Pangolin Rescue Hotlines South Africa: Who to Call

Published 28 June 2026 | AlphaPanga Research Team | 8 min read

Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) is South Africa's only native pangolin species and one of the most heavily trafficked mammals on Earth. If you encounter one that is injured, disoriented or in the hands of suspected traffickers, the actions you take in the first minutes can determine whether that animal survives. South Africa has a network of organisations equipped to respond to pangolin emergencies, but knowing who to call—and in what order—makes a critical difference. This guide covers every contact point in the pangolin rescue South Africa response chain, explains what each organisation does, and describes what happens to a rescued pangolin from first response through to release.

Who to Contact: The Pangolin Rescue South Africa Response Chain

A pangolin emergency in South Africa does not have a single point of contact. The response system involves law enforcement, animal welfare bodies, specialist conservation organisations and provincial wildlife authorities working in parallel. Contacting more than one of the following is not only appropriate—it is the recommended approach.

SAPS and the Wildlife Crime Unit: 10111

The South African Police Service national emergency number, 10111, is the first call to make whenever a live pangolin is found in circumstances that suggest poaching, trafficking or deliberate harm. Dialling 10111 opens an official incident record, dispatches officers who can secure the scene and preserve evidence, and allows escalation to the Hawks' Environmental Crime Unit if organised criminal activity is suspected. Providing an accurate GPS location or the nearest road name and town, the number and description of any suspects or vehicles, and a clear account of the animal's condition significantly improves the speed and quality of the response.

Within SAPS, a dedicated Wildlife Crime Unit handles cases involving protected species under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA). Pangolins are listed as Specially Protected in South Africa, meaning their unlawful possession, transport or killing carries substantial criminal penalties. Requesting that the operator specifically notify the Wildlife Crime Unit ensures the case receives appropriate specialist handling rather than being treated as a routine call.

The NSPCA Wildlife Emergency Line

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) operates a national wildlife emergency contact for cases involving injured or confiscated wild animals across South Africa. The NSPCA has jurisdiction under the Animals Protection Act and can respond to pangolin emergencies, coordinate veterinary attendance and facilitate handover to specialist carers. Their wildlife unit maintains relationships with the network of accredited pangolin rehabilitators and can act as an intermediary when a member of the public has found an animal but does not know where to take it.

The NSPCA's current emergency contact details are published on their official website. Because contact numbers for specialist wildlife services can change, verifying the current number before an emergency arises is advisable for anyone working in farming, game management or conservation in pangolin range provinces.

The African Pangolin Working Group: Specialist Coordination

The African Pangolin Working Group (APWG) is the organisation with the deepest specialist expertise in pangolin rescue South Africa. Founded by wildlife veterinarian Dr Darren Pietersen, the APWG operates a 24-hour emergency response line specifically for pangolin incidents. When a call comes in, the APWG identifies the nearest accredited pangolin carer, coordinates veterinary attendance for injured animals and begins documentation that supports both welfare management and any related law enforcement case.

The APWG emergency contact is the most important specialist number for pangolin incidents. It is published on the APWG's official website and circulated through SANParks, the Endangered Wildlife Trust and provincial conservation authority communications. Saving this number before you need it—particularly if you live or work in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West or KwaZulu-Natal—is a practical step that has directly contributed to the survival of individual animals.

SANParks and Provincial Wildlife Authorities

South African National Parks (SANParks) manages the protected areas where pangolins are most frequently monitored, including Kruger National Park, Mapungubwe and Mokala. SANParks operates its own law enforcement and veterinary response infrastructure within park boundaries. If a pangolin emergency occurs inside a national park, contacting the nearest park gate or reception directly is the fastest route to a response.

Outside national parks, provincial wildlife authorities hold primary jurisdiction. Each province with pangolin populations—Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng—maintains a conservation enforcement unit that can respond to injured pangolins reported on state land and in nature reserves. Contact numbers for these units are available from provincial environmental departments: Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism; Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA); North West Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development; Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for KwaZulu-Natal.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is the national body responsible for biodiversity information and policy under NEMBA. SANBI does not operate a field rescue line, but it maintains up-to-date contact information for all registered conservation organisations, making it a useful resource for locating specialist contacts when other avenues are unavailable.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), headquartered in Johannesburg, runs a dedicated Wildlife in Trade Programme that engages with pangolin trafficking at a systemic level. While the EWT does not function as a direct-response rescue service for individual animals, it works closely with SAPS, the Hawks and the APWG on intelligence sharing and capacity building. Reporting suspected pangolin trade activity to the EWT provides an additional record that can support longer-term law enforcement investigations targeting trafficking networks rather than individual incidents.

What to Do Before Help Arrives: Immediate First Steps

When a pangolin is found in distress, the instinct to intervene directly can cause harm. Pangolins are acutely sensitive to noise, light, human scent and physical handling. Their primary stress response—a tight defensive curl—is metabolically costly and, when sustained, prevents the animal from eating, drinking or thermoregulating. The most helpful action a member of the public can take is to minimise all of these stressors while waiting for trained responders.

• Do not attempt to handle, carry or restrain the animal. If it is in immediate danger from traffic or an aggressive domestic animal, use a large cloth or jacket to guide it gently to a safe position without direct skin contact.
• Do not attempt to feed the animal. Pangolins eat live ants and termites exclusively; any substitute will cause digestive harm.
• Keep the animal in a cool, shaded location away from dogs, people and direct sunlight. Pangolins overheat rapidly when stressed.
• Note and record your precise GPS coordinates. This is the single most useful piece of information for responders.
• If the animal has been confiscated from suspected traffickers, do not clean wounds or move the animal's posture: the physical evidence on the animal supports prosecution.
• Stay on the line with the APWG or NSPCA responder and follow their instructions in real time until a carer arrives.

How the Rescue and Rehabilitation Process Works

Once an accredited carer receives the APWG's coordination call, the process that follows is structured and evidence-based. Every pangolin arriving at an accredited facility undergoes a structured intake assessment: body weight is recorded, scale condition examined for injury or chemical contamination, hydration status assessed and, where necessary, fluid therapy initiated. Radiographic imaging is used for animals with suspected snare injuries or skeletal damage, given that the overlapping scale structure can obscure the extent of underlying trauma.

The central challenge of pangolin rehabilitation is feeding. Temminck's ground pangolin is an obligate myrmecophage: it eats ants and termites and cannot be sustained on any substitute. Carers must supply live prey collected from natural mounds throughout the animal's entire time in care. A single adult consumes between approximately 150 and 400 grams of live prey per night. This logistical constraint is why rehabilitation must be managed by formally accredited specialists rather than well-intentioned volunteers.

Animals that have been held by traffickers frequently refuse food voluntarily for several days after intake. Carers resist the impulse to force prey introduction, instead waiting for the animal to stabilise before progressively introducing prey in increasingly natural presentations.

Release readiness is assessed against criteria rather than fixed timelines: the animal must be within a healthy weight range, demonstrate consistent independent foraging over multiple consecutive nights, show normal locomotive and burrowing behaviour, and be clear of active infection. Every released pangolin is fitted with a GPS transmitter that allows post-release monitoring of movement, home range establishment and survival. This tracking data simultaneously generates conservation science and provides early-warning alerts if a released animal shows signs of recapture.

Rehabilitation Challenges and Why Specialist Care Matters

Pangolins are among the most difficult mammals to maintain in captivity. General wildlife rehabilitation manuals offer no useful protocols for the species. The techniques effective with other insectivorous mammals do not transfer reliably, and missteps in handling, housing or nutrition can be rapidly fatal. The protocols used in South Africa today have been developed through systematic documentation of both successes and failures across more than a decade of APWG-coordinated cases.

The rehabilitation capacity in South Africa remains limited relative to the volume of animals removed from wild populations by trafficking. Each successfully rehabilitated and released pangolin represents a genuine contribution to the survival of a species whose southern African population is under serious pressure—but rehabilitation cannot compensate for the rate of loss from the wild. It is one component of a broader conservation response that depends on effective law enforcement, reduced poaching demand and sustained habitat protection.

How the Public Can Help Beyond Emergency Response

Reporting is the most direct contribution most South Africans can make. If you encounter a pangolin during normal farm or field activities, submit a sighting record to the APWG or SANBI. Sighting data from private farmland, communal areas and game reserves is essential for population monitoring across the two-thirds of pangolin range that lies outside formal protected areas.

Supporting the organisations in this response chain through donations or volunteer coordination work sustains the infrastructure that emergency calls depend on. The APWG, the NSPCA wildlife unit and the EWT's Wildlife in Trade Programme all operate with limited resources relative to the scale of the problem they manage. Following their communications channels is also a practical step: contact numbers, updated reporting procedures and guidance on pangolin sightings are regularly published through these channels. For ongoing coverage of pangolin conservation developments in South Africa, the pangolin conservation news section of this site provides regularly updated reporting on research, enforcement actions and welfare developments.