First of all….what is a pangolin?
A pangolin is a spiny anteater that is native to Asia and Africa. It looks like this…..
Unfortunately, they have the dubious trait of being the most trafficked animal, surpassing elephants and rhinos.
Why are they so valuable?
The animals are trafficked mainly for their scales, which are believed to treat a variety of health conditions in traditional Chinese medicine, and as a luxury food in Vietnam and China. In Africa, pangolins are sold as a form of bushmeat, for ritual or spiritual purposes, and used in traditional African medicine.
The Mozambique government is cracking down on the trafficking but they needed someplace to send the pangolins that were discovered.
Enter Mark Haldane and Zambeze Delta Safaris!!
They agreed to helicopter to the areas where the animals were found and bring them back to the Delta.
When we were visiting, they had received one smaller pangolin and were rehabbing it and waiting for it to gain a bit of weight before it was released.
Since they are nocturnal animals, they sleep during the day and scavage for ants/termites during the evening. Since the researchers don’t want to lose the animal as it feeds, they take it for a 3-hour “walk” each evening!!
Michael helped to lift it out of the cage and place it on the ground. It reacts similarly to an armadillo in that it curls into a ball to protect itself. In this photo, it is slowly uncurling…..
For the next hour, we followed along behind the little guy as he foraged his way thru the brush….
In one sense, it was akin to “watching paint dry” but there were other compensations….
We were in the Mozambique bush and the sky was magnificent…..
It had been a full day and we were treated to an amazing appetizer at dinner….
The presentation was gorgeous with the fried noodles and vegetable relish. The chunks are bit of fresh fish that had been flown in that morning……YUM!!
It had been a busy day, with airplane and helicopter flights, Cheetah feeding and Pangolin walking…..what a life!!
Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!
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