21 Comments
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Sharon's avatar

Thank you for sharing this story. I did not know pangolins walk on 2 legs! I love these insightful stories about the animals in your care and how they are ambassadors for their species in educating the current and future generations. ❤️

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thank you! Everyone goes silent in awe of her 2 legged gait whenever we see her walk!

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Chris Hennessy's avatar

Roxy, given they are so rare and reclusive (no one sees them in the wild), how are the damn poachers able to make such a hole in their numbers?

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

That's a great and thought-provoking question Chris!! Sadly their high demand drives organized poaching networks, which invest significant resources in tracking and capturing pangolins. Poachers often rely on locals who are familiar with the pangolins' behavior and habitats in the area (who most often are uneducated about the importance of pangolins and happy to have some money) and often use dogs to sniff them out. Also deforestation and human encroachment push pangolins into smaller, fragmented habitats, making them easier to locate and less places for them to hide. To add to it - pangolins have a slow reproduction rate, typically giving birth to just one offspring per year if that so their rate of recovery is significantly slow!

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ROSSY CORTES's avatar

Amazing story and the pangolins are beautiful. They let us belive we can sabe our world.

Thanks so much!

Rossy Cortes

Mexico

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thanks Rossy! Yes, we must all try our best!

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David Michie's avatar

Such a beautiful and informative post about these gentle little creatures that are so massively exploited. May it be the cause for many more people to hear more about the precious pangolin.

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thank you David! We love being able to share Marimba's story to inspire action!

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Sharon Murphy's avatar

What an incredible creature the Pangolin is! I'm am in awe of the work you do at Wild is Life. Thank you so much for sharing these stories.

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thank you for reading and caring too Sharon!

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Chris Hennessy's avatar

A wonderful achievement Roxy. Any chance of finding a boy pangolin for Marimba to play with?

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Interestingly, as far as we know, no pangolin has successfully bred in captivity - even when paired! So it's best to leave them to find each other in the wild.

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Joan Stuart's avatar

Beautiful..thank you for the precious work you do to care for her and the help the species

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thanks Joan for reading and caring!

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Aria Vink's avatar

Oldest pangolin, that’s quite a feat! How old do you think she could get?

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Arla, from our research its 20 years or so... But we hope she will live much longer in captivity!!

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Cathy Shrady's avatar

What an amazing creature the Pangolins are! Equally amazing is the attention and care Wild is Life gives to Marimba. And for 18 years! May there be many more! Thank you for this vitally important work you do.

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Thanks so much Cathy for reading and caring!!

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Charlene's avatar

Thank you, Roxy, for this post! I had heard very little about Pangolins except that they were endangered. I especially love the picture of Jani and Marimba - perfect! You can see so clearly the caring and trust between them!

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Jules Danckwerts's avatar

Our pleasure Charlene! Yes its obvious how very special their bond is!

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Kate Myltseva's avatar

Beautiful Marimba! We've seen her last December.

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