How to Report a Pangolin Sighting in South Africa

Seeing a pangolin in the wild is extraordinarily rare. Temminck’s ground pangolin is nocturnal, solitary, and so elusive that most South Africans will never encounter one in their lifetime. If you do, what you do in the next few minutes matters more than you might think. A single report can contribute to population research, trigger a rescue for an injured animal, or — if handled carelessly — lead a poacher directly to the animal. Here is exactly what to do.

Step by Step: Reporting a Pangolin Sighting

1. Stay calm and keep your distance. Maintain at least five metres between yourself and the animal. Pangolins are easily stressed and will curl into a defensive ball if they feel threatened. Observe quietly without blocking the animal’s path of travel.
2. Take a photograph from a distance. A clear photo helps confirm the species and assess the animal’s condition. Use your phone’s zoom function rather than approaching closer. If it is dark, avoid flash photography — it disorients the animal and can trigger a prolonged defensive response.
3. Record your GPS coordinates. Drop a pin on your phone’s map application (Google Maps, Apple Maps, or similar). Accurate location data is the single most valuable piece of information for conservation researchers. Note the time and the direction the animal was moving.
4. Report via Pangolert on 072 726 4654. Send your photo and GPS coordinates by WhatsApp to Pangolert, operated by Pangolin.Africa. Your report is received and stored securely offline, accessible only to vetted conservation professionals. For a healthy pangolin going about its business, WhatsApp is ideal. For injured or distressed animals, call rather than messaging.
5. Do not share the sighting on social media. This is critical. A social media post with location details — even a vague one — can alert poachers and traffickers. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals on Earth. Nobody knows precisely how many remain in the wild or where they are, and that uncertainty is part of what protects them. Conservation experts recommend waiting at least four weeks before posting anything about a sighting online, and never including geotags or location details. Pangolert founder Toby Jermyn explains that the system was created specifically to gather sensitive location data “without the risk of it getting into the wrong hands.”

If the Pangolin Is Injured or in Distress

Injured pangolins require immediate professional intervention. The most common injuries in South Africa come from electric fences, vehicle strikes, and dog attacks. Electric fences alone kill an estimated 2,000 pangolins per year in South Africa — roughly 13% of the population. When a pangolin contacts an electric fence, it curls into a ball around the live wire as a defensive reflex, receiving repeated shocks that cause severe burns, organ damage, and often death.

Injured pangolins need aggressive veterinary treatment including fluid therapy, anti-inflammatory drugs, pain medication, and antibiotics. Facilities such as the Hoedspruit Animal Hospital, Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, and the APWG Pangolarium handle pangolin emergencies. Pangolert operates 24/7 and connects callers to the nearest available specialist in the vetted response network.

If You Suspect Trafficking

If you see a pangolin being offered for sale, transported, or held captive, call Pangolert immediately on 072 726 4654 — do not use WhatsApp for trafficking reports. You can also contact the SAPS directly on 10111, the anonymous Crime Stop line on 08600 10111, or the DFFE Environmental Crime Hotline on 0800 205 005 (toll-free, 24 hours). In provinces with dedicated wildlife crime units, these reports are routed to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit.

Possession of a pangolin without a valid permit is a criminal offence under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) and the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations. Penalties include up to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines of up to R10 million, or both. Recent court cases have resulted in sentences of eight years’ direct imprisonment for pangolin trafficking. All eight pangolin species are listed on CITES Appendix I, prohibiting all international commercial trade — a listing South Africa co-proposed at CoP17 in Johannesburg in 2016.

Citizen Science: Contributing to Long-Term Research

Beyond emergency reporting, every pangolin sighting contributes to scientific understanding of where these animals live and move. Two platforms accept citizen observations:

• MammalMAP — A project of the Animal Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town, in collaboration with the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria. Upload photographs with GPS coordinates to the Virtual Museum at vmus.adu.org.za. MammalMAP uses these records to build 21st-century distribution maps for all African mammals, including pangolins.
• iNaturalist — The global biodiversity platform accepts pangolin observations and shares verified records with research databases. Important: only submit to iNaturalist if you obscure the exact location. The platform has an option to mark observations as “obscured” to protect sensitive species.

These citizen records are especially valuable for Temminck’s ground pangolin because the species is so difficult to survey using conventional methods. Camera traps undercount them, tracking studies cover small areas, and population estimates remain unreliable. Every verified sighting refines the picture of where pangolins persist and where they have disappeared.

Why Every Report Matters

South Africa does not know how many pangolins it has. Researchers estimate between 16,000 and 24,000 mature Temminck’s ground pangolins remain in the country, with a projected population decline of 30–40% over the next 27 years. Unlike elephants or rhinos, pangolins cannot be counted from the air. Their solitary, nocturnal, burrowing lifestyle makes them nearly invisible to standard wildlife surveys. The distribution data that conservation organisations rely on comes largely from two sources: GPS-tagged research animals and public sighting reports.

Pangolert and MammalMAP records have already revealed patterns that formal surveys missed — confirming pangolin presence in areas where they were thought locally extinct, identifying seasonal movement corridors that cross private farmland, and documenting the proportion of injuries caused by electric fences versus other threats. These data directly inform where conservation resources are deployed, where fence-modification programmes are prioritised, and where law enforcement operations are concentrated.

A pangolin sighting is not a curiosity. It is a data point that strengthens the collective understanding of a species balanced on the edge of survival. Report it securely. Report it accurately. And keep the location to yourself.