Pangolin: Kulu's Journey 2025 - Wildlife Conservation
Title: Pangolin: Kulu's Journey 2025
Release Year: 2025
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 88 minutes (1 hour 28 minutes)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed (known for My Octopus Teacher)
Pangolin: Kulu's Journey 2025 is a documentary film that follows a man's journey to rescue and rehabilitate a trafficked baby pangolin in South Africa. The film showcases his dedication to helping the endangered animal return to the wild.
#PangolinKulusJourney2025, #WildlifeDocumentary, #ConservationFilm, #NewMovie2025, #FullDocumentaryReview, #PangolinConservation, #WildlifeRescue, #movies, #film, #movie, #cinema, #films, #hollywood, #actor, #s, #love, #art, #cinematography, #netflix, #horror, #actress, #moviescenes, #music, #filmmaking, #cinephile, #tv, #horrormovies, #bollywood, #comedy, #movienight, #photography, #cine, #instagood, #instagram, #director, #moviereview, #drama, #AdultMovies, #RomanceMovies, #SexMovies, #XXX, #XX,
Title: Pangolin: Kulu's Journey 2025
Release Year: 2025
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 88 minutes (1 hour 28 minutes)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed (known for My Octopus Teacher)
Pangolin: Kulu's Journey 2025 is a documentary film that follows a man's journey to rescue and rehabilitate a trafficked baby pangolin in South Africa. The film showcases his dedication to helping the endangered animal return to the wild.
#PangolinKulusJourney2025, #WildlifeDocumentary, #ConservationFilm, #NewMovie2025, #FullDocumentaryReview, #PangolinConservation, #WildlifeRescue, #movies, #film, #movie, #cinema, #films, #hollywood, #actor, #s, #love, #art, #cinematography, #netflix, #horror, #actress, #moviescenes, #music, #filmmaking, #cinephile, #tv, #horrormovies, #bollywood, #comedy, #movienight, #photography, #cine, #instagood, #instagram, #director, #moviereview, #drama, #AdultMovies, #RomanceMovies, #SexMovies, #XXX, #XX,
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00:00You can never underestimate the power of beliefs.
00:00:29We come from Venda, where societies are mythical.
00:00:38In Venda, we call Pangolin Kwara.
00:00:46We come from Venda.
00:00:50Kwara.
00:00:51We come from Venda.
00:00:53We come from Venda.
00:00:55We come from Venda.
00:00:56We come from Venda.
00:00:58We come from Venda.
00:01:11It is a very interesting lesson.
00:01:21The lesson I have learned is the mission of the world.
00:01:32The lesson I have learned is the lesson of the world.
00:01:41Before Pangolin
00:02:11I was sort of in that stage of my life where I wanted something a little bit more long-term, meaningful.
00:02:25There's just something about pangolins.
00:02:29They changed the way I saw the world.
00:02:31But I've still never seen a pangolin in the wild.
00:02:45Only ones that we've rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
00:02:52And that was how I met Kojima.
00:03:01All eight species of these unique mammals have been harvested relentlessly for traditional Chinese medicine.
00:03:21The scales are used as an ingredient in up to 60 commercial remedies.
00:03:26If the levels of illegal trade remain as they are now, they'll be gone in two to three decades.
00:03:39Sting operation is when we'll get intel that there's a pangolin that the traffickers want to sell.
00:03:59Ray lures them in, acting as a buyer.
00:04:19Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it.
00:04:23Go, go, go, go, go!
00:04:26Get off!
00:04:27Get off!
00:04:27Get off!
00:04:28Get off!
00:04:29Get off!
00:04:30Get off!
00:04:30Get off!
00:04:44He said he's had it for a week.
00:04:48It's very light.
00:04:55Kojima was only a baby.
00:04:57So he was tiny.
00:04:58it's an incredible thing to see and experience just how innocent they are
00:05:08their only defense is to roll up in a ball
00:05:14they can't run they can't bite you
00:05:21you're good you're good they are just so harmless
00:05:26made a contribution to assisted an animal that perhaps would have been killed so it's it's
00:05:38actually a good it's a good thing you saw this thing operation be like super pumped up
00:05:56man stuff now I just feel traumatized I mean I know the suffering that this animal is going through
00:06:05some of them just never fully leave that darkness and they die
00:06:11you never know what state the penguin is going to be in when it comes in
00:06:29poaching is very traumatic because they're plucked out of their little paradise
00:06:37and then being through a very very rough period of bad handling and shouting and music and noise
00:06:47Kojima was very little it was pitiful because he would have probably still been with his mother
00:07:00you have a volunteer assigned to each pangolin
00:07:07they're very sensitive animals because they're loners
00:07:15I remember what struck me was how terrified he was
00:07:21maybe he had been through particularly traumatic events
00:07:37this poor little animal is just in this absolute blind panic
00:07:44Since 2007, I think we've probably released close to 100 pangolins in all.
00:08:03We used to keep them for a couple of days, give them fluids, and then just try and get them out as quickly as possible.
00:08:09No release process, which is so, so different to how we're doing it now because we've learned such hard lessons.
00:08:26Between the hospital and the release process, we were losing pangolins. The jump was too big.
00:08:33There needs to be a place where you can become a pangolin again and become a wild pangolin again.
00:08:43And that was the dream of a pangolerum. And we've been looking for the right place.
00:08:49We've been looking for the right place.
00:08:57La Palale is an exquisite reserve.
00:09:02It's got mountains, it's got wetlands, it's got grassland.
00:09:06It's got so many different types of ants.
00:09:20It could be the perfect place for young pangolins to go.
00:09:23We decided to take Kojima up and for Gareth to go up with him.
00:09:40For me, there's definitely a fear of failure.
00:09:43I'd never had to nurture something so vulnerable in my life before.
00:09:52I really just wanted to do the best job possible.
00:10:00But with Kojima, that was never going to be easy.
00:10:04It's never going to be easy.
00:10:25OK, OK.
00:10:28Welcome to your new home.
00:10:30OK.
00:10:31You ready to go for a walk?
00:10:41Ready to go for a walk?
00:10:43They've been through all this trauma.
00:10:45So a lot of what we're doing is the psychological rehabilitation.
00:10:55Kojima, he was at around three kgs.
00:11:01He needs to be six and a half kgs before we let him go.
00:11:06That's a weight that has been determined over years and years of trial and error
00:11:13and learning the hard way that if a pangolin is too small, it won't survive.
00:11:18So the first time I took him out here at La Palala, he just ran.
00:11:27Where are you going?
00:11:28Where are you going?
00:11:29And he's fast.
00:11:32There's a fence there.
00:11:36Careful, you're going to walk into the fence.
00:11:39That was full helicopter parent.
00:11:41I wasn't letting him out of my sight.
00:11:44Here's Kojima.
00:11:47There goes Kojima.
00:11:48You're going for a swim.
00:11:49Careful.
00:11:50Careful.
00:11:51Careful.
00:11:52Careful.
00:11:53His dominant instinct wasn't to settle, to forage.
00:12:06I think that instinct to just get away kicked in.
00:12:10He didn't interpret my presence as a very safe space.
00:12:30He was just fully driven, not affectionate, not playful.
00:12:46His dominant instinct was to escape.
00:13:01He's a Temmings pangolin, but he's not fully bipedal yet.
00:13:09So when he walks, he'll still support himself a lot with his arms.
00:13:22Pangolins have been on planet Earth for 85 million years.
00:13:26They evolved with the dinosaurs.
00:13:28It walks on its hind legs with its two front legs like a T-Rex, just dotting along.
00:13:43There's no other mammal that's covered in hard, overlapping scales.
00:13:47So that on its own makes them absolutely unique.
00:13:53It's an ancient creature that runs the risk of extinction.
00:13:58A creature that is unicorn type status.
00:14:02Because that's what it is.
00:14:03It's so rare.
00:14:09So effectively, pangolins can't open their mouth like we can.
00:14:12They've got a small little hole where the tongue comes out.
00:14:18Their food is literally ants and termites.
00:14:21That's it.
00:14:22It's literally ants and termites.
00:14:23That's it.
00:14:32Their hearing ability is very good.
00:14:36Their eyesight is very poor.
00:14:37Their scenting capacity even better than a dog.
00:14:50They don't have vocal cords.
00:14:53They don't make a noise.
00:14:56They're predominantly nocturnal.
00:15:01Sleep out in burrows.
00:15:03You wouldn't know if that thing's five metres from you.
00:15:08You just don't see them.
00:15:15They only have one pup per female per year.
00:15:18And their parental care is extreme.
00:15:22Moms look after their pups for six, seven months.
00:15:26When they eventually leave the burrow,
00:15:30they ride on mom's back being taught how to feed on solid foods
00:15:34and what to look for.
00:15:35And then they go off on their own.
00:15:54Living with a pangolin, it's very quiet.
00:15:57I redesigned my entire routine to suit his schedule.
00:16:12So a normal day would pretty much be wake up 4am
00:16:17and then admin running a business
00:16:24and then obviously waiting to hear the scratching at the box.
00:16:28Hello, my buddy.
00:16:42Hello.
00:16:44Where's my boy?
00:16:46Oh, come on.
00:16:48Oh, shit, my buddy.
00:16:50Come on.
00:16:51You can put a plate of ants in front of a pangolin
00:16:54and it won't feed.
00:16:55Oh, it's a big yorn.
00:16:58The only way we can get them to feed is by putting them down
00:17:00and letting them forage.
00:17:02Okay, here we go.
00:17:04Here we go.
00:17:06Here we go.
00:17:08Here we go, my buddy.
00:17:10Here we go.
00:17:11Here we go.
00:17:12Here we go.
00:17:21When you're looking for ants, you have to get to know ants.
00:17:25ants. Kojima took me into that world, on the very, very surface of the earth and beneath
00:17:37it. They share this underworld kingdom. It's a massive nest. Caswell is an antarctite.
00:17:59These are the savannah spaniards. He's so excited about the world of ants. But with a taste for
00:18:05ants, like pangolins. So homimicology is the study of ants, in short. I did not learn how
00:18:19the material environment works in the textbook. As a movender, a young boy, I would just go
00:18:28to the bush. There were just stretches of land. There was so much life in them. There
00:18:40were all these animals. But in all these years of being out in the field, I've never seen a
00:18:47pangolin. The first time I saw a pangolin, I saw it with Gareth. It was just amazing. This
00:19:03mythical animal. It was this physical appearance of multiple animals combined. It was just
00:19:22something out of this world.
00:19:45In La Palala right now, I've got a long-term study studying the response of ants to climate
00:19:52change. Can you see one of them there? The small ones.
00:19:58Ants are part of what we call the social animals. Just like we are social too. And they all
00:20:07come from one family. The queen is this founding mother. You're the mother, and it's your
00:20:16weight. And you've got these terminator-like kids that only take orders. And everything
00:20:22they do is just for the success of the colony. All ants that you see out are females. They're
00:20:32all sisters. It looks like they talk to each other. It's grooming sometimes. Is it grooming?
00:20:37They'll groom each other? Yeah, yeah. They'll groom.
00:20:45You are mostly seeing the older ones, because the newborns and all the brothers are still
00:20:52in the nest. So it seems like in a mature end colony, the older you get, the more risky
00:21:02job you do.
00:21:13When his nose is on the ground, he's looking for food. He can smell ants through a foot
00:21:20of hard, hard earth.
00:21:23So this larvae is like what he's going for. All those miniature pieces of rice. Yeah,
00:21:32his eggs. Yeah. He's feasting. It's like pangolin ice cream. The ants go into a total panic.
00:21:46It must just be this giant dragon coming to wipe you out. The ants will try and rescue their
00:22:03babies. So they'll pick them up and they'll start carrying them away from his attack as
00:22:10quickly as possible. And when the ants bite him on his tongue, he pulls it between his claws
00:22:25to get them off. And then sometimes he'll almost wrap it in a knot.
00:22:37I mean, he was eating. Um, he was definitely eating. But he still wants to run. I mean, he
00:23:05still wants to run. I felt under a lot of pressure because there's just so much riding on him
00:23:17being a successful release. We want to establish this place as a sanctuary for pangolins. If
00:23:27something goes wrong with him, then in all likelihood, the project isn't going to go ahead.
00:23:39If you walk, there is an electric fence around here.
00:23:47Your lowest strand is about 20 centimetres off the ground. It's the perfect height that a pangolin
00:23:53is working on its hind legs will walk into and it hits it in the soft underbelly. Boom!
00:23:57That pulse is going to hit. And it's going to curl up in a protective ball. There it sits.
00:24:01Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Until it's dead.
00:24:05The death rate in this country by electrocution is probably about six or seven orders of magnitude
00:24:12higher than the legal trade.
00:24:18The one day I was walking and I got distracted for a split second.
00:24:23And I think he saw it as a gap. He just made a turn for the fence.
00:24:35So I dived backwards to push him away from the fence.
00:24:41And the current went through me and I did charge him.
00:24:44He just starts shaking like crazy.
00:25:07It's okay.
00:25:10It's like this.
00:25:14The problem is that he hadn't associated the charge with the fence.
00:25:28He had associated the charge with me.
00:25:31Hey, it's okay. Hey, it's me, my buddy.
00:25:35It's me. Hey.
00:25:37It's okay. Hey.
00:25:40It's me.
00:25:42I just had to give him space.
00:25:47It felt horrible.
00:25:48It's okay.
00:25:49Hey, my buddy.
00:25:51It's okay. It's me.
00:25:53It's me.
00:25:55It's me.
00:25:56It felt horrible.
00:26:03It's okay.
00:26:05It's okay, my buddy.
00:26:07It's me.
00:26:11I just felt disappointed with myself.
00:26:15My whole life I've had a fear that I'm not enough.
00:26:33School was difficult.
00:26:34I was hyperactive.
00:26:36I could not sit still.
00:26:42I was sort of a rebel in my youth.
00:26:45I went to two, three different high schools
00:26:48and eventually I dropped out.
00:26:54For a good three years, I was earning a living playing poker.
00:27:00Partying.
00:27:02I loved it.
00:27:09And then two of my best friends died in a car accident.
00:27:16It just tore my heart apart.
00:27:21I had become so disconnected.
00:27:35I slowly started realizing that I was just never going to be happy
00:27:40unless I found something else.
00:27:44All of my school holidays, I got sent up to Zimbabwe to go play in the wild.
00:28:03I kind of just remember this very strong sense of freedom being out there.
00:28:14This sense of stillness.
00:28:20I wanted to be involved with wildlife.
00:28:24But I was running a business here in Joburg.
00:28:27I couldn't be out in the bush all the time where I wanted to be.
00:28:31So then I got in touch with Ray and he took me to the Joburg Wildlife Fair.
00:28:37And I saw my first pangolin.
00:28:49There was a before world and an after world.
00:29:00I started walking them every single day.
00:29:10They have such a softness about them.
00:29:17I've been taught my entire life.
00:29:19No, you don't talk about your feelings.
00:29:26But I think the difference between pangolins and people is
00:29:30it's far easier to be vulnerable around a pangolin.
00:29:38They're not going to judge that vulnerability.
00:29:41They sort of see the real you.
00:29:45This is you right now, right here, and that's it.
00:30:05After the electric fence, it's taken him a long time to forgive me.
00:30:12You run around in the garden.
00:30:15Well, I put my shoes on.
00:30:17Okay.
00:30:18Okay.
00:30:19Don't go climbing over the fence or anything.
00:30:22I'll be back in a jiffy.
00:30:29Each pangolin is different.
00:30:31Like people are different.
00:30:33Some pangolins just roll around being friends with everybody.
00:30:38Some are very sensitive and highly strung maybe.
00:30:43He just couldn't settle.
00:30:47In Zulu, Kojima means run.
00:31:01If I'm constantly calling him run, maybe he understands that.
00:31:08Kojima means easy in Zulu.
00:31:14And so I just started calling him Kulu.
00:31:19That didn't work at all with him.
00:31:24He does whatever he wants to do.
00:31:27Kulu does whatever he wants to do.
00:31:29What do you want to go down here?
00:31:30Huh?
00:31:31Go down here.
00:31:32Come on.
00:31:33Come on.
00:31:34Sort of tried to set up boundaries for him.
00:31:54There's certain blocks which have pretty much been marked out by roads.
00:32:01He doesn't like boundaries.
00:32:04He doesn't like boundaries.
00:32:06He's very crafty.
00:32:09If I'm there, he definitely pauses.
00:32:12And then there's that sort of mad dash to try and get across the road hoping that I don't see him.
00:32:26Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh-uh.
00:32:39Uh, uh.
00:32:50Uh-uh.
00:32:55Uh-uh.
00:32:55Are you eating because you heard me coming or are you just being a good boy?
00:33:25Um, he's figured out that so long as he's eating, I don't pick him up.
00:33:33So if he's eating, I don't pick him up.
00:33:36So if he's running and I stop and I go towards him to pick him up, he'll start scratching whether there's food there or not.
00:33:47He's like a little kid.
00:33:50You have to redirect his awareness.
00:33:53Otherwise, he's just like, okay, cool.
00:33:54Now I'm exploring.
00:33:55I don't know.
00:33:59Part of his rewilding, he needs to investigate burrows.
00:34:05He's got porcupine, bush pig, warthogs making burrows.
00:34:23But for certainly.
00:34:24And then pangolins modifying them.
00:34:28Ow!
00:34:29Sometimes in the evening, he sneaks into burrows because he obviously wants to sleep out.
00:34:48What that means for me is I have to try to take him out.
00:34:55Oh, God.
00:34:56You're hoping there isn't a warthog out there.
00:35:00And then I'm always thinking of snakes coming out of there.
00:35:05I need to know.
00:35:06I need to know that he's not just going to come out of the burrow at 1am and then make a mad dash for freedom.
00:35:16Oh, God.
00:35:17Ow!
00:35:18I've been stuck in a few burrows.
00:35:21I have had to be pulled out of a few burrows, yeah.
00:35:37Now I'll walk you up.
00:35:38Wheelbarrow.
00:35:39Okay.
00:35:40Slowly.
00:35:41Ah!
00:35:42Whoa!
00:35:43Ah!
00:35:44I just squashed my ball on this branch.
00:35:48Oh, my God.
00:35:50It's cool that he's in there, but it does mean like a sleepless night for me.
00:36:06I slept next to him.
00:36:09I put my feet in the entrance of the burrow because if I fell asleep, I would feel him crawling
00:36:15over me.
00:36:35Slowly over time, I've learned to trust him.
00:36:43Just the sense of freedom that I can give him out here.
00:36:55I can leave him for an hour at a time and then to find him, I use the telemetry.
00:37:12Every time you walk with the burrow, you see new things.
00:37:19As Pauline's forage, do not disrupt the whole colony.
00:37:25You eat just enough.
00:37:26For me, that is so smart.
00:37:32You just see like the entire surface of the earth is just moving and scrolling the whole
00:37:39time.
00:37:40It's quite wild.
00:37:41This is all just one giant pugnacious nest.
00:37:48The most aggressive dominant and scary tool is the pugnacious.
00:37:55And who knows the biggest enemy of pugnacious ants?
00:37:56It's the pangolin.
00:37:57Pugnacious, they will eat anything.
00:38:02They will overwhelm sitting insects.
00:38:03Even some small mammals like your rats, some birds, small chicks that can fight.
00:38:09It will be eaten as well.
00:38:10It will be eaten as well.
00:38:16Around this Tammat mound, this is a huge hunting ground for the pugnacious ants.
00:38:23We're in the pollines.
00:38:24We're in the pollines.
00:38:25Go and eat termites.
00:38:30Ants like pugnacious will also benefit scavenging on the left of us of the pangolin.
00:38:37Around this termite mound, this is a huge hunting ground for the pangoletian ants.
00:38:47We're in the pangolets.
00:38:48Go and eat termites.
00:38:52Ants like pangolets will also benefit scavenging on the leftovers of the pangolets.
00:39:08The snouted termite soldiers all stand by with their snouts pointed upwards.
00:39:14And then, if a pugnacious comes in close proximity to them, they'll sprout this toxic glue.
00:39:28It completely deters the pugnacious.
00:39:38And that gives the workers enough time to pull the larvae back into the nest.
00:39:48And then quickly close up the tunnels.
00:39:50And then quickly close up the tunnels.
00:40:21He has this incredible drive to be free, but we need to get to six and a half kgs.
00:40:47A pangolin of six and a half kgs is really strong and it can hold itself into a tight ball and therefore protect itself against predators.
00:40:58It's taken Kulu a long time to feel secure in the environment.
00:41:16I started seeing signs of him settling down and calming.
00:41:26There was that definite shift in him.
00:41:36He started trusting me.
00:41:38Oh, there's the good stuff.
00:41:44There we go.
00:41:45Oh, is that the goodness?
00:41:47Pangolins are not great at regulating their body temperature.
00:41:51There we go.
00:41:52We were out and I poured a little bit of water on him, trying to cool him down.
00:41:56On the belly.
00:41:57There you go.
00:42:02And he starts doing little 360s and crawling around the tree like a maniac.
00:42:07There we go.
00:42:08What are you doing?
00:42:09Eh?
00:42:10Is that fun, my boy?
00:42:11Is that nice?
00:42:12Eh?
00:42:13Nice and cool.
00:42:14Sometimes when they're playing, they'll wrap their tail around your arm.
00:42:35That was the first time that Kulu actually really allowed me to lift him up and he was using my arm as a play tool.
00:42:44To be held by the tail and rolled around, that's fun for him.
00:43:09He just started opening up and a playful side started to emerge.
00:43:14He went through this just horrific experience at the hands of humans.
00:43:30So much fun, eh?
00:43:31Yeah, it's fun.
00:43:32For him to then give me that level of trust is incredibly validating.
00:43:33It's fun, Paul.
00:43:35Come on, Paul.
00:43:36Come on, Paul.
00:43:37Come on, Paul.
00:43:38Come on, Paul.
00:43:39For him to then give me that level of trust is incredibly validating.
00:43:44He went, Paul, come on, then.
00:43:46Come on, Paul.
00:43:47he's learning how to protect himself through play their core strength needs to be incredibly strong
00:44:07and developed he developed it doing sit-ups and doing crunches and doing pull-ups
00:44:37oh
00:44:51we've been here for six months we're very close to our freedom
00:45:14we know when they're ready for the release process when they are displaying very relaxed behavior
00:45:22they're feeding nicely they're consistently putting on weight
00:45:28where we are now is about a 45-minute drive from where he's going to be released
00:45:38with a satellite tag i'll be able to see his location on my phone
00:45:45every hour i'll get a ping to say i'm here
00:45:52but even with that the stakes are very high
00:45:56we'll release a perfectly healthy pangolin and they'll die overnight
00:46:11we've lost pangolin to honey badger lion leopard hyena even elephant
00:46:20every pangolin is going to face his dangers but
00:46:24at some stage kulu needs to be wild
00:46:28can i see you
00:46:31hey let me tell everybody
00:46:34where we're releasing kulu it is pangolin paradise
00:46:59you've got an incredible amount of ant and termite activity there
00:47:11what i have to do is completely re-establish him so he knows where he is every second of the day
00:47:24he'll familiarize himself with the different smells in the area where the potential dangers are
00:47:41of people in the area where the potential dangers of this event is when they're right
00:47:46to go
00:47:50here we go
00:47:52here we go
00:48:03Over the course of the first three days, he was moving three to four kilometers in a day.
00:48:24It's a massive area.
00:48:27Yeah, he's motored.
00:48:28It was feed as quickly as possible, and just cover as much distance as possible.
00:48:45Where are we going?
00:48:47Here's a leopard jar.
00:48:49Are you sure you want to be up here?
00:48:51It was all very frantic.
00:48:58Stay in the shade.
00:49:11I mean, he needs to at least spend a week or two in an area and then explore, but not just sort of day after day after day after day, just running.
00:49:39There's only so much pressure I can put on him to eat.
00:49:57Oh, that is pretty, huh?
00:49:59Come on.
00:50:27Come on, my boy.
00:50:30We still need to eat, bud.
00:50:43Here we go.
00:50:45Here we go, boy.
00:50:54Stop.
00:50:54I heard something bugger off there.
00:51:02Yeah, there's monsters in the bushes, yeah.
00:51:13This little flay area is just leopard paradise.
00:51:17At night, the wild is a very different place.
00:51:25Lions become a very different animal after dark.
00:51:30So do leopard.
00:51:31Hearing a leopard.
00:51:46Oh, he's walking around.
00:51:50That's a very definitive warning.
00:51:53And he's freaking out.
00:51:55Okay, come on, my boy.
00:52:00I got you.
00:52:02I got you, my buddy.
00:52:03I got you.
00:52:08Okay, come on.
00:52:11Come on.
00:52:13He's burning a lot of energy.
00:52:30This evening, he was, I think, the lowest he's been for over a week.
00:52:38So it's a noticeable weight drop.
00:52:43And the potential is, is that we start going backwards.
00:52:50He's used more energy than he's been able to take in.
00:53:11That makes sense, yeah.
00:53:12I mean, remember what he was like in the beginning.
00:53:14He used to run.
00:53:15Yeah.
00:53:15And then he slowly over time settled down.
00:53:17That's what you're waiting for him to do now.
00:53:18Yeah, but I want him to do it immediately.
00:53:20Just waiting for him to settle down.
00:53:22No, I want him to do it now.
00:53:26I think when rational advice has failed, the only advice is to trust your own instinct.
00:53:33And also to trust the pangolin.
00:53:35Because the pangolin has got such strong instincts.
00:53:42Rule number one is don't lose the pangolin.
00:53:48And I was trying to give him a little bit more space.
00:53:53Just to try and get him to calm down.
00:54:02But forgetting the telemetry is just such a stupid mistake.
00:54:05if he gets into a certain area and his tags come off I might never find him again
00:54:14then there's the electric fence that fence is a certain death and he can do a kilometer in an hour
00:54:29you guys go back to the car
00:54:33it's making me anxious like now
00:54:38you feel so responsible you feel responsible to the team of people that are behind you
00:54:49but most of all you feel responsible to that animal
00:54:52because his satellite tail is not checking in we can't pinpoint him down to
00:55:05exactly where he is so that we can actually find him
00:55:11yeah we walked around looking for him but I mean it's like trying to find a ghost
00:55:17oh he's just clocked in okay let's go uh he's just gone further north
00:55:37he's now been gone for two and a half hours
00:55:48we found him just under a tree eating termites
00:56:10and I think it was in that moment
00:56:19it was kind of like he's got this
00:56:24he doesn't need me being this helicopter parent watching over him
00:56:36at the thorn bush there
00:56:41you can't control everything and my sort of knee jerk is yes I can
00:56:52but I think yeah there is that reality that no I can't
00:57:01there's been less than a handful of times where he's actually come to me
00:57:26aww aww aww my boy hey hello oh my goodness
00:57:42hey oh my goodness my boy are you cleaning me
00:57:53he sort of reassured me and said everything's gonna be fine
00:58:08that is crazy
00:58:23thank you for that my boy
00:58:31thank you my buddy
00:58:34it sort of felt like he was telling me
00:59:04thank you
00:59:12thank you
00:59:14thank you
00:59:17for alright
00:59:18thank you
00:59:25thank you
00:59:31thank you
00:59:33Let's go.
01:00:03Let's go.
01:00:33Let's go.
01:01:03Let's go.
01:01:33On the one hand, I just want him to be free so badly.
01:01:39But then the one thing that I thought of was, like, what am I going to do without him?
01:01:48I mean, he lives with me.
01:01:59I sleep five meters away from him.
01:02:06I'm in his presence 24-7, and I have been for six months.
01:02:11So what is it going to feel like being away from that?
01:02:18Okay, my buddy, you're here.
01:02:27Hey.
01:02:27Hey.
01:02:28You're here, my child.
01:02:31My letting go of him is going to be incredibly gradual.
01:02:45My letting go of him is going to be incredibly gradual.
01:02:49I mean, he's a hand-readed pangolin.
01:02:54Oh, here we go.
01:02:55Hey, that's a good boy.
01:02:57He's spent more of his life with me than he has in the wild.
01:03:04Is he going to feel abandoned?
01:03:11Is it going to stress him out to the point where his immune system starts getting compromised?
01:03:19He gets covered in ticks.
01:03:21He stops feeding.
01:03:22He starts running at night.
01:03:24Hey, where are you going?
01:03:27Um, there's a lot that can go wrong.
01:03:33Then there's the electric fence, just the sort of unavoidable dragon.
01:03:40Hey, my buddy, is this your home?
01:04:01This is your home, my friend.
01:04:08It's an amazing day.
01:04:12He's eaten heaps, and he's still eating, which is just unbelievable.
01:04:19He's been incredibly relaxed.
01:04:23He hasn't run.
01:04:27He's happy.
01:04:28I can feel that he's happy.
01:04:32Are you happy?
01:04:34I'm ecstatic.
01:04:37When you're working closely with animals, it gets very, very difficult to break that bond.
01:04:54And he's going to have to go through that.
01:04:57And that's going to be bloody hard.
01:04:59Are we trying to save a species?
01:05:00A species that could go extinct in our lifetime?
01:05:04Yeah?
01:05:05Yeah!
01:05:06Yeah!
01:05:07Yeah!
01:05:08Yeah!
01:05:09Yeah!
01:05:10And we're trying to save a species, a species that could go extinct in our lifetime.
01:05:25You've had the privilege of working with a ghost, working with a unicorn.
01:05:34And when you think about that, it weighs heavy on you.
01:05:47Yeah, he knows.
01:06:00I'll just keep an eye on him, for as long as he allows me.
01:06:25We monitor these pangolins post-release up to 12 months.
01:06:52And we need feedback almost on a daily basis.
01:06:58With the camera trap, I can give him space, but still spa on him.
01:07:13You can see in this burrow, he actually had an upstairs bedroom.
01:07:21When he goes in now, you can actually see him go upstairs into the burrow.
01:07:28We've seen quite a few different housemates.
01:07:40I mean, it's just this incredible world happening around it.
01:07:54I mean, it's just this beautiful thing around it.
01:07:57I mean, it's just this beautiful thing around it.
01:08:01I mean, it's really good to do what you know.
01:08:02And it's really bad to do this.
01:08:25He's invincible.
01:08:27That's what that panel feels not.
01:08:30But it's tough out there.
01:08:32And it's dangerous.
01:08:34And he'll learn he's not invincible.
01:08:42I'm going to sell the 40-40-40.
01:08:48Why do you want to kill me?
01:08:51Why do you want me to kill me?
01:08:58I'm going to kill you.
01:09:00I'm going to kill you.
01:09:21He'd been free for eight weeks when I had to go to Joburg for work.
01:09:39But while I was there, I got a call from the reserve saying that he wasn't coming out of
01:09:43his burrow, all the scenarios were running through my mind.
01:09:50I felt like there was something wrong with him.
01:09:52My main concern was that something like spotted hyena had gotten hold of him.
01:10:01It didn't occur to me that his burrow could have collapsed until it was day six.
01:10:06That morning, I was just getting more and more concerned and bucked building up into quite
01:10:15a state.
01:10:17Hey, Nicky.
01:10:18Morning, Gervis.
01:10:19Something is not right.
01:10:20He hasn't actually been seen for six days.
01:10:24I have sort of every eventuality.
01:10:26God, I don't know what to even think.
01:10:31I don't know what to say about that except just get there with a spade.
01:10:36Yeah.
01:10:37Okay.
01:10:56So I get there yesterday, set up the camera trap.
01:11:10It's all right, my boy.
01:11:11It's just me and you.
01:11:12Stop digging.
01:11:18This honor is like, oh, Jesus Christ.
01:11:21I'm digging up a body.
01:11:26I feel like I've got, like, emotionally, just nothing left.
01:11:35I'd been digging for, like, two hours.
01:11:38My back's, like, giving in.
01:11:42Eventually, I realized I needed help.
01:11:45So I called in the engine poaching unit.
01:11:48We were like, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig.
01:11:50It took us, like, four and a half, five hours.
01:11:58We dug a swimming pool.
01:12:07Eventually, we get to this hollow point.
01:12:09At the end of that point, I was convinced.
01:12:23Chances are that he's not alive.
01:12:26I'm digging up his body.
01:12:28Okay, guys, just kill the lights.
01:12:40Hey, are you okay?
01:13:01Are you okay, my boy?
01:13:02Hey?
01:13:03Are you okay?
01:13:04Hey, are you all right, my buddy?
01:13:08Okay.
01:13:09I just fall over.
01:13:10Like, oh, my God, he's alive.
01:13:14Are you okay, my boy?
01:13:16Hey?
01:13:17Are you all right?
01:13:19Hey?
01:13:20Are you okay?
01:13:21Are you hurt?
01:13:23Are you hurt?
01:13:25Hey?
01:13:26Are you all right?
01:13:28Hey?
01:13:29Are you okay?
01:13:30Hey?
01:13:32What are you doing here?
01:13:33Check him out.
01:13:35Look at him.
01:13:36He's, like, shell-shocked of what's been going on
01:13:39and the noise around him and everything like that.
01:13:42I think he's a little bit weak.
01:13:45So...
01:13:45Hey, it's all right.
01:13:48Watch him, my boy.
01:13:49You're okay.
01:13:50You're okay, my boy.
01:13:51Hey, you're okay.
01:13:53You're okay, my boy.
01:13:54Hey, are you okay?
01:13:56Hey?
01:13:57Are you all right?
01:13:59Are you sleeping?
01:14:01Hey?
01:14:01Hey.
01:14:01You're okay, my boy.
01:14:07Hey.
01:14:08Look at you.
01:14:09Hey, it's me.
01:14:11It's me, my buddy.
01:14:12It's me.
01:14:13Hey, you're right.
01:14:15Hey?
01:14:16You're okay, my boy.
01:14:18What are you doing to me?
01:14:20Hey?
01:14:20Come on.
01:14:21Come on.
01:14:22Come on.
01:14:23Come on.
01:14:23Come on.
01:14:23I want to see, like, okay, is he weak?
01:14:33And he slowly starts walking.
01:14:42He finds a nest of ants, and he just climbs in.
01:14:48Just starts chow.
01:14:50Like, crazy.
01:14:51The little dude was starving.
01:15:00What an ordeal.
01:15:02It never occurred to me that him being trapped in a burrow would be something I would have to worry about.
01:15:29All right, big girl.
01:15:54Just relax.
01:15:56Have you seen any interaction between him and some of the big mamans?
01:15:59So, the interesting thing is, he'll actually, like, sort of follow them around.
01:16:05Because he'll roll in their dung.
01:16:07Oh, yes.
01:16:08And he'll cover himself.
01:16:09If you're a lion, and you're smelling rhino shit, you don't think that it's something that you're going to hunt.
01:16:24Yeah, there's so much mimicking in most animals.
01:16:46Hail, my buddy.
01:16:47Are we going to do this, and I'll leave you alone?
01:16:52Come on.
01:16:53Come.
01:16:54Come.
01:16:55Come.
01:16:57Come.
01:17:00Come here.
01:17:01Come on.
01:17:01Let's be quick.
01:17:02Come on.
01:17:03We'll be quick.
01:17:04Hello.
01:17:05Come on.
01:17:05I know you're a free pangolin.
01:17:07You don't want to be handled, hey?
01:17:09Let me pull it up this way.
01:17:12Here we go.
01:17:17Hold still.
01:17:19There we go.
01:17:23Hey, he's very calm in there.
01:17:25Hey?
01:17:27Have you been good?
01:17:29You've been a good boy.
01:17:30How's this tell me?
01:17:31That's good.
01:17:33Huh?
01:17:37Huh?
01:17:38Completely unphased.
01:17:46See how slowly he's moving, huh?
01:17:48Not that...
01:17:49Yeah.
01:17:59Looks like he's heading west into the valley.
01:18:02Huh?
01:18:08As a human being, it's your role to protect anyone around you.
01:18:16As a human being, it's your role to protect the animals around you.
01:18:28As scientists, we're trying to now link the science and what people understood.
01:18:38You've got this magical animal that can make it rain.
01:18:47Everyone wants to rain.
01:18:51The myth that protects, that has left humans and the environment to live in harmony.
01:18:57Those stories, they were passed through generations, but we're raising a group of people now that
01:19:13need to be told things as they are.
01:19:16They are not interested in what people used to believe.
01:19:22The science combined with the traditional ways of doing things, or science comes alone.
01:19:28And the center of everything is that we need to protect the environment.
01:19:38What has our kind done to the Kulu kind?
01:19:52I think that if such a special creature like a pangolin is lost, it symbolizes the way
01:20:03we treat everything.
01:20:22I think that if such a special creature like a pangolin is lost, it symbolizes the way
01:20:29we treat everything like a pangolin is lost, it symbolizes the way we treat everything.
01:20:34It symbolizes the way we treat everything like a pangolin is lost.
01:20:37Bungoists, throw it off, throw it on.
01:20:52.
01:21:04.
01:21:10.
01:21:14.
01:21:15.
01:21:17.
01:21:18.
01:21:20.
01:21:21.
01:21:21.
01:21:21.
01:21:21.
01:21:22It has been a hell of a thing, like a long, long journey.
01:21:52He's just a completely different animal.
01:22:00He's so relaxed.
01:22:06He just feels like he can do things when he wants to, on his terms, without any sort
01:22:12of pressure.
01:22:19He's carried on gaining weight.
01:22:29He's now mapped out this entire area.
01:22:35And he's moved into this dense, thick riverine territory.
01:22:44It feels like he has found the wildest pocket of wilderness.
01:22:49And that's where he stayed.
01:22:56He might be looking for a female.
01:23:06I mean, the fact that he's now going around and just scent marking everything is a pretty
01:23:14good indication that he's ready.
01:23:17And we know there are other pangolins in the area.
01:23:29He's now been in the wild for longer than he's been in captivity.
01:23:35It almost seems like a debt was paid at that point.
01:23:48The last two times that I've gone out to go check on him, he's tried to hide from me.
01:23:57By lying flat, he's trying to blend in with his surroundings.
01:24:13That feels like the last step in his rewilding process.
01:24:30There's got to be a point where you let go.
01:24:53Why we maybe should never have seen him in the first place.
01:24:57I mean, if he's just never seen again, that means he's out there doing his thing.
01:25:04I think he's the same thing.
01:25:07It's super important.
01:25:08It's kind of bad.
01:25:09It's very important.
01:25:17I think it's a good point.
01:25:22It was a good point.
01:25:25It's a good point.