shoots appear. By four to six weeks, active ant trails and termite tunnels are visible on exposed soil, often easier to detect than in unburned grass.

Telemetry data suggest that pangolins do not permanently abandon home ranges after fire. They temporarily shift foraging toward unburned portions of their range before gradually recolonising burned areas. Full vegetation recovery takes one to two growing seasons, but the open structure during recovery may actually benefit pangolins by making prey detection easier.

Prescribed Burning vs Uncontrolled Fires

The distinction between planned prescribed burns and uncontrolled wildfires is critical for conservation outcomes.

Prescribed burns

Prescribed burning on South African nature reserves, game farms and communal rangelands involves deliberate ignition under controlled conditions. Fire managers select timing (typically late winter), weather conditions and fire type to achieve ecological objectives. Well-planned burns maintain open savanna structure, prevent bush encroachment and create habitat mosaics that support diverse prey communities, while leaving unburned refugia patches.

Uncontrolled wildfires

Wildfires burn at higher intensities and across larger areas without spatial planning. They are more likely to burn entire pangolin home ranges, destroy all food sources simultaneously, and catch animals above ground. The risk of direct mortality is substantially higher than from prescribed burns.

Fire Management Strategies That Benefit Pangolins

Integrating pangolin conservation into fire management requires several practical approaches:

• Mosaic burning: Burning different blocks in different years ensures pangolins always have access to unburned foraging areas. A rotation of three to five years per block suits most bushveld pangolin habitat.
• Timing: Burning in late winter (July to August) when pangolins shelter in deep burrows reduces encounter risk.
• Firebreaks: Maintaining firebreaks around known denning concentrations and drainage lines provides additional protection.
• Burn intensity: Using back burns rather than head fires reduces flame height, rate of spread and soil heating.
• Post-fire monitoring: Checking pangolin territories after fires to confirm survival provides data for refining future planning.

Climate Change, Increased Fire Frequency and Pangolin Vulnerability

Climate projections for southern Africa indicate warmer temperatures, variable rainfall and extended dry seasons. This translates to longer fire seasons, higher intensities and more frequent ignition events. For pangolins, the implications of climate change compounding fire pressure are concerning: more frequent fires reduce recovery time between burn events, potentially preventing ant and termite populations from rebuilding. Extended fire seasons may overlap with periods of pangolin surface activity.

Habitat fragmentation amplifies these threats. A pangolin in a small, isolated patch cannot move to unburned areas when its entire habitat burns. Maintaining habitat connectivity is therefore an important climate adaptation strategy for fire-affected populations.

South Africa's Working on Fire Programme and Pangolin Habitat

South Africa's Working on Fire (WoF) programme, established in 2003, employs thousands of fire fighters to conduct prescribed burns, construct firebreaks and suppress wildfires. The programme operates extensively in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal — all provinces where Temminck's ground pangolin occurs.

WoF teams work on state-owned protected areas, private and communal land, making the programme relevant across land tenure types. There is scope for greater integration: sharing pangolin distribution data with WoF managers could inform burn block design, while WoF teams could report pangolin sightings and burrow locations encountered during operations.

The overlap between fire-prone biomes and pangolin habitat in South Africa is extensive. The Savanna Biome of Limpopo and Mpumalanga is both the primary habitat for Temminck's ground pangolin and the biome most affected by veld fires. The Grassland Biome of the Highveld and KZN midlands also experiences regular fire and hosts scattered pangolin populations. Effective fire management across these biomes is inseparable from effective pangolin habitat management.