The following article was published by the Pretoria North Rekord

One poacher is still at large after four others were arrested in possession of a pangolin.

A pangolin who has been named Zambezi was rescued this morning in a joint operation outside the Kolonnade Retail Park following a tip-off to police.

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police received information on 6 October from a member of the public that he had been contacted and offered a pangolin.

“On the following day an operation was conducted and arrangements were made to meet the seller(s) at the Kolonnade Retail Park in the Sinoville policing area. A car was identified where the pangolin was held,” Dlamini explained.

A team of police officers from different units arrested four out of five suspects.

“The pangolin was found in the boot. Suspects were detained at Sinoville SAPS. They will be charged under the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 section 57 (1) to sell, trade and possession of an endangered species animal without a permit.”

Professor Ray Jansen from TUT and founder of the African Pangolin Working Group said the pangolin, which was rescued this morning, was doing all right.

“He is very weak, thin and dehydrated. He has also lost a lot of white blood cells,” Jensen told Rekord.

Because the pangolin, an 8.8kg male, was rescued outside Kolonnade Retail Park, it has been named Zambezi.

Jansen said that although Zambezi is doing much better, he is not out of the woods.

“He has a 50/50 chance. I am very worried about him,” he said.

Jansen said they have been trying to trace the poachers – allegedly Zimbabwean nationals – since the middle of September.

Four poachers were arrested this morning at the Kolonnade Retail Park for smuggling a pangolin.

One of the five poachers managed to flee the scene on foot and is still at large.

The original article can be found here