We are proud to announced the opening of our state-of-the-art pangolin veterinary and rehabilitation facility within the pristine Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, on World Pangolin Day – February 15th, 2025.
APWG co-chair Alexis Kriel addresses the gathered guests
The inauguration event, held over the course of the weekend, marked a significant milestone in the conservation efforts for Temminck’s pangolin, in South Africa, and for the APWG.
Guests entering the Pangolarium for the first time; APWG founder Prof Ray Jansen gets a guided tour from co-chair Nicci Wright; Lunch in the lapa after the opening
Guests included conservationists, representatives from environmental organisations, ecologists, and scientists, all united in their support for the APWG’s ongoing contribution to pangolin conservation in South Africa. Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, spanning approximately 48 000 hectares in Limpopo province, within the UNESCO designated Waterberg Biosphere, offers an ideal environment for pangolin rehabilitation. The reserve’s diverse ecosystems and state-of-the-art security ensure that rehabilitated pangolins have the best chance for a successful reintroduction back into the wild.
The team that made it all happen: Kate Hughes (Lepogo Lodges); Nicci Wright and Alexis Kriel (APWG co-chairs); Glenn Phillips (CEO Lapalala Wilderness); Gareth Thomas (APWG) and Prof Ray Jansen (founder and past chair APWG)
The Pangolarium (meaning a “place for pangolins”) is a purpose-built facility that aims to enhance the rescue, veterinary high care, rehabilitation, and reintroduction processes for pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade on the west side of Limpopo Province, also accessible from the north of the province, and with a doorway into North West Province. Equipped with advanced medical and husbandry resources, the centre provides a facility where this vulnerable species can recover and prepare for a return to their natural habitat. It will also serve as a basecamp for the APWG’s ongoing research and education initiatives.
The building of the facility has been financed by Lepogo Lodges – an NGO Lodge operator on Lapalala Wilderness Reserve and the Sustainability winner of the Ahead Travel Awards, for Melote House, in the MEA division.
Limpopo Province is historically the province with the highest incidence of pangolins retrieved from the illegal trade, sharing borders with Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana – all pangolin range countries – where transboundary collaborators facilitate the poaching and sale of pangolins in South Africa. Pangolins are currently considered the most illegally trade non-human mammal on the planet, with the eight species (four in Africa and four in Asia) varying from vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Red List, and with all populations decreasing. They have been resident on earth for 85 million years.
The APWG invites the global community to join in supporting our pangolin conservation efforts. For more information on how to contribute or get involved, please visit our donations page.
Our Together for Pangolins evening at CIRCA Gallery in Rosebank was a raging success.
The evening started on the upper deck and Darwin Room of the Circa Gallery with glasses of wine from Painted Wolf Wine and Waterford Estate, Vergelegen sparkling wine and a delicious harvest table from Service Station Cafe. A spectacular view of the sunset over Johannesburg, a fire pit and fantastic company set the mood for the evening.
Harvest table spread from Service Station Cafe in Melville
At 6:30pm the guest went down to the Middle Gallery to view the wonderful art and enjoy a video of pangolin photos put together by John Culverwell of Adlip video services.
Christine Read opened the event, followed by co-chair, Nicci Wright, who gave an informative talk about the essential work being done by the African Pangolin Working Group.
APWG co-chair Nicci Wright
After this opening, multi-award winning writer/director of My Octopus Teacher, Pippa Ehrlich, kept the gathering captivated with a talk about her next Netflix documentary, which centres around a special relationship with a pangolin and his minder.
Pippa Ehrlich with part of her rapt audience
Susie Goodman of Strauss & Co was a fantastic auctioneer of the curated art and luxury items in our live auction. Our guest enjoyed some lively bidding using the pangolin shaped paddles especially made for us by the Aluminum Trading Group. After the auction, our guest enjoyed more food and wine.
The full thank you list
Mark and Christine Read and their brilliant team at Everard Read Galleries for their generosity and support.
Carolynne Waterhouse of Rand Merchant Bank for her guidance and indefatigable energy and enthusiasm for pangolins.
Susie Goodman, Jackie Murray, Keanu Crause and the rest of the Strauss & Co team for their incredible generosity and support of the online and live auctions. Especially Susie for her auctioneering talents at the live auction.
Guy du Toit for being inspired enough to make three enchanting bronzes of hares with pangolins especially for this event.
Monique Landman (Everard Read) for hanging the artworks so expertly in the CIRCA Gallery.
Jillian Johnson (Everard Read) whose smile lit up every conversation and was our point of contact in the management of the event.
Magnificent Pippa Erhlich for her enthralling talk and for the fascinating peek into the world of award-winning wildlife filmmaking.
Angus and Piet from African Massive
Angus Morton and Piet Modiba from Africa Massive for once again providing stellar audio-visual services.
Carmen vd Merwe from Service Station Café for the out-of-this-world delicious food.
Painted Wolf Wines for their wine and their constant support of conservation and endangered species.
John Culverwell of Adlip video services for his beautiful videos and for technical support.
Douw van Heerden for being our artist in residence and creating under the spotlight on the night.
Peter Girdwood – making gorgeous frames from Kajima’s travelling box for Gareth’s photos of Kajima.
Rowena Allan for the luxurious picnic baskets.
Amy Irving and Demz Viljoen-Doyle for their huge help on the night.
Stunning auction paddles in the shape of pangolins donated by Christopher and Andy of Aluminium Trading Group.
All the artists, artisans and donors, who so generously supported us with artwork and who turned up to support us on the evening.
All the people who bought tickets to the event and bid so enthusiastically in the auction.
Clockwise from left: Comma by Steven John Wilkins, Smutsia Temminckii – Temminck Ground Pangolin by Gillian Condy, Tshukudu Njana, Uyema (Maquette) by Angus Taylor, Seated Hare with Pangolin by Guy du Toit
Clockwise from top left: Singularity by Gareth Thomas, So Below by Gareth Thomas, Pangolin Boy by Robert Rorich
Clockwise from left: Balancing Act by John Moore, We are all in this Together by John Moore, Icon series: Pangolin by John Moore, Freedom Feels by Gareth Thomas
The following pieces were full donations by these outstandingly generous people:
Robert Rorich who donated his bronze sculpture Pangolin Boy.
Carolynne Waterhouse for the donations of the Noush Doll, Addo Flightless Dung Beetle, and Lion Paw, both by Robert Leggat.
Gareth Thomas for his donation of three photographic images and Kajima’s transport box that was used for the frames.
Gareth Thomas, photographer, talking about his special relationship with the pangolin, Kajima, who was featured in three photographs donated to the fund raiser.
Gillian Condy for her original Temminck’s pangolin water colour.
Carol Slabolepszy for her acrylic-resin Mother and Pup sculpture in silver-grey pewter finish.
Jez Prettejohn of African Pewter for the pangolin salad servers.
With the generosity of our donors and supporters we raised good funding for our work, but more than that, pangolins were very beautifully showcased, magnifying their extraordinary and unique charm. You couldn’t help but fall in love with them.
TOGETHER FOR PANGOLINS, on July 25th, is a collaboration between Everard Read Gallery, Stauss & Co Art Auctioneers, and the African Pangolin Working Group. The aim is to raise awareness and funds for the continued work of saving pangolins now and in the future. Everard Read has donated its CIRCA Art Gallery for this event – an architectural landmark, on the Keyes Art Mile. CIRCA winds its way up three stories in a Fibonacci spiral – a golden ratio found all throughout nature, and significantly in the coil of a pangolin.
The speaker at the event is Pippa Ehrlich – the multi-award winning co-writer and director of the Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher”. Pippa will talk about her next film, which explores the intimate relationship between a pangolin named Kajima and his minder Gareth Thomas, while Kajima was being rehabilitated and then released back into a protected wildlife reserve. Gareth Thomas will also be at CIRCA event, and his photograph of Kajima – framed in the wood of Kajima’s sleeping box, will be on auction.
Pangolin Candle Holders by Ardmore Design, Donated by Charles Grieg Jewellers
Balancing Act by John Moore. An edition is also available in the online auction.
Freedom Feels by Gareth Thomas
Hare with Pangolin by Guy du Toit
Hare with Pangolin by Guy du Toit
Icon Series – Pangolin by John Moore. An edition is also available in the online auction
Girl with Pangoln Noush Doll. Donated by Caroline Waterhouse
Bronze Pangolin by Robert Leggat
Pangolin and pup by Carol Slabolepsky
Pewter Pangolin Salad Servers by African Pewter.
Pewter Pangolins by African Pewter.
Two night stay for two at andBeyond Phinda Mountain or Forest Lodge. Donated by andBeyond
Dung beetle sculpture by Robert Leggat.
Pangolin Cuff by Susan von Zahn
Two night stay for two at Umlani Bush Camp. Donate by Umlani
For the event at CIRCA Art Gallery, a curated collection of mainly pangolin-themed artworks and sculptures, will be auctioned, by the dynamic Executive Director of Strauss & Co, Susie Goodman.
Online Auction at Strauss & Co
Also for pangolin conservation, and running concurrently with the July 25th event at CIRCA; Strauss & Co will have an exhibition of works for viewing at their gallery, in Houghton, Johannesburg, which will be auctioned from their online platform, between July 24th and August 5th – accessed through the Strauss & Co website. The works are all by upcoming and established artists and sculptors, who have aligned themselves with this important conservation cause.
Comma by Steven John Wilkins
The Bringer of Rain by Douw van Heerden
Together into the Light by Douw van Heerden
Singularity by Gareth Thomas
SoBelow by Gareth Thomas
Gender Responsibility by Wayne Barker
Pangolin by Gerbrand van Heerden
Untitled (Pangolin) by Gerbrand van Heerden
Smutsia Temminckii – Temminck Ground Pangolin by Gillian Condy
Red Earth Pangolin by Lin Barrie
Deft Series – Pangolin by John Moore
Pangolin Boy by Robert Rorich
Regeneration by Marilyn MacDowell
Seated Hare with Pangolin by Guy du Toit
Trashed by Wayne Barker
Tshukudu Njana, Uyema (Maquette) by Angus Taylor
We Are All in This Together by John Moore
The artist, speaker and donors of these events have been incredibly generous and all have an intense love of endangered species and the environment in which they live. We would like to thank them all!
Other donors include Painted Wolf Wines, Rand Merchant Bank, Africa Massive, Umlani Bushcamp, andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, Vergelegen Wine Estate, Adlip Video, Reciprocal Wine Company, Charles Greig Jewellers, African Pewter, Carolynne Waterhouse and Mark-it Wise.
We are delighted to share an exciting new phase of growth, with the launch of our new logo and branding.
We have spent many months pondering on the perfect way to represent every aspect of our work and then fate lent a hand.
While we love all our rescued pangolins equally, we have chosen Tot to be with us into our future, with this magnificent image that was captured by Simon Needham.
This bi-pedal Temminck’s pangolin, the subject of simple design work by artist Douw van Heerden, is the personification of our fervent wish, which is to see the Pholidota, immortalized – not as an order that is known as “the most poached mammal on the planet”, but as a conservation success – walking upright and centered, in their natural environment, valued by a humanity that preserves the history of our natural world.
This is a story of the persistence and resilience of a pangolin and of the people who watch over her – the dedicated researchers and wildlife monitors who have kept tabs on her since her release.
The pangolin in this story is our very own super-mom, Ally, who was retrieved from the trade in April 2020, released and gave birth to a pup in the months that followed. We are still overjoyed with all the “firsts” Ally and her pup, Pod has given us. Read the full story here.
Ally’s year in the wild
In the year since his birth, Pod has grown up and moved away, while his mother Ally has established herself in a good territory. Through discreet monitoring via her satellite and VHF tags and the strategic placement of trail cameras, the team on the ground has been able to build up a fascinating picture of wild pangolin behaviour. This is unprecedented as pangolins are among the most secretive and elusive mammals in the wild.
One of the most interesting developments was that of a wild pangolin visiting Ally’s burrow. We had no way of knowing if these visits were territorial or if they had another function, but Ally soon lets us know. In recent trail camera footage, Ally was caught emerging from her burrow with a new pup riding on her back. Watch the video below.
This new pup makes Ally’s story the first documented case of a reintroduced pangolin, originating from the illegal wildlife trade, successfully integrating into the wild population. A true pangolin success story!
It takes a village to raise a pangolin pup
There is an incredible team of people behind the success of Ally’s story, and they need acknowledging. Especially the team on the ground who spend days trying to track down pangolins and without whom we would not have a successful release programme. If you want to know what is involved, watch the Francois in action here
Thank you to
Francois Meyer, our Limpopo Field Manager,for managing Ally’s release and taking the lead on her monitoring and for all his hard work and research into pangolin behavior.
Níall Beddy and Whitney Fourie for their hard work in the field, their dedicated monitoring work, and for capturing the amazing trail camera footage.
Finally thank you to Professor Ray Jansen. Not only for his dedication and hard work in the recovery of pangolins, but also for his guidance during all aspects of their recovery and release. In honor of his contribution to all our work, Ally’s new pup will be named Ray.
Help us keep track
To help us in our work of tracking released pangolins and learning more about their secretive lives, please contribute towards our tracking equipment.
On 17 September, 2019 at Silver Oaks, Pretoria, members of the Cullinan Stock Theft & Endangered Species Unit, assisted by members from K9 Benoni, Silverton and Law Enforcement Officials from the Gauteng Department of Agriculture & Rural Development also known as the Green Scorpions, and members of the African Pangolin Working Group conducted a sting operation in which a pangolin was offered for sale to an undercover agent.
Four suspects were subsequently arrested and the vehicle they had used to transport the pangolin was seized. At the time of the arrest, the female pangolin was still alive but severely dehydrated and badly compromised. The pangolin died a few days later at the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital due to malnourishment, dehydration and various physical injuries sustained during captivity. The pangolin had suffered severely while it was kept in captivity as its bones and tendons were clearly visible due to emaciation.
Charges
Charges against two of the four suspects were withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Pretoria due to insufficient evidence to prove their involvement. Advocate Jeff Nethononda from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Pretoria office, prosecuted the case in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court where the presiding magistrate was Ms Luut. The investigation led by Sergeant Morné Kemp from Cullinan Stock Theft & Endangered Species Unit, worked hand in glove with the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) to secure a successful prosecution and conviction.
Professor Jansen, attached to the Faculty of Science at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, and the founder and Chairman of the African Pangolin Working Group, testified in aggravation that the illegal trade in pangolins makes them the world’s most trafficked mammal. Professor Jansen testified that pangolins are ant eaters, have no defence mechanism and are totally harmless. He further testified that pangolins, globally, are critically endangered and close to being extinct in the near future.
Sentencing
On March 15, 2021, the 2 accused were found guilty and sentencing handed down by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on May 19, 2021 as follows:
Accused 1: Orateng Mekwe, a South African citizen, was sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment without the option of a fine for Contravening Sec 57(1) of National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 and for carrying out a restricted activity pertaining to the illegal trade of Pangolins.
Accused 2: Jealous Rungano, a Zimbabwean citizen, was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment and to be deported back to Zimbabwe i.t.o Sec 49(1)(a) of Immigration Act 13 of 2002.
They were both declared unfit to possess a firearm i.t.o Sec 103 of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000. Application for leave to appeal was granted.
A clear message
Part of the magistrate’s judgment was that a clear message must be sent to poachers that the illegal trade of wildlife will not be tolerated, just like rhinos, the pangolins and all other wildlife species need to be protected for future generations to appreciate.
The NPA welcomed the sentence as it is the highest sentence ever imposed upon conviction of pangolin poaching in South Africa.
The African Pangolin Working Group’s Chairman, Professor Jansen says that this sentence not only sets a South African and an African continental precedence but also a global precedence for the highest jail sentence given to a pangolin poacher.
On Thursday 13 May 2021 we took part in a very enjoyable panel discussion hosted by Struik Nature (an imprint of Penguin Books) and Richard Peirce, author of Pangolins: Scales of Injustice
While we did not get to all the questions posed before the event, or all the questions asked by viewers, we did get to chat about our work, the pangolins we work with, and how they are individuals with distinct personalities who display a range of human-comprehensible emotions.
Watch this fascinating talk here:
If you would like to support the work we do for pangolins, please donate through one of our many options.
In addition, if you are in South Africa, please register for a My School card, nominate the African Pangolin Working Group as your beneficiary and swipe it wherever you can.
We are always blown away by the generosity of people who discover pangolins and decide to join the struggle to stop them being wiped off the face of the earth. Gillian Condy is one such person.
Born in Kenya, Gillian went to primary school in Uganda before her family moved to the UK. There, she received her Masters in botanical illustration from the Royal College of Art, London. Africa worked its special magic and she returned to work for International Voluntary Services and Dept. of Education in Botswana before being offered a job by The Botanical Research Institute, now the South African National Biodiversity Institute as the resident botanical illustrator. This was a job she would hold for 34 years before retiring.
Gillian has been an active freelance artist for 40+ years and teacher for 25, with over 140 international exhibitions and a string of awards to her name. She has illustrated botanical books and designed postage stamps for Botswana and South Africa. She is a member of the South African and American Botanical Artists Associations.
Artist in Residence in pangolin country
In November 2017, Gillian was appointed ‘Artist in Residence’ at the Tswalu Kalahari Private Nature Reserve and made eight trips to the reserve to illustrate the plants over the next 14 months. In addition to plants, Gillian painted some of the animals she encountered at Tswalu.
If you are in Johannesburg, Gillian’s glorious paintings are on exhibition at the Circa Gallery at Everard Read, Keys Ave, Rosebank. The Exhibition is on until 13 March 2021 and entrance is free, all you need is a face mask.
The painting of P4 by Gillian which is ours to sell.
Included in the exhibition are two paintings of pangolins, one is sold and the other, marked NFS (not for sale), is ours! Kindly donated by Gillian to raise funds for our work. At a future date we hope to auction this beautiful, poignant pangolin portrait to the highest bidder. Of course, if someone out there would like to make us a ridiculously generous offer, we might be willing to part with it without all the bidding malarkey! (contact us if you feel you just HAVE to own the painting). You can download Gillian’s exhibition catalogue hereto get some idea of the value of her paintings and to marvel in some of the wonderful work she does.
Researchers at Tswalu have used radio telemetry for the past five years to help understand how Temminck’s ground pangolin in the Kalahari cope in their current (and future) environment. This is how Gillian describes her first pangolin encounter in the company of Wendy Panaino, Tswalu’s resident researcher:
At Tswalu I had the amazing opportunity to accompany Wendy Panaino on a number of excursions at night to connect with her research Pangolins. I was totally captivated by these special creatures. The more I learnt about them and their plight, the more angry I became. There is little I can personally do but hoped I could raise some funds towards the wonderful work being done by the (African) Pangolin Working Group.
The illustration was done from one of my photographs of P4, one of Wendy’s friendliest males, who just posed for us, and then walked between us and off into the night.
One of life’s very special moments. Sadly he is no longer with us.
Limited edition prints
If you can’t wait for us to organise the auction, you can own a limited-edition print of the painting almost immediately. The prints are archival quality, printed by Silvertone in Johannesburg, numbered and signed by Gillian and selling at R3500.00 each. There will only be 20 of these 37 x 47 cm prints available. Gillian reports that she has already sold a few of them, and some will be made available at the small gallery at Tswalu, which boils down to very limited numbers being available from the artist. Gillian will only be recouping the cost of printing from the sales, with the majority of the money coming to the African Pangolin Working Group.
To get your pango-loving claws on a print, email Gillian who will only send through her banking details if there is a print available. The price excludes postage and packaging, which will have to be arranged before payment is made.
The following article appeared in Wired magazine, in print and online on October 10, 2020. It was written by Sabrina Weiss and the photos are by Julien Faure. The original article can be found here
Pangolin scales are a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine – and that has put the animal firmly on the endangered list. Isoscape tracking could help stop their slaughter at the source
Pangolins are thought to have passed the coronavirus to humans, after they first caught it from horseshoe bats
Before researchers suggested pangolins may be a missing link in the transmission of coronavirus from bats to humans, most people had never even heard of them. Yet these scaly, ant-eating mammals are smuggled in huge numbers to Asia and are in danger of extinction.
There are eight species of pangolin, split evenly between Africa and Asia, and each one of them is barred from international trade. So identifying confiscated scales and body parts as “pangolin” can be enough to prosecute a criminal case. But discerning different species and tracing their geographic origins is more tricky. This is where wildlife forensics comes in, a rapidly developing field that uses scientific procedures to investigate crimes against wildlife. To help crack down on intricate trafficking routes and poaching hotspots, scientists and laboratory technicians are figuring out ways to analyse the DNA and dietary history of seized animals and their products.
Pangolin scales are a booming business in Asia thanks to their status as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, while the animal’s meat is considered a delicacy Julien Faure / INSTITUTE
Most consumers come from mainland China and Vietnam, where pangolin meat is a prized delicacy and keratin scales are a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, touted as a cure for anything from asthma to cancer, and as an aid to help mothers with lactation. Pangolins have recently been in the spotlight for their potential role in the Covid-19 pandemic. Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes the novel disease, is suspected to have originated in horseshoe bats and possibly leaped to humans via pangolins.
