Things You need to Know about Ground Pangolin (KAKAKUONA in Swahili) in Tanzania

Last reviewed on: 22nd July, 2020

Tanzania is the Country found in East Africa, it is where Mount Kilimanjaro found, the tallest mountain in Africa. Not only Mount Kilimanjaro found in Tanzania but there are more other natural attractive places such as Serengeti, Mikumi and Manyara National parks, Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Victoria, Waterfalls, Kihansi Frog and much more, if I decides to mention them all, I can’t finish for days, there are plenty of them. If you are a Tourist and you have a plan of visiting natural places including Wild animals, Tanzania is your right place.

Photo: The map of Arica showing Tanzania and other countries 

Photo: The map of Tanzania painted with National Flag Colour

Today I want to share with you the interesting facts about ground pangolin in Tanzania. Most tribes of Tanzania have some beliefs on ground pangolin, because they consider the animal as more special compared to other wild animals. They believe that the appearance of ground pangolin  around their environment denote Joy or hopefully or threatening future events.

Photo: Ground Pangolin Art work, Currently I don't have the real photo of the animal but later I'll uptodate this article with the real animal photo.

The following explanation elaborate how most people from Tanzania celebrate the moment they are waiting ground pangolin to predict future events such as Good rainfall distribution, Hunger, Floods, Enough food availability for the next seasons and much more, though sometimes the animal may not predict anything and run into bushes.

• When the ground pangolin appears on the area, people take the animal and send to a street or villages leaders. Because the animal is so special for them, village or street leaders find local leaders of the area, most of them are older. That day of the animal appearance become the great day and people celebrate.

• Local leaders prepare cultural events or celebrations including drums and other local singing equipment, sometimes they wear cultural clothes. The events become so great.

• They prepare a special mat for the animal together with different materials for prediction around it such as water, Maize bran, local weapons (Knives, Spears, Machetes etc.), banana, hand hoe, money, paddy, some cereal seeds (i.e. Maize seeds) and other more materials according to the nature of the area including Phones, Computers etc.

• After arranging all materials for prediction around the animal, Local leader lead the ceremony by dancing and singing cultural songs, all people in the event enjoy the moment by singing and dancing, waiting the animal to predict future events.

• The animal predicts future events by touching the surrounding materials by mouth and sometimes by licking them. The touched material(s) describe the upcoming events.

The following are descriptions of the predicted material together with denoted future events;

Water: High rainfall with Floods

Hand Hoe: Highest production of crops especially food crops

Maize bran: Enough food availability

Paddy: Highest Paddy production

Local weapons: Misunderstanding among communities or War

Money: Increase in Income among communities

Banana: Highest banana production or enough food availability

Phones, Computers etc.: Improvement of technology

NOTE:

The above materials are just few, Tanzanian community may have more other to display, as soon as ground pangolin appears to their environment. The nature of every material reflects the expected future events.

After prediction Ground Pangolin run into bushes, but before that Natural resource Officers come and take it, because they have responsibility of conserving natural resources including wild animals.

People from the area where Ground Pangolin found become so happy, because they believe that what the animal predicted is going to happen and for that case they are prepared for the expected events, whether hopefully or threatened.

That's all about Ground Pangolin in Tanzania, the country with a lot of attractive natural resources including natural places and wild animals and people with Hospitality, I advise Tourist from different parts of the world to visit Tanzania. I'm proud to be Tanzanian. You are warmly welcome!.

Posted by: Lusubilo A. Mwaijengo