The Pangolin Men

When a small elephant rescue centre in Zimbabwe was asked if it could help save a trafficked pangolin, little did they know they would soon be at the forefront of protecting one of the most endangered animals on Earth.

In the wilds of Zimbabwe, five men are taking an afternoon stroll through the bush. Their steps are slow and unhurried as they wait for their charges to catch up. It’s a process that happens every day. Each afternoon, as the desert sun starts to lower in the sky, the pangolin carers each carry one of these four-legged pine cones into the bush where they can forage for dinner. After toting them over their shoulders they then carefully lower the pangolin onto the pathway so that these mini prehistoric creatures can search for ants and termites.

This picture of tranquillity is only slightly tainted by the reason of how the pangolins came to be here. These animals have all been trafficked and they are now being rehabilitated at the Tikki Hywood Trust in the hope that they can be released into the wild. Thanks to their spiny armour it looks as if very little could pose a threat to them, but the facts tell a different story. Over the past decade more than one million pangolins have been killed either through deforestation or China’s lust for pangolin flesh. Pangolin meat is often eaten to seal a business deal and its spines are used in Chinese medicine.

To protect the animals, the centre takes a covert stance on operations. However, one person that they let visit their sanctuary was the wildlife photographer Adrian Steirn. The trust invited the photographer to the sanctuary to help put these fragile creatures in the spotlight and at the forefront of everyone’s minds when it comes to animal protection. “To see the relationship between animal and carer in every frame was relevant for people out there to actually care,” says Steirn.

To find out more about the trust visit www. tikkihywoodtrust.org

The pangolin is an intricate part of nature. “It is nature’s natural gardener,” says Lisa Hywood, founder of the Tikki Hywood Trust. “The way that they forage, what they eat is so vital to the earth. A very necessary component.”

The Tikki Hywood Trust has been working with renowned wildlife vet Dr Chris Foggin to help with the rehabilitation of the creatures.

Since 1994, they have managed to rehabilitate more than 100 pangolin.

As the desert sun starts to lower in the sky, the pangolin carers each carry one of these four-legged pine cones into the bush where they can forage for dinner”

Zimbabwe has managed to convict more pangolin poachers than anywhere else in the world. In 2016, 52 animal traffickers were convicted.”

Zimbabwe has managed to convict more pangolin poachers than anywhere else in the world. In 2016, 52 animal traffickers were convicted. Now the trust is working hard to bring together all the African countries to show how important this species is in its continent. “We want to protect it with high jail terms and enforce the law, knowing that the law can act as a deterrent,” says Hywood.

To view more of Adrian Steirn’s images see www.adriansteirn.com or @AdrianSteirn.