Gentle, shy pangolins are in grave danger of extinction. The insatiable and unrelenting illegal wildlife trade slaughters tens of thousands of pangolins every year.

Credit: AFP

Experts warn that two critically endangered pangolin species – the Chinese pangolin and the Sunda pangolin – could be wiped out within seven years. We need to act now.

Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in several parts of Asia, and the scales are used for traditional ‘medicines’ despite there being no scientific evidence they work… The pangolin trade is sickeningly cruel: often the animals are stripped of their scales while still alive and then dropped into boiling water to be cooked alive.

Credit: WCRU/ZXZhang

It is estimated that one pangolin is poached from the wild every five minutes. This is a harrowing statistic that could see us lose all eight pangolin species. Humankind’s never-ending exploitation of precious wildlife is to blame.

We have a plan to help – we just need your support to implement it.

Credit: DennisFarrell/AssociatedPress

Africa is a major target for pangolin poachers, and Animal Survival International (ASI) supports three organizations doing invaluable work to protect them there: the Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre in Tzaneen, South Africa; Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and the Saint Mark’s Animal Hospital and Shelter in Lagos, Nigeria.

Credit: The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre

Right now, our partners are seeing an influx of rescued pangolins coming through their doors. We do our best to help the pangolins in every way we can. Pangolins are nocturnal and like to sleep during the day. We ensure they receive medical treatment, have darkened, secure rooms to recover, and are given the specialist care needed to help them safely return to the wild. But our emergency funds for critical operations are running out.

We really need your support to help pangolins. We need to ensure our teams on the ground in Nigeria and South Africa have the equipment and facilities they need to respond to pangolin emergencies. Vitally, we must also provide aid for undercover operations to arrest the smugglers.

Credit: Afrianto Silalahi via Getty Images

If we can raise $5,000 (£4,100), we can provide:

• financial and logistical support for undercover sting operations,
• pay medical costs for sick and injured pangolins, and
• provide crucial, high-tech satellite tags to monitor and protect released pangolins.

Please will you help us?

Every pangolin life is crucial to the survival of their entire species, and we must do everything in our power to save as many of these unique animals as we can. Pangolins are shy, nocturnal, and gentle creatures who prefer to keep to themselves. With your support, we can work to ensure that these animals can lead peaceful lives of solitude in safe wild places, free from the frightful fate of being hunted and killed. Please, please, help us give our planet’s precious pangolins a chance of survival.