Trail cameras & solar panels for Pangolins

Worth Wild Africa
4 hours ago
2 min read

US$2000 raised to purchase trail cameras and solar panels to help protect and monitor pangolins

Conservation + research = protection

Thanks to a generous donation from expert zoo trainer Wouter Stellard of Behavior 360, four new trail cameras and solar panels to charge batteries were purchased for Zululand Conservation Trust working to protect pangolins at Manyoni Private Game Reserve.

The Temmink's Ground Pangolin has been poached and trafficked so much that it is sadly now listed as vulnerable to extinction. It is perhaps the world's most trafficked mammal. Pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same as hair and fingernails, and have no medicinal properties whatsoever, yet are highly valued in markets in the far East.

In 2019 the Zululand Conservation Trust (ZCT) partnered with the African Pangolin Working Group to become a release site for pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. To help ensure that each pangolin continues to thrive and the ZCT can contribute meaningful data to the pool of understanding about this very threatened species, each individual is tagged and monitored continuously after release. Some of the released pangolins have even bred and five wild pangopups have been born in the last four years. As Temminck's Ground Pangolin was regionally extinct for approximately 70 years, this story and programme has been an unparalleled success to date.

In February the solar panels and four trail cameras were received by ZCT - their thank you email explains the magnitude of the this kind donation to their conservation efforts in Manyoni.