Why This Luxury Safari Camp Wants to Help Protect and Rehabilitate Pangolins in Africa
It's hard to imagine, but the diminutive pangolin is one of the world's most trafficked mammals: Several pangolin species are even listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
It's why conservationists and activists are trying to do all they can to protect existing populations of pangolins in the wild, and to rescue and rehabilitate those that have been saved from trafficking. One of these groups is luxury safari company andBeyond.
In June 2019, the company — which runs upscale tours and safari lodges in places like the Serengeti and Masai Mara, launched the Pangolin Reintroduction Project; in December 2020, they marked their first major success after a wild pangolin pup was born in the KwaZulu Natal region, the first in decades.
We speak to andBeyond's Group Conservation Manager, Les Carlisle, to learn more about the rare, vulnerable pangolins.
What is it about pangolins that makes them so desirable to traffickers?
The most sought after body part of a pangolin is its scales. The scales are ground into powder and used as an ingredient in up to 60 different commercial pharmaceutical products manufactured on an industrial scale in China and other regions of Asia. These products are used to treat a number of cultural, spiritual, and medical ailments. Pangolin meat in Asia is also highly sought after as a delicacy, particularly in countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
The four remaining African species [of pangolins] have increasingly become targeted. In 2019 alone, 97 tons of scales — representing an estimated 150,000 African pangolins — were intercepted by law enforcement agencies and customs officials at ports in both Africa and Asia.
In Africa, [beyond] the huge losses due to poaching, habitat loss, the bush meat trade, and their traditional use in African tribal dress and medicine have seen the numbers of pangolins decline dramatically in the region.
Why are pangolins especially vulnerable to being trafficked?
They are small, easy to pick up and easy to hide away. They are a non-threatening species and when confronted or threatened, curl up into a ball which makes them very easy to pick up and transport.
So how does andBeyond help conserve these animals?
The andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve offers a safe place for animals to live their wild lives among many neighbouring communities.
In 2019, we launched an initiative — in conjunction with the African Pangolin Working Group, the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital and the Humane Society International Africa — to release pangolins retrieved from poachers or illegal wildlife traffickers across South Africa.
Each pangolin retrieved from the illegal wildlife trade is assessed, treated and rehabilitated by qualified personnel, who conduct appropriate health checks and ensure the animal is in good condition for its reintroduction back into the wild.
Guests who stay at any of our six lodges on Phinda can opt to join a researcher from our specialist conservation team as he or she locates one of the pangolins that has been reintroduced to the reserve, providing them with a rare window on the world of these shy, elusive and terribly threatened mammals. They can also observe their unique features and adaptations first hand as our researcher does a general health check and downloads critical research data from the tag attached to each pangolin
What are the major challenges that you face when it comes to protecting your population of pangolins?
The soft release process is itself challenging, as the animal acclimatises to its new environment, terrain and food. Some pangolin need to be tube fed before full release. After release, the animal may not feed and settle due to stress or lack of the ant species they prefer. It may also develop post-release health issues such as pneumonia or pancreatic failure, which can be life-threatening if unnoticed and not treated.
The security of the animals is a huge challenge, as their value on the black market is very high and the demand is increasing.
Funding is a major challenge and costs of the vital monitoring equipment are very high. Long-term funding will continue to be a challenge until cheaper tags are designed, researched, developed and tested, something the project aims to do.
Is the programme seeing success?
In the second half of 2020, andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve welcomed the birth of a pangolin pup, the first to be born in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province in many decades.
The reintroduction of rescued Temminck's Ground Pangolins into Zululand started with two animals in June 2019. After an absence of decades they once roamed the land of Phinda. Who knows when there was last a viable breeding population. Reports of sporadic sighting exist since 1950s with the last sighting recorded in 1980 on the reserve. However, it is believed these were the last remaining individuals of an elusive secretive species.
Pangolins were wiped out in Zululand due to over-harvesting for traditional medicine and gifting by Zulu culture, due to extensive herbicide spraying in the 1950s to eradicate malaria and tsetse flies, and due to electrical game fencing.
But the project has been a success, and a number of pangolins have now settled on andBeyond's Phinda Private Game Reserve, managing to find the specialised food and shelter they require.
An additional release site of Manyoni Private Game Reserve has been identified and animals have started to be released there too, with the long term aim of re-establishing a greater population in the Zululand area.
Monitoring is also key to establishing if the project is a success or not. This can only be determined after years of seeing if they settle, survive and reproduce. Techniques and lessons learnt can then be shared and passed on to others as we may have to rescue and release many more pangolins as the trade and demand picks up.
Ultimately, why do you want to look after these pangolins?
Our philosophy has always been care of the land, care of the wildlife, and care of the people. Through our community development partner, Africa Foundation, there is a vehicle for communities to benefit from the success of the reserve — and the animals.
Because of this, the communities around Phinda place great value on the animals inside the reserve and do what they can to protect them: We often refer to them as our first line of defence against poaching.
