Team rescues two pangolins and arrests traffickers in Bronkhorstspruit

Five alleged wildlife traffickers appeared in the Bronkhorstspruit District Court on Monday, September 19, for being in possession of two endangered Temmink’s pangolins.
They were arrested in Bronkhorstspruit on Thursday afternoon, September 15 in an intelligence operation carried out by the Bronkhorstspruit police, the Cullinan Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, the Benoni K9 unit and Professor Ray Jansen, a resident of Rayton who is also an authority on pangolins.
About three trafficking groups were circulating videos of the two pangolins to be sold.
The task team, fortunately, received information on which vehicle was being used to transport the animals and pulled it over to the side of the road in Bronkhorstspruit.
The vehicle was searched and the pangolins were rescued and taken to the hospital.
According to Jansen, the largest of the pangolins is a pregnant adult female and the other is a sub-adult male.
Pangolins are considered the most illegally trafficked mammals on the planet and any form of trade in pangolins are against the law.
Two other pangolin-related cases are currently also in court in Bronkhorstspruit and Cullinan.
The case in Bronkhorstspruit Regional Court is set for 24 October.
Wisani Shilubana and Shalom Ngulube were arrested at the Rose Sasol Filling Station on the N4 close to Bronkhorstspruit with a pangolin in their possession on July 30, 2020.
The 12,8kg male pangolin found in their possession, was taken to the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital where it was treated for pneumonia, dehydration and PTSD.
According to Jansen, the pangolin named Willy Thomas was fitted with a tracking device and eventually placed in a release programme in Manyoni nature reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, overseen by the African Pangolin Working Group.
In the meantime, the trial of other pangolin trafficking suspects continued in the nearby Cullinan Regional Court on July 28.
In this case, the animal died in captivity.