Assessing the efficacy of different survey techniques to determine status & threats to the Endangered Philippine pangolin in Palawan, Philippines

穿山甲是非法野生动物贸易中被贩卖最频繁的哺乳动物。所有四种亚洲穿山甲都被列入了IUCN红色名录，要么被列为极度濒危物种，要么被列入濒危物种名单，原因是穿山甲零部件和产品的需求不断增长，导致了过去、现在和预测的数量下降。菲律宾穿山甲是菲律宾巴拉望岛特有的一种穿山甲，可以说是所有穿山甲物种中最不为人所知的，现有的种群数据有限。预计种群数量将下降50%，但我们对该物种受到的本地或国际威胁知之甚少，甚至对收集基线数据为其保护提供信息的不同研究方法的有效性知之甚少。因此，该项目将评估一系列不同的、互补的方法收集菲律宾穿山甲保护相关数据的能力。它将通过建立一个证据基础来为保护生物学提供信息，以提供对菲律宾穿山甲保护状况的第一次强有力的评估，但通过开发适用于调查其他鲜为人知的受威胁物种状况的综合方法工具包而得到更广泛的应用。它还将为非保护规划者提供有关该物种面临非法野生动物贸易的人为威胁的新数据，以帮助优先开展保护行动。

Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammals in the illegal wildlife trade. All four Asianpangolin species are listed as either Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN RedList due to past, present and predicted population declines which are driven by the growingdemand for pangolin parts and products. The Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis) isendemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines and is arguably the least known of all thepangolin species, with limited population data available. Population declines of >50% arepredicted but we have little knowledge on the local or international threats placed upon thisspecies, or even of the effectiveness of different research methods to gather baseline data toinform its conservation. This project will therefore assess the ability of a series of different,complementary methods to gather conservation-relevant data for the Philippine pangolin. Itwill inform conservation biology by building an evidence-base from which to provide the firstrobust assessment of the Philippine pangolin's conservation status, but with widerapplication through the development of an integrated methodological toolkit suitable forinvestigating the status of other poorly-known threatened species. It will also provideconservation planners with new data on the anthropogenic threats this species faces fromthe illegal wildlife trade in order to help prioritise conservation action.