Rehabilitate & Monitor Rescued Pangolins

***All pangolins are housed and treated off-site at undisclosed secure locations for their safety and the safety of our team***

Artie joined the Scales Pangolin Rescue Fund rehabilitation program after being confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade in a sting operation in Mpumalanga in August 2021. It was believed he had been held in captivity for at least 8 or 9 days before he was confiscated. Captive pangolins are generally held in cramped conditions without access to drinking water or food and this was no exception for poor little Artie.

He was found emaciated and severely dehydrated, so he was rushed to intensive care. When he was admitted they also found him to be suffering from pneumonia! It was touch and go as Artie spent a week in intensive care, but our amazing veterinary team at Provet Wildlife Services were able to pull him through and get him stable enough to begin his rehabilitation journey.

Artie was a shy little male, that not surprisingly, took a long time to start trusting humans and feeding by himself on his daily walks. He still had to visit the vets once a week for a little boost via a tube feeding, to ensure he kept up his strength as he adjusted to life at the centre. This is not something the rehab team likes to do if they can help it as it is a rather intrusive process, but in Artie's case it was absolutely necessary to ensure he stay healthy.

He grew from strength to strength over the months. He no longer had to be tube feed as he perfected his skills at finding his favourite ants and landing on some big nests too! This is every pangolin rehabber's dream, as it enables him to eat his fill whilst using as little energy as possible because he doesn't have to travel too far to do it.

Artie became the "poster child' for our on-going campaign for funding towards our pangolin rehabilitation program. Starting out as a shy little male you would barely recognise the pangolin he has become today! It is fair to say anyone that has worked with Artie has completely fallen head over heels in love with him. He is such a little character, and the team has learnt so much from watching him grow. After ten months at the centre, he began his "soft release" phase, where he could establish his own territory in a wild area but still be monitored very closely as he adjusts to his new surroundings. He was settling in so well. Established his territory and home range, finding burrows, continuing to grow from strength to strength and being a proper wild pangolin. Still being closely monitored the team found him one day with severe wounds on his back legs and so he was rushed to the closet veterinary hospital for emergency treatment until he was stable enough to be moved back to the centre. We believe he was attacked by a leopard whilst he was feeding or making his way into a burrow, luckily, he knew what to do and defend himself with his tail and roll into a ball to protect his soft under belly which saved his life. He has been recovering from his ordeal extremely well and hopefully it won’t be long before he his back out in the wild once again.