Rare ‘Pokémon’-like creature with humongous tongue spotted in Singapore. See the video
Strolling along a street in central Singapore, a woman headed to the club. But she wasn’t alone.
Walking just behind her was a rare animal with a massive tongue, a video shows.
“It was like meeting a rare Pokémon!” Sarah May Low said in an Aug. 14 TikTok video. “I was on the way to go clubbing two nights ago, and I encountered a sunda pangolin.”
Sunda pangolins are a “shy, nocturnal (and) solitary mammal covered in scales,” according to Singaporean officials. They eat ants and termites with a tongue the length of their body.
Video footage shows the medium-sized brown-gray pangolin wandering along the sidewalk. The scaly animal has an anteater-like snout and tail that drags on the ground. It walks past Low and continues on its way.
“I’m so glad I went out that night,” Low said in the video. “I guess this is what you call a fated encounter.”
Sunda pangolins are critically endangered. Only about 100 pangolins still live in the wild in Singapore, park officials estimated in 2016.
“It walked (past) you with no reaction, as if he (doesn’t) want to entertain anybody after coming from a stressful workday,” one TikTok user commented.
“He’s got that 4 hours extra OT walk,” another user commented.
Several users called the pangolin “cute.” Others expressed concerns for the animal’s safety.
Low did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
The pangolin was filmed in a central district of Singapore, an Asian island country composed of one city-state. The country is south of Malaysia and north of Indonesia.
This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 10:38 AM with the headline "Rare ‘Pokémon’-like creature with humongous tongue spotted in Singapore. See the video."
