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From trafficker's boot to the bush: Stevie's journey
In 2021, a three-month-old Temminck's pangolin named Stevie was found curled inside a cardboard box in the trunk of a car during a Johannesburg police sting. Six months of round-the-clock veterinary care and another five months of monitored release followed before he was set free in Zululand's Manyoni Private Game Reserve. Today, tracking data confirm he is foraging, socialising, and likely fathering pups.
The illegal trade pushing pangolins toward extinction
Pangolins-scaly, ant-eating mammals-are the planet's most trafficked wild mammals. Between 2000 and 2016, over one million were illegally traded internationally. From 2016 to 2024, seizures alone accounted for at least half a million more, though these figures represent only a fraction of the true scale. Demand stems primarily from East Asia, where scales are used in traditional medicine and meat is considered a delicacy, while the United States remains a key market for pangolin-derived fashion products.
A 2016 global trade ban has failed to curb trafficking. As Asian pangolin populations near collapse, Africa has become the primary source. Habitat loss, local hunting for bushmeat and traditional remedies, and illegal trade now threaten all four African species with extinction.
South Africa's rescue efforts yield survival rates of 80%
South Africa has emerged as a critical front in the battle to save pangolins. Approximately 80% of Temminck's pangolins retrieved from traffickers in the country survive, thanks to coordinated efforts between law enforcement and non-profits like the African Pangolin Working Group (APWG). Most rescues occur during intelligence-led sting operations or vehicle searches, though experts acknowledge these recover only a small fraction of trafficked animals.
"We save a tiny percentage of pangolins in the illegal trade. We have no idea where the rest end up."
Alexis Kriel, co-chair and executive director, APWG
Rehabilitation: a fragile, months-long process
Rescued pangolins are often young, injured, dehydrated, or traumatised, making rehabilitation notoriously difficult. Stevie, for instance, was found in a car boot alongside a cabbage leaf-an inappropriate food for a species that feeds exclusively on ants and termites. Upon arrival at Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital, veterinarian Kelsey Skinner conducted a full health assessment, including blood tests, fluid therapy, and immune boosters.
Unlike many rescued pangolins, Stevie was alert and mobile, though his soft scales left him vulnerable to predators. Skinner spent weeks bottle-feeding him cat milk formula and gradually introducing him to natural foraging. Daily walks in suitable habitat allowed him to practice digging for ants and termites, a skill he would have learned from his mother had he not been separated from her.
Release and monitoring: ensuring long-term survival
At six months, Stevie was weaned off milk, and by nine months, he reached 6 kg (13 lb)-the minimum weight for safe release. His scales had hardened sufficiently to deter predators, and he was transferred to Manyoni Private Game Reserve. There, pangolin monitor Donald Davies and his team oversaw a five-month "soft release" process, allowing Stevie to forage daily while returning to a secure location at night.
Telemetry trackers attached before his final release in 2022 have since revealed his movements, social interactions, and even potential mating behaviors. "Stevie regularly visits female burrows," says Skinner. "It's almost certain he's fathered pups."
Tracking also exposes risks. Electric fences, elephants, and crocodiles have claimed other released pangolins. Without telemetry, such threats would remain undocumented.
Conservation through collaboration and education
Since 2016, the APWG has overseen the release of 85 pangolins into suitable habitats, including areas where they had previously vanished. In February 2025, the organisation opened the Pangalorium, a dedicated rehabilitation facility in Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, with Skinner as its resident veterinarian. The centre provides specialised care, conducts research, and serves as an educational hub.
Araluen Schunmann of the Pangolin Crisis Fund emphasises the broader impact of such efforts: "Rehabilitation saves individual pangolins and strengthens conservation initiatives by raising public awareness and support."
Ditsi, another pangolin pup rescued in 2021, exemplifies these successes. After rehabilitation, she was released in February 2023. Two years later, camera traps captured footage of her emerging from her burrow with a pup-proof that rescued pangolins can reproduce in the wild.
Challenges and hope for the future
Despite progress, experts stress that saving pangolins requires action on multiple fronts: dismantling trafficking networks, strengthening legal frameworks, and fostering cross-border collaboration among African range states. "You cannot conserve a species if no individuals remain," says Wright.
"Rehabilitation is grueling, with many setbacks and losses. But those that make it back to the wild keep us motivated to save as many as possible."
Alexis Kriel, APWG
For now, stories like Stevie's and Ditsi's offer a rare glimmer of hope in the fight to protect one of the world's most vulnerable-and overlooked-mammals.
