(Screenshot from google.com)
Google and the World Wildlife Fund are casting a spotlight on the plight of the pangolins with an incredibly intricate and cute Google Doodle.
Lasting for four days, the delightful Doodle is all about pangolins and love. It features a multi-level game starring a small rolling pangolin; using the arrow keys and the space bar, people can send the little pangolin rolling across Ghana, India, China (where it swings from ribbons attached to lanterns) and the Philippines. There are eight pangolin species, which not coincidentally, live in all those regions.
The initiative is meant to raise awareness about the endangered pangolins, which are threatened by trafficking. The World Wildlife Fund describes the unique creature as “the world's only truly scaly mammal.”
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“Pangolins are the most-trafficked mammals in the world, in high demand by consumers for their meat and their unique scales,” the WWF said. “More than one million pangolins have been illegally taken from the wild to be used in fashion products and purported medicinal remedies.”
In addition to the game, the Google Doodle also includes facts about pangolins— like about how long their tongues are (which they use to grab food like ants and termites), or how the babies ride on their mother’s tales, or that their scales are made from keratin.
Check out the Doodle and the game here.
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