Records & People

A New Pangolin Species Was Hiding in Kathmandu Valley for 190 Years

DNA from a 190-year-old museum skin just confirmed Nepal has its own pangolin species — living in ordinary community forests that ring the capital.

By Laxman Rawal · Jul 23, 2026

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A pangolin collected in Nepal in the 1830s sat in a London museum drawer for 190 years, labelled as the wrong species. This year, DNA extracted from that same fragile skin proved everyone wrong: Nepal has its own pangolin, found nowhere else on Earth, and it…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you Don't expect to see one. Pangolins are nocturnal, solitary and among the most trafficked mammals on Earth precisely because they're so rarely spotted alive. But the discovery is a reminder that Nepal's biodiversity value isn't confined…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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