World Pangolin Day takes place on 15 February, aimed at raising awareness of the plight of the famously elusive, enigmatic little creatures that have the unenviable reputation of being the world’s most trafficked mammal.
Seeing one of these rare creatures is a special moment during a visit to Africa, and far from an everyday occurrence. Take a look through our travellers’ pangolin sightings on our website and you’ll see that even when visiting areas where pangolins are known to live, very few travellers actually have the privilege of spotting one.
Expert Africa’s Anton Walker was lucky enough to encounter this pangolin up close at Selinda Explorers Camp in Botswana, September 2024.
There are eight pangolin species globally, four of which are in Asia, teetering on the edge of extinction. Of the four African species, the one you’d be most likely to see – if you were very lucky – is the ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). Resident throughout southern and eastern Africa, their habitats are savannah woodland, scrub, and sandy floodplains, but these nocturnal anteaters are rarely seen during the day.
Taking their name from a Malay word “pengguling,” meaning “something that rolls up,” pangolins curl into a ball when they’re under threat and the scales covering their body act as protective armour, impenetrable to all but the fiercest and most persistent predator – honey badgers, with teeth as jagged as the Himalayas, might just manage to break through.
Yet the very thing that is meant to protect pangolins is the reason for their unfortunate status as number one victim of the illegal wildlife trade. Resembling layers of flat scallop shells, their scales are simply keratin, the stuff our fingernails are made of. But they are erroneously believed to harbour healing properties in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, somehow curing ailments ranging from arthritis to cancer and male impotence.
The UN Environment Programme estimates that more than a million pangolins have been trafficked in the last decade. No one knows how many survive, but sightings in the wild have been diminishing for years.
Many charities and park authorities are working hard to reverse this trend. NGO Pangolin.africa has produced a fascinating film, Eye of the Pangolin, starring all four African species. Translated into several languages, its aim is to spread awareness of the pangolin’s precarious situation worldwide. Along with supporting rescue and rehabilitation efforts, funding camera traps and tracking devices, they also created the Pangolert WhatsApp line for reporting sightings, enabling them to collate information on pangolin distribution across Africa.
Perhaps the best known NGO for pangolin conservation is the Tikki Hywood Foundation based in Zimbabwe, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Its work is wide-ranging, including international advocacy, community education and awareness-raising, working with legislators and judiciary, and research. Five years ago, THF joined forces with African Parks, merging their respective specialist expertise and law enforcement resources to rescue, rehabilitate and release pangolins into African Parks’ safe protected areas.
Should you be lucky enough to spot a pangolin, savour the moment. Walking on hind legs like mini dinosaurs, with their front paws raised to their chest as if they’re praying, they sweep their long heavy tail behind them. Their sticky tongue, like a long pink straw, starts from deep in their belly and is the perfect device for drawing in the ten thousand or so ants and termites they eat every day, protecting biodiversity as they forage under rocks and in nooks and crannies.
Shy, quirky and charismatic, these beguiling creatures are truly a rare and special sighting.
Explore the Expert Africa website for insight into the countries, areas and camps with the best chance of seeing a pangolin yourself – or a range of other wildlife species – all based on actual sightings from real travellers.
If you’ve been inspired and want to find out more, give us a call or enquire now to speak to an expert.
