CreatureData

Giant pangolin

Smutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815)

ENEndangeredmammals

The giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) is a species in the family Manidae, order Pholidota. Recorded adults weigh about 33 kg and live up to 4.58 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea)
Photo: John Cummings · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the giant pangolin

Weight
33 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
4.58 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Age at maturity
2.07 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the giant pangolin live?

Not recorded

What is the giant pangolin?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) is a species of pangolin from genus Smutsia of subfamily Smutsiinae within the family Manidae. It is the largest living species of pangolins. Members of the species inhabit Africa with a range stretching along the equator from West Africa to Uganda. It subsists almost entirely on ants and termites.

From the Wikipedia article “Giant pangolin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giant_pangolin&oldid=1360678324), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the giant pangolin endangered?

The giant pangolin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the giant pangolin classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPholidota
  5. familyManidae
  6. genusSmutsia
  7. SpeciesSmutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815)

Synonyms Manis gigantea, Pholidotus africanus

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • Giant ground pangolinEnglish
  • Giant ground pangolinEnglish
  • Giant ground pangolinEnglish
  • بنغول عملاقArabic
  • أم قرفة العملاقةArabic
  • آكل النمل الحرشفي العملاقArabic
  • luskoun velkýCzech
  • KæmpeskældyrDanish
  • RiesenschuppentierGerman
  • AkuoŋDinka
  • Γιγάντιος ΠαγκολίνοςGreek
  • Pangolín GiganteSpanish
  • isomuurahaiskäpyFinnish
  • Grand pangolinFrench
  • Pangolin géantFrench
  • Óriás tobzoskaHungarian
  • Pangolino giganteItalian
  • オオセンザンコウJapanese
  • KjempepangolinNorwegian Bokmål
  • KjempeskjelldyrNorwegian Bokmål
  • ReuzenschubdierDutch
  • pangolin olbrzymiPolish
  • łuskowiec olbrzymiPolish
  • Pangolim‑gigantePortuguese
  • Гигантский ящерRussian
  • veliki luskavecSlovenian
  • jättemyrkottSwedish
  • 大穿山甲Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the giant pangolin

Other species in the same genus Smutsia.

CompareGiant pangolin vs Ground pangolinGiant pangolin vs Smutsia olteniensis

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the giant pangolin?

An adult giant pangolin weighs 33 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the giant pangolin endangered?

The giant pangolin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the giant pangolin live?

The giant pangolin has a recorded lifespan of 4.58 years.

What kind of animal is the giant pangolin?

The giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) belongs to the family Manidae in the order Pholidota.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-pangolin

MLA

“Giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-pangolin.

BibTeX
@misc{giant_pangolin_2026,
  title = {Giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-pangolin},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}