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交易量最大的哺乳动物。由于对穿山甲零件和产品的需求不断增长，亚洲四种穿山甲在过去、现在和预测的数量都在下降，因此都被世界自然保护联盟（IUCN）列为极度濒危或濒危物种。菲律宾穿山甲（Manis culionensis）是菲律宾巴拉望岛的特有物种，可以说是所有穿山甲物种中最不为人所知的，种群数据有限。据预测，该物种的数量将下降50%，但我们对当地或国际上对该物种的威胁知之甚少，甚至对收集基线数据以告知其保护的不同研究方法的有效性也知之甚少。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，为菲律宾穿山甲的保护状况提供第一个可靠的评估，从而为保护生物学提供信息，但通过开发一个适用于调查其他鲜为人知的濒危物种状况的综合方法工具包，它将得到更广泛的应用。它还将为保护规划者提供有关该物种面临的来自非法野生动物贸易的人为威胁的新数据，以帮助优先采取保护行动。

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.