South Africa, March 18, 2025 – Pangolin is a leading nonprofit organization specializing in the conservation of pangolins. Africa recently launched the Pangolat Hotline: +27(0) 72 726 4654 – An important tool for reporting pangolain sightings in illegal traffic in Africa and warning authorities.
Pangolins have been the heaviest trafficked mammal for over a decade. An estimated 195,000 pangolins were trafficked worldwide on that scale alone in 2019 (Challender, et. al, 2020).
“With very little funds dedicated to population assessment, the real impact of human trafficking remains largely hidden,” explains Toby Jermyn, founder of Pangolin.africa.
Jermyn encourages people who have witnessed pangolins, whether in the wild, suffering, captive, or harmed, to take photos and report their sightings and locations immediately via WhatsApp messages using their Pangolert numbers.
The Pangolert team operates 24/7, connecting callers to a veteran veterinary, NGOs and law enforcement officers in central and South Africa. This ensures quick action when pangolins are at risk.
“This simple action will help us save the life of pangolins and provide important data to inform our conservation efforts,” Jermin says.
Beyond emergency response, the Pangolat is central to an ambitious effort to document historic and current pangolin sightings. Whether pangolins were discovered yesterday or a few years ago, reports made via WhatsApp messages (not calls) to Pangolert numbers help conservationists track their population and understand their distribution in Africa.
According to Jermin, these reports raise the authorities' understanding of Pangolin's behavior and vulnerability. “Poaching often leaves no traces. Building a reliable sighting database allows us to actively protect pangolins rather than simply responding to a crisis.”
There are four species in Africa: black belly pangolin (fataginus stetradactyla), white base pangolin (fataginus striclaspis), giant ground pangolin (sumatosia gigantia), and ground pangolin (smitz sheathen mink kiy). Pangolins are essential for ecosystem balance, consuming up to 70 million ants and termites each year, thus helping to prevent loss of vegetation. Their holes also help soil turnover and seed germination, but women give birth only one examination, so every 12-18 months when conditions are optimal, all the pangolins saved are essential for survival.
Pangolin.Africa's network of specialised veterinary and rehabilitation centres is essential to ensuring the success of Pangolert and protecting pangolins in Africa. This network is called to act when rescued or injured pangolins are reported.
Among these trusted clinics is the Northern Cape-based Kalahari Wildlife Project, led by Machel van Niekerk. The only rehabilitation facility in the area specializing in pangolin treatment focuses on treating animals in natural environments to ensure a safe return to the wild.
“If you want to make veterinarian care effective, it is essential to get to the injured pangolin as quickly as possible, and Pangolat is a huge advantage in making that possible,” says Van Niekerk. “Working with Pangolin.Africa has not only helped save some pangolins from trade, but also motivated our community to work together to save the seeds.”
Pangolin.africa is primarily supported by Pangolin Photo Safaris, but donations and corporate partnerships are also welcome to expand the scope of the project.
“We must work together to stop this crisis,” urges Jermin. “It starts with one message and one pangolin. The easiest way to get into the fight is to put your pangolat number on your phone, as you don't know when you're going to need it.”
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For more information, contact Laura Rawden (Email Protection) or visit www.pangolin.africa/Media Kit.
Pangolin.africa
Pangolin.africa is a registered nonprofit organization (Reg. No. 2018/380634/08) dedicated to the survival of pangolins in Africa, the most highly trafficked wildlife species on the planet. The situation facing African pangolins has reached a turning point as one pangolin was poached from the wild every five minutes. Through Africa's three broad approaches: advertising, participation and conservation, the project will enable global partners in tourism, conservation and business to contribute to the research, conservation and rehabilitation of this vulnerable species.
