Consider for one moment the unlikely existence of the pangolin.
The world's only scaly mammal looks like an armadillo but has more in common genetically with a dog. It has no teeth, poor eyesight, and its tongue, attached to a point near its pelvis, is longer than its body. It has four legs but shuffles along on its back two. So peculiar is its appearance, it has not one but two less-thanflattering nicknames: 'walking pinecone' and 'artichoke with a tail'. People of a certain age will note its resemblance to a Clanger.
Appearing 85 million years ago - when the North American continent nudged against Europe, and Antarctica had yet to break from Australia and make its journey south - the first of its kind shared the world with T-Rexes, velociraptors and flying reptiles the size of fighter jets. It had been around for 15 million years when the first primates swung from the trees, and for more than 84 million years before a species resembling modern humankind came along. It survived several ice ages and the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
When it comes to clinging on in the face of adversity, then, the pangolin is the OG.
Which is just as well, given the new entry to its biography: it's the world's most heavily trafficked animal, with the continued existence of its eight species hanging in the balance.
Working to ensure the mammal gets to amble through another few million years is Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. Owned by the &Beyond travel company, Phinda (meaning 'the return' in Zulu) runs a unique pangolin reintroduction programme, taking animals rescued from poachers across Africa and destined for the black market in Asia. It lifts the veil on the project by allowing small numbers of visitors to join researchers tracking the animals once they're settled - and I have come with the specific hope of spotting one.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January/February 2025-Ausgabe von National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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