Rescuers and residents banded together on Friday evening to save a pangolin found roaming the streets of Kempton Park. It is suspected that the pangolin was transported from another province to be sold in Gauteng and somehow escaped.

According to SA Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (SAWRC) CEO Judy Davidson, the organisation received a series of frantic calls about an ‘armadillo’ moving down a road in Kempton Park at a brisk pace.

She requested a video or a photo to verify her suspicions.

“On seeing the video, chaos erupted.

“The ‘armadillo’ was a male sub-adult Ground Pangolin, (Smutsia temminckii), also known as Temminck’s Pangolin,” said Davidson.

Pangolins are one of the most endangered animals in the world and this meant urgent action was required to safeguard the animal.

“Following a flurry of phone calls to various SAWRC members, Justin Coetzee arrived at the location in record time and quickly secured the pangolin.

“Many inquisitive residents were present, each wanting to get a glimpse of the rare and very special creature, feel the textured scales, take a few photos, and ask questions,” said Davidson.

Coetzee quietly bundled up the pangolin and placed it out of harm’s way, while they made further plans.

“Within an hour, from the time of the first notification was received, the pangolin was carefully escorted through to Terrace Road Veterinary Hospital where Dr Shabeer Boolah opened up his practice to assist us.”

The pangolin was ushered inside and left to settle down.

Davidson said the pangolin was very active after all the chaos and placing him into a dark box reduced the obvious stress the pangolin was experiencing.

“Within a few minutes, the pangolin settled down and curled up into a relaxed, loose ball.

“Members from Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital arrived a while later to carry out the necessary checks and take the needed samples.

“Their expertise and experience with these special animals will give this pangolin the best possible chance [of survival],” she said.

Davidson confirmed the team from the JWVH would further facilitate the relocation and release of the pangolin.

She added one of the biggest questions from the rescue was where the animal came from.

“We can safely assume, based on many previous pangolin cases, that this little ball had been found in another province and brought to Gauteng to be illegally sold.

“Usually, this sequence of events will entail a video being circulated on social media by the ‘seller’ which (if the seller is lucky) finds its way to a prospective buyer.”

Davidson said the illegal sale of pangolins could take several weeks, and frequently, the suffering and cruelty these creatures endured is immense.

“The sellers cannot, and don’t care to, feed these captive pangolins their specialised diets, and often, not even give them water.

“This means, the ‘lucky’ cases that are intercepted and rescued are brought in emaciated, critically dehydrated and frequently, already experiencing organ failure,” said Davidson.

“For the sellers, if the animal dies, it dies. A dead pangolin can still fetch a few thousand Rands, as the scales are a highly sought-after commodity, and the meat can be eaten.

“The future of these beautiful creatures rests on a knife’s edge.”

Davidson said they dealt with several pangolin poaching incidents yearly as the animals are actively targeted and harvested to be sold.

“What we deem sacred is merely seen as opportunistic profit for the sellers, with total disregard for the creatures’ wellbeing.

“They deserve so much more.”

Residential details have been withheld while investigations are underway.