Pangolin Conservation in KZN, South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province in South Africa’s Far East, has been void of the Temminck’s Ground Pangolin for generations.  Due to the prolific use of pangolin scales for both medicinal and ritualistic purposes, pangolins faced localized extinction in the region more than 50 years ago.

A young pangolin, named Ramphy, was orphaned when his mother was killed by poachers near the Zimbabwe/South African border.  Luckily, he was rescued and sent to the Phinda Private Game Reserve, which is a critical wildlife management and conservation area in KZN. 

When I first met Ramphy with his caretaker, he was still a pangopup.  He needed her to carry him around the reserve and introduce him to the habitat.  She was also the one who unearthed ants’ nests buried deep underground as his mother would have done, and since Ramphy was a picky eater, he would tickle her legs and signal he was ready to move on to another nest when the ants began spraying acid.  At night, she took him to her house, gave him milk, and provided him with a safe place to sleep.  

Since I last saw him, Ramphy was released into the reserve and is now one of the first rehabilitated pangolins who has returned to the wild since the species was hunted out.  His re-entry proves what can happen when humans participate positively in saving and restoring this species.

This pangolin’s story, although unique, is simply a different ending to a consistent plight for many animals throughout the world.  In the past few years, since the four species of Asian pangolins are on the verge of extinction, millions of pangolins have been shipped from the African continent to Asia.  These pangolins are exported as part of a lucrative black market trade that exploits them primarily as a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).  

Aside from the black market trade, pangolins also face huge risks from changing climate norms.  With increased temperatures, especially in desert environments where Temminck’s ground pangolins reside, droughts have become far more regular, which reduces insect populations.  For that reason, pangolins spend more time foraging, which increases their stress levels and further decreases their already slow reproduction rate.

There is optimism, though. Recent Chinese legislation has shown how new government policy towards ending the legal trade of pangolins may transform the ignorance of previous generations; however, the threat from the illegal trade industry still remains because the government has yet to address its impact.

Don’t let anyone tell you this species is not critical to the health of our ecosystems.  If we don’t begin to address the Earth’s towering environmental issues, then we might lose this opportunity to save pangolins from extinction and risk causing our own.