Pangolin: Kulu's Journey (2025)

[bunniefuu]

[insects chirping]

[jackal howling]

[thunder rumbling]

[mystical music playing]

[man] You can never underestimate
the power of beliefs.

I come from Venda…

where societies are mythical.

[thunder rumbling]

In Tshivenda, we call pangolin "khwara."

[in Venda] Our elders believe that

a pangolin comes down from the sky

and vibrates its scales
to trigger the thunder.

- [music intensifies]
- [thunder crashing]

[rain pattering]

[frog croaking]

The pangolin brings us the rain.

[thunder rumbling]

[pangolin sniffing]

When you see the pangolin,

it means you will be blessed…

[thunder rumbling]

…because a pangolin is a gift from God.

[epic music playing]

[soulful vocalization]

- [music fades]
- [thunder rumbling]

[jackal howling]

[dramatic sting]

[siren wailing in distance]

[gentle music playing]

{\an8}[man 1] Before Pangolin,

{\an8}I was sort of in that…
that stage of my life

{\an8}where I wanted something

{\an8}a little bit more long-term, meaningful.

[gentle music continues]

[Gareth] There's just something
about pangolins.

They changed the way I saw the world.

[music intensifies]

But I've still never seen
a pangolin in the wild.

[horn honking]

Only ones that we've rescued
from the ill*gal wildlife trade.

And that was how I met Gijima.

[dramatic music building]

[lively music playing]

[man] All eight species
of these unique mammals

{\an8}have been harvested relentlessly
for traditional Chinese medicine.

[music continues]

The scales are used as an ingredient
in up to 60 commercial remedies.

If the levels of ill*gal trade
remain as they are now,

they'll be gone in two to three decades.

[music fades]

[tense music playing]

[indistinct chatter on radio]

[Gareth] A sting operation
is when we'll get intel

that there's a pangolin
that the traffickers want to sell.

- [radio crackles]
- [indistinct chatter]

[rustling]

Ray lures them in, acting as a buyer.

[tense music continues]

[soft thudding]

[man] All right, stand by.

Go, go, go, go!

[frenetic music plays]

- Now!
- [men clamoring]

Get up! Get up!

[man yelling]

[music fades]

[indistinct chatter]

[pensive music playing]

[Ray] He said he's had it for a week.

- It's very light.
- [man] It's tiny.

[pangolin sniffing]

[Gareth] Gijima was only a baby,
so he was tiny.

[sniffing]

It's an incredible thing

to see and experience
just how innocent they are.

Their only defense
is to roll up in a ball.

They can't run.

Okay. Okay.

They can't bite you.

Hey, buddy. You're good. You're good.

They are just so harmless.

[tender music playing]

[speaking indistinctly]

{\an8}We've made a contribution
to assist an animal

{\an8}that perhaps would've been k*lled.

{\an8}So it's… it's actually a good…
it's a good thing that we did. Ja.

[indistinct chatter]

[Gareth] I used to,
after a sting operation,

be, like, super pumped up.

Man stuff.

Um, now I just feel traumatized.

I mean, I know the suffering
that this animal is going through.

Some of them just never
fully leave that darkness, and they die.

[birds chirping]

[woman] You never know what state

the pangolin's going to be in
when it comes in.

[sniffing]

Poaching is very traumatic

'cause they're plucked out
of their little paradise…

- Not… Date, ja.
- Date. Yeah.

{\an8}…and then been through
a very, very rough period

{\an8}of bad handling
and shouting and music and noise.

- [doctor speaking indistinctly]
- [monitor beeping]

[Nicci] Gijima was very little.

It was pitiful

because he would've probably
still been with his mother.

{\an8}[somber music playing]

{\an8}You have a volunteer
assigned to each pangolin.

[switch clicks]

They're very sensitive animals
because they're loners.

[Gareth speaking softly]

[Nicci] I remember what struck me
was how terrified he was.

You are gonna be a handful, aren't you?

Come on.

You are gonna be a real handful.

Hmm?

[Nicci] Maybe he had been through
particularly traumatic events.

This poor little animal
is just in this absolute blind panic.

[Gareth whispering] Come on.

- [sniffing]
- It's okay.

It's okay, my buddy. It's okay.

[Nicci] Since 2007,

I think we've probably released
close to 100 pangolins in all.

[gentle music playing]

We used to keep them for a couple of days,

give them fluids, and then just try
and get them out as quickly as possible.

No release process.

Which is so, so different
to how we're doing it now

because we've learned such hard lessons.

[music continues]

[sniffing]

[music fades]

[Ray] Between the hospital
and the release process,

we were losing pangolins.

The jump was too big.

[pensive music playing]

There needs to be a place
where you can become a pangolin again

and become a wild pangolin again.

[elephant huffs, rumbles]

And that was the dream of a pangolarium,

and we've been looking for
the right place.

[music continues]

[soulful vocalization]

[Nicci] Lapalala is an exquisite reserve.

[elephant rumbles]

It's got mountains.
It's got wetlands. It's got grassland.

[bellowing gently]

[blissful music playing]

It's got so many different types of ants.

It could be the perfect place
for young pangolins to go.

[insects chirping]

We decided to take Gijima up…

and for Gareth to go up with him.

[music continues]

[Gareth] For me, there's definitely
a fear of failure.

I'd never had to nurture something
so vulnerable in my life before.

All right, hang on. The last bit.

I really just wanted to do
the best job possible.

[scratching]

But with Gijima,
that was never going to be easy.

[music continues]

[music fades]

[birds chirping]

[Gareth] Hey.

[soft thudding]

Okay. Okay.

Hmm?

Welcome to your new home. Hey?

[sniffing]

Welcome to your new home.

Hey? Hey, my little man.

Hey? You ready to go for a walk? Hey?

Ready to go for a walk?

They've been through all this trauma,

so a lot of what we're doing

is the psychological rehabilitation.

{\an8}Okay.

{\an8}Gijima, he was around 3 kg.

He needs to be 6.5 kg
before we let him go.

Are you ready to go?

That's a weight that has been determined

over years and years of trial and error

and learning the hard way
that if a pangolin's too small,

it won't survive.

[low rumbling]

So the first time I took him out here
at Lapalala, he just ran.

[lively music playing]

Where are you going?

And he's fast.

There's a fence there.

Careful, you're gonna walk
into the fence. Oop.

I was full helicopter parent. [laughs]

I wasn't letting him out of my sight.

Here's Gijima!

There goes Gijima. [laughing]

[music continues]

Are you going for a swim? Yeah?

[sniffing]

Careful.

Hey? Careful there.

[endearing music building]

His dominant instinct
wasn't to settle, to forage.

I think that instinct
to just get away kicked in.

[endearing music continues]

He didn't interpret my presence
as a very safe space.

[sniffing]

[music fades]

He was just fully driven.

Not affectionate, not playful.

His dominant instinct was to escape.

[birds chirping]

He's a Temminck's pangolin,
but he's not fully bipedal yet.

So when he walks,

he'll still support himself a lot
with his arms.

[inspirational music playing]

[Ray] Pangolins have been on planet Earth
for 85 million years.

They evolved with the dinosaurs.

It walks on its hind legs
with its two front legs like a T. rex,

just dotting along.

[inspirational music continues]

There's no other mammal that's covered
in hard, overlapping scales,

so that on its own
makes them absolutely unique.

It's an ancient creature
that runs the risk of extinction.

A creature that is unicorn-type status.

Because that's what it is, it's so rare.

So effectively, pangolins
can't open their mouth like we can.

They've got a small little hole
where the tongue comes out.

Their food is literally ants and termites.

That's it.

[intriguing music playing]

Their hearing ability is very good.

Their eyesight is very poor.

[music continues]

[sniffing]

Their scenting capacity,
even better than a dog.

[continues sniffing]

They don't have vocal cords.

They don't make a noise.

They're predominantly nocturnal.

Sleep out in burrows.

You wouldn't know
if that thing's five meters from you.

You just don't see them.

[sniffing]

They only have
one pup per female per year.

And their parental care is extreme.

Moms look after their pups
for six, seven months.

When they eventually leave the burrow,

they ride on mom's back,
being taught how to feed on solid foods

and what to look for.

And then they go off on their own.

[music fades]

[birds, insects chirping]

[Gareth chuckling] Living with a pangolin,

it's very quiet.

I redesigned my entire routine

to suit his schedule.

[bird calling]

So a normal day
would pretty much be, wake up 4 a.m.,

and then

admin, running the business.

And then, obviously,
waiting to hear the scratching at the box.

[scratching on box]

[door opens]

- [switch clicks]
- [footsteps treading]

[box door opens]

[Gareth whispering] Hello, my buddy.

[softly] Hello. Be a good boy.

Ooh. Come on then, eh?

Oh, shh. My buddy. Come on.

You can put a plate of ants
in front of a pangolin, and it won't feed.

Oh, that's a big yawn, hey? Come on.

The only way we can get them to feed

is by putting them down
and letting them forage.

Okay. Hey? Okay, here we go.

Here we go.

Here we go, hey? Here we go, my buddy.

There we go.

[curious music playing]

When you're looking for ants,
you have to get to know ants.

Gijima took me into that world…

on the very, very surface of the Earth.

And beneath it.

They share this underworld kingdom.

- [whistles]
- It's a massive nest.

Caswell is an ant doctor.

- These are the savanna spiny ants.
- [Gareth] Yeah.

He's so excited about the world of ants.

{\an8}I've got a taste for ants.

{\an8}Like pangolins.

{\an8}[chuckling] So… So, myrmecology is
the study of ants, in short.

[bright music playing]

I did not learn
how the natural environment works

in the textbook.

As a Muvenda young, uh, boy,

I'd just go to the bush.

[music continues]

There were just stretches of land.
There was so much life in them.

There were all these animals.

But in all these years
of being out in the field,

I've never seen a pangolin.

The first time I saw a pangolin,
I saw it with Gareth.

It was just amazing.

[music continues]

This mythical animal.

It's got this physical appearance
of multiple animals combined.

It was just something out of this world.

[bright music continues]

[music fades]

In Lapalala right now,
I've got a long-term study,

studying the response of ants
to climate change.

You can see one of them there.
The small ones.

[Gareth] Okay.

[curious music playing]

[Dr. Caswell] Ants are part of
what we call social animals,

just like we are social too.

And they all come from one family.

The queen is this founding mother.

You're the mother, and it's your world.

And you've got these Terminator-like kids

that only take orders.

And everything that they do
is just for the success of the colony.

[curious music continues]

All ants that you see out are females.

They're all sisters.

It looks like they talk to each other.

- [Dr. Caswell] It's grooming sometimes.
- They'll groom each other?

[Dr. Caswell] Yeah, they'll groom.

You are mostly seeing the older ones

'cause the newborns and all the brothers
are still in the nest.

So it seems like in a matured ant colony,

the older you get,
the more risky job you do.

[bird calling]

[Gijima sniffing]

[Gareth] When his nose is on the ground,
he's looking for food.

He can smell ants
through a foot of hard, hard earth.

So this larvae is, like,
what he's going for.

All those miniature pieces of rice.

Yeah. It's eggs.

[Gareth] Yeah.

He's feasting.

It's like pangolin ice cream.

The ants go into a total panic.

[sniffing]

It must just be this giant dragon

coming to wipe you out.

[continues sniffing]

The ants will try and rescue their babies.

So they'll pick them up,

and they'll start carrying them
away from his attack

as quickly as possible.

[whimsical music playing]

And when the ants bite him on his tongue,

he pulls it between his claws
to get them off.

And then sometimes,
he'll almost wrap it in a knot.

[tempo decreases]

[dramatic music plays]

[music fades]

- [insects chirping]
- [birds chirping]

I mean, he was eating.

Um, he was definitely eating.

But he still wants to run.

I felt under a lot of pressure because

{\an8}there's just so much riding on
him being a successful release.

{\an8}We wanna establish this place
as a sanctuary for pangolins.

If something goes wrong with him,

then in all likelihood,
the project isn't gonna go ahead.

[tense music playing]

[electric fence buzzing]

[buzzing loudly]

[Gareth] Where we walk,
there is an electric fence around here.

[tense music continues]

[Ray] The lowest strand is about


It's the perfect height
that a pangolin, walking on its hind legs,

will walk into it,
and it hits it in the soft underbelly.

Boom! That pulse can hit, and it's gonna
curl up in a protective ball.

There it sits… [mimicking electric shocks]

…until it's dead.

[tense music continues]

The death rate in this country
by electrocution is probably

about six or seven orders of magnitude
higher than the ill*gal trade.

[electric fence buzzing]

Then, one day, I was walking
and got distracted for a split second.

[Kulu sniffing]

And I think he saw it as a gap.

He just made a turn for the fence.

[foreboding music playing]

So I dived backwards
to push him away from the fence.

[electric fence buzzing]

And the current went through me,
and I did charge him.

[electricity zaps]

Hey.

- [somber music playing]
- [distressed breathing]

He just starts shaking like crazy.

It's okay, hey?

It's like this…

[trilling]

[rapid distressed breathing]

The problem is that he hadn't associated
the charge with the fence.

He had associated the charge with me.

Hey. It's okay. Hey. It's me, my buddy.

It's me. Hey.

It's okay. Hey. It's me.

Hey.

I just had to give him space.

[distressed breathing]

[sniffing]

It felt horrible.

Come on, it's okay.
Hey, my buddy. It's okay. It's me.

[somber music playing]

I just felt disappointed with myself.

[intriguing music playing]

[Gareth] My whole life,
I've had a fear that I'm not enough.

School was difficult. I was hyperactive.

I could not sit still.

I was sort of a rebel in my youth.

I went to two,
three different high schools,

and eventually, I dropped out.

[music continues]

For a good three years,
I was earning a living playing poker.

Partying.

I loved it.

[dramatic sting]

And then two of my best friends
died in a car accident.

[melancholic music playing]

It just tore my heart apart.

[music continues]

I had become so disconnected.

I slowly started realizing

that I was just never going to be happy

unless I found something else.

- [music continues]
- [birds chirping]

All of my school holidays,
I got sent up to Zimbabwe

to go play in the wild.

I kind of just remember
this very strong sense of freedom

being out there.

This sense of stillness.

[birds squawking]

I wanted to be involved with wildlife,

but I was running a business in Joburg.

I couldn't be out in the bush
all the time the way I wanted to be.

Ja.

So then I got in touch with Ray,

and he took me to the Joburg Wildlife Vet.

And I saw my first pangolin.

[hopeful music playing]

There was a before world
and an after world.

I started walking them every single day.

[music continues]

They have such a softness about them.

I've been taught my entire life,

"No, you don't talk about your feelings."

But I think the difference
between pangolins and people is,

it's far easier
to be vulnerable around a pangolin.

[music continues]

They're not gonna judge
that vulnerability.

They sort of see the real you.

This is you right now,
right here, and that's it.

[music fades]

[animals calling]

After the electric fence,

it's taken him a long time to forgive me.

{\an8}You run around in the garden…

{\an8}while I put my shoes on. Okay? Hey? Okay?

{\an8}Don't go climbing over
the fence or anything.

{\an8}I'll be back in a jiffy.

[Nicci] Each pangolin is different
like people are different.

Some pangolins just roll around
being friends with everybody.

[helicopter whirring]

Some are very sensitive
and highly strung, maybe.

[sniffing]

He just couldn't settle.

[birds chirping]

[insect buzzing]

[Gareth] In Zulu, "gijima" means "run."

If I'm constantly calling him "run,"
maybe he understands that.

[Gijima sniffing]

"Kulula" means "easy" in Zulu.

[sniffing]

And so I just started calling him Kulu.

That didn't work at all with him.

Kulu does whatever he wants to do.

[exhales sharply]

[birds chirping]

Okay.

Do you wanna go down here, huh?
Go down here?

Come here. Come on. Get down.

I sort of tried
to set up boundaries for him.

[curious music playing]

There are certain blocks

which have pretty much
been marked out by roads.

He doesn't like boundaries.

He's very crafty.

If I'm there, he definitely pauses.

[curious music continues]

And then there's that sort of mad dash

to try and get across the road,
hoping that I don't see him.

Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh-uh.

[tempo increases]

[tempo decreases]

[tempo increases]

[Gareth] Uh-uh.

Uh-uh.

[tempo decreases]

[music ends]

- [insects chirping]
- [birds calling]

Are you eating
because you heard me coming?

Or are you just being a good boy?

He's figured out that
so long as he's eating,

I don't pick him up.

So if he's eating, I don't pick him up.

So if he's running

and I stop
and I go towards him to pick him up,

he'll start scratching,
whether there's food there or not.

He's like a little kid.

You have to redirect his awareness.

Otherwise, he's just like,
"Okay, cool, now I'm exploring."

[Gareth] Part of his rewilding,

he needs to investigate in burrows.

[Ray] You've got porcupine,
bushpig, warthogs making burrows.

Aardvarks, certainly.

And then pangolins modifying them.

[whimsical music playing]

[Gareth] Ow!

Sometimes, in the evening,
he sneaks into burrows

because he obviously wants to sleep out.

What that means for me is
I have to try to take him out.

[Nicci] Oh God.

You're hoping
there isn't a warthog in there.

And then I'm always thinking
of snakes coming out of there.

Spiders.

[Gareth] I need to know that

he's not just gonna come out
of the burrow at 1 a.m.

and then make a mad dash for freedom.

[Gareth exhales]

Oh God.

[grunting]

Ow!

[laughing] I've been stuck
in a few burrows.

I have had to be
pulled out of a few burrows, yes.

Okay, I'll walk you up.

- Wheelbarrow.
- Okay, slowly, ja?

[percussive music playing]

[groaning]

- [man] You all right?
- I just squashed my ball on this branch.

Oh my God.

[groaning]

[percussive music continues]

It's cool that he's in there,

but that does mean, like,
a sleepless night for me.

[bird calling]

I slept next to him.

I put my feet
in the entrance of the burrow

'cause if I fell asleep,
I would feel him crawling over me.

[animals calling]

[birds chirping]

{\an8}Slowly, over time,
I've learned to trust him.

Just the sense of freedom
that I can give him out here.

I can leave him for an hour at a time,

and then to find him, I use the telemetry.

[telemetry beeping]

[Kulu sniffing]

[Dr. Caswell] Every time you walk
with Kulu, you see new things.

[sniffing intently]

As pangolins forage,
they will not disrupt the whole colony.

They will eat just enough.

For me, that is so smart.

[scratching]

You just see, like, the entire surface
of the Earth is just moving,

and it's crawling the whole time.

It's quite wild.

This is all just
one giant pugnacious nest.

The most aggressive, dominant ants,
and scary too, is the pugnacious.

[dramatic music plays]

We know who's the biggest enemy
of pugnacious ants.

It's the pangolin.

[dramatic music continues]

Pugnacious, they will eat anything.

They'll overwhelm certain insects.

Even some small mammals, like rats.

Some birds, small chicks that can't fly,
they will be eaten as well.

Around this termite mound,

this is a huge hunting ground
for the pugnacious ants.

When the pangolins go and eat termites…

ants like pugnacious will also benefit,

scavenging on the leftovers
of the pangolin.

[dramatic music continues]

[Gareth] The snouted termite soldiers
all stand by,

with their snouts pointed upwards.

And then, if a pugnacious
comes in close proximity to them,

they'll spray out this toxic glue.

[ominous music playing]

It completely deters the pugnacious.

[music continues]

And that gives the workers enough time
to pull the larvae back into the nest…

and then quickly close up the tunnels.

[ominous music continues]

[music fades]

[insects chirping]

[jackal howling]

[animals calling]

{\an8}[Gareth] He has this incredible drive
to be free.

{\an8}But we need to get to six and a half kg.

{\an8}[Nicci] A pangolin of six and a half kg

is really strong,

and it can hold itself into a tight ball

and, therefore,
protect itself against predators.

[uplifting music playing]

[Gareth] It's taken Kulu a long time

to feel secure in the environment.

I started seeing signs of him
settling down and calming.

[sniffing]

There was that definite shift in him.

[music continues]

He started trusting me.

Oh, there's the good stuff.

There we go. Oh, is that the goodness?

Pangolins are not great
at regulating their body temperature.

There we go.

We were out, and I poured a little bit
of water on him, trying to cool him down.

On the belly, there you go.

And he starts doing little 360s

and crawling around the tree
like a maniac.

Hey, there we go.

What are you doing? Hey?

Is that fun, my boy, hey? Is that nice?

Hey? Nice and cool.

[uplifting music continues]

Sometimes, when they're playing,
they'll wrap their tail around your arm.

That was the first time that Kulu
actually really allowed me to lift him up,

and he was using my arm as a play tool.

To be held by the tail and rolled around,
that's fun for him.

He just started opening up,

and a playful side started to emerge.

He went through
this just horrific experience

at the hands of humans.

[joyful music playing]

So much fun, hey?

More? You want more? You want more?

For him to then give me
that level of trust

is incredibly validating.

You want more? Come on then. Come on, you.

[joyful music continues]

He's learning
how to protect himself through play.

Their core strength needs to be
incredibly strong and developed.

He developed it,
doing sit-ups and doing crunches

and doing pull-ups.

[Gareth laughs]

[joyful music continues]

[branch snaps]

[music fades]

[monkeys barking]

[barking, chittering]

[door opens]

[Gareth] We've been here for six months.

Big boy.

We're very close to our freedom.

Come on. Come here.
Can I have a nice yawn? Hey?

{\an8}[Nicci] We know when they're ready
for their release process

{\an8}when they are displaying
very relaxed behavior.

They're feeding nicely.
They're consistently putting on weight.

[Gareth] Where we are now
is about a 45-minute drive

from where he's going to be released.

First one down, my bud. First one down.

With a satellite tag,

I'll be able to see
his location on my phone.

Every hour,
I'll get a ping to say, "I'm here."

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, my bud.

But even with that,
the stakes are very high.

[tense music playing]

[monkeys screeching]

[Ray] We'd release
a perfectly healthy pangolin,

and they would die overnight.

We've lost pangolin to honey badger,

lion, leopard, hyena, even elephant.

Every pangolin is gonna face his dangers,

but at some stage, Kulu needs to be wild.

Can I see a yawn now?

Hey? Are you tired, my buddy?

Hey?

[hopeful music playing]

[Gareth] Where we're releasing Kulu,
it is pangolin paradise.

You've got an incredible amount

of ant and termite activity there.

What I have to do
is completely reestablish him

so he knows where he is
every second of the day.

He'll familiarize himself
with the different smells in the area,

where the potential dangers are.

[low rumbling]

Hey, come on. Come here.

Come on. Okay, all right.

Are you raring to go?

There you go. Hey? You know where you are.

[adventurous music playing]

[Kulu sniffing]

Over the course of the first three days,

he was moving
three to four kilometers in a day.

It's a massive area.

Ja, he's motored.

[telemetry beeps]

He'll feed as quickly as possible…

and just cover
as much distance as possible.

[rousing music playing]

Where are we going?
There's a leopard here.

Are you sure you wanna be up here? Huh?

It was all very frantic.

[rousing music continues]

Stay in the shade.

[sniffing]

[music ends]

[birds chirping]

I mean, he needs to at least

spend a week or two in an area

and then explore, but, you know,

not just sort of day after day
after day after day, just running.

There's only so much pressure
I can put on him to eat.

Oh, that is pretty, huh?

[lion roars]

[moaning]

[roaring playfully]

[pensive music playing]

[continues roaring]

Come on.

Come on, my boy.
We still need to eat, bud.

[lion roaring in distance]

There we go, hey? There we go, my boy.

[uplifting music playing]

[loud rustling]

Stop.

I heard something bugger off there.

[tense music playing]

[low growling]

Ja, there's monsters in the bushes here.

[tense music continues]

[hyenas howling]

This little flay area
is just leopard paradise.

[low growling]

At night,
the wild is a very different place.

Lions become
a very different animal after dark.

So do leopard.

[low growling]

[loud roaring]

Hearing a leopard…

[hyenas chittering]

…hyenas walking around.

That's a very definitive warning.

[frantic music playing]

He's freaking out.

Okay, my boy. I got you.

I got you, my buddy. I got you.

[gentle music playing]

Okay, here, boy.

[beeps]

He's burning a lot of energy.

This evening, he was, I think,
the lowest he's been for over a week,

so it's… it's a noticeable weight drop.

And the potential is
is then we start going backwards.

[dramatic whoosh]

[line ringing]

He's used more energy
than he's been able to take in.

[Nicci on phone] That makes sense.
Remember what he was like.

He used to run, and then he slowly,
over time, settled down.

- That's what you're waiting for him to do.
- I want him to do it immediately.

- Just waiting for him to settle down.
- [laughs]

- [Nicci laughs]
- [Gareth] No, I want him to do it now.

[Nicci] I think when rational advice
has failed,

the only advice
is to trust your own instinct.

And also to trust the pangolin.

'Cause the pangolin
has got such strong instincts.

[pensive music playing]

[Gareth] Rule number one
is don't lose the pangolin.

I was trying to give him
a little bit more space.

Just to try and get him to calm down.

[music continues]

But forgetting the telemetry,
it's just such a stupid mistake.

If he gets into a certain area

and his tags come off,
I might never find him again.

Then there's the electric fence.

That fence is just certain death.

And he can do a kilometer in an hour.

[tense music playing]

You guys go back to the car.

It's making me anxious.

Like, now.

[Nicci] You feel so responsible.

You feel responsible
to the team of people that are behind you,

but most of all,
you feel responsible to that animal.

[music continues]

[Gareth] Because the satellite tag
is not checking in,

we can't pinpoint him down to…

exactly where he is
so that we can actually find him.

You know, we walked around
looking for him, but…

I mean, it's like trying to find a ghost.

[tense music continues]

[screeching]

- [phone chimes]
- Oh, he's just clocked in.

Okay, let's go.
Uh, he's just gone further north,

and he's on that side of the road.
Come on, let's go.

[engine starts]

[tense music continues]

He's now been gone
for two and a half hours.

[engine stops]

[suspenseful music playing]

We found him just under a tree,

eating termites.

[joyful music playing]

And I think it was in that moment,

it was kind of like, "He's got this."

He doesn't need me
being this helicopter parent,

watching over him.

At the thornbush there. No.

Hmm.

You can't control everything,
and my sort of knee-jerk is, "Yes, I can."

[laughs]

But I think, yeah,
there is that reality that, "No, I can't."

Hello, my champ.

Hello, my champ. Hello.

What's up? Come on.

[music continues]

There's been less than a handful of times
where he's actually come to me.

- [endearing music playing]
- [sniffing]

Aw. Aw.

My boy. Hey.

Hello.

Oh my goodness.

[endearing music continues]

Hey.

Oh my goodness, my boy.

Are you cleaning me?

Do I need a clean? Hey?

He sort of reassured me and said,

"Everything's gonna be fine."

Hey?

[endearing music continues]

[sniffing]

That is crazy.

Hey? Thank you for that, my boy. Hey?

Thank you, my buddy.

[music continues]

[music fades]

Ja, I don't know.

It sort of felt like he was telling me.

[inhales sharply]

[sniffling]

[door opens]

[beeps]

[mystical music playing]

[soulful vocalization]

[insects chirping]

[man in Venda]
When the universe was created…

the healers and animals were connected.

The pangolin holds a special place.

[vocalization continues]

As a Venda child, you must spend

the first three months of life
inside your home.

Before you go out,
you must be vaccinated to keep you safe.

[thunder rumbling]

The healer takes the scale of a pangolin

and soaks it in water.

We will splash that water upon you,

like rain.

This will instill you
with humility and calm…

so that when the pangolin
calls the thunder,

you will not be afraid.

[thunder rumbling]

[insects chirping]

[guinea fowl squawking]

[somber music playing]

[Gareth] It's the last time, bud.

Hey? It's your last time.

Hey, last time. Last time, my boy. Hey?

[breathes deeply]

On the one hand,
I just want him to be free so badly.

Okay. [sniffles]

But then, the one thing
that I thought of was, like,

"What am I gonna do without him?"

[somber music continues]

{\an8}I mean, he lives with me. [sniffles]

I sleep five meters away from him.

[sniffles]

I'm in his presence 24/7,
and I have been for six months, so…

[sniffles]

What is it gonna feel like
being away from that?

[music continues]

Okay, my buddy, we're here.
Hey, we're here.

We're here, my champ.

[music fades]

Gonna eat lots. Hey?

Oh, so hungry, hey?
Gonna eat lots for me, my buddy. Hey.

[sniffles]

My letting go of him
is gonna be incredibly gradual.

[sniffing]

I mean, he's a hand-reared pangolin.

Oh, there we go. Hey? That's a good boy.

He's spent more of his life with me

than he has in the wild.

[intriguing music playing]

Is he gonna feel abandoned?

[chuckles]

Is it gonna stress him out to the point

where his immune system
starts getting compromised,

he gets covered in ticks,

he stops feeding,
he starts running at night?

Hey, where are you going?

Um, there's a lot that can go wrong.

Then there's the electric fence.

Just this sort of unavoidable dragon.

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

Hey, buddy. Is this your home?

Is this your home, my champ?

It's an amazing day.
He's eaten heaps, and he's still eating,

which is just unbelievable.

He's been incredibly relaxed.

[Kulu sniffing]

He hasn't run.

He's happy.
I can… I can feel that he's happy.

[woman] Are you happy?

I'm ecstatic. [chuckles]

[soulful music playing]

[Ray] When you're working closely
with animals,

it gets very, very difficult
to break that bond.

And he's gonna have to go through that.

And that's gonna be… bloody hard.

Hey.

[music continues]

[Ray] And we're trying to save a species.

A species that could go extinct
in our lifetime.

You've had the privilege of working
with a ghost, working with a unicorn.

And when you think about that,
it weighs heavy on you.

[music continues]

[Gareth] Ja. He knows.

[music fades]

[breathing shakily]

[telemetry beeping]

I'll just keep an eye on him,
for as long as he allows me.

[animals calling]

[telemetry beeping]

[birds chirping]

[Ray] We monitor these pangolins
post-release up to 12 months.

And we need feedback
almost on a daily basis.

[adventurous music playing]

[Gareth] With the camera trap,

I can give him space but still spy on him.

[sniffing]

[laughs]

You can see in this burrow,

he actually has an upstairs bedroom.

When he goes in now, you can actually
see him go upstairs into the burrow.

[music continues]

We've seen, like,
quite a few different housemates.

[adventurous music continues]

[Gareth chuckles]

[sniffing]

I mean, there's just this incredible world
happening around him.

[music continues]

[rhinoceros huffing]

[insects chirping]

[music fades]

[Ray] He's invincible.

That's what that pangolin feels now.

But it's tough out there,
and it's dangerous.

And he'll learn he's not invincible.

[thunder crashing]

[ethereal music playing]

[man in Venda] In Tshivenda,
a pangolin is a mystical creature.

It is a blessing to see one.

But if one drop
of a pangolin's blood touches the ground,

it will bring forth natural disasters.

[thunder crashing]

[soulful vocalization]

[ethereal music continues]

[Gareth] He'd been free for eight weeks
when I had to go to Joburg for work.

But while I was there,
I got a call from the reserve,

saying that
he wasn't coming out of his burrow.

All the scenarios
were running through my mind.

I felt like
there was something wrong with him.

My main concern was that

something like a spotted hyena
had gotten hold of him.

[melancholic music playing]

It didn't occur to me
that his burrow could have collapsed

until it was day six.

[music continues]

That morning,
I was just getting more and more concerned

and, like, building up into quite a state.

[line ringing]

- Hey, Nicci.
- [Nicci on phone] Morning, Gareth.

[Gareth] Something's not right.

He hasn't actually been seen for six days.

So, I have thought of every eventuality.

God, I don't know what--
what to even think, um…

[Nicci] I don't know
what to say about that

except just get there with a spade.

[Gareth] Yeah, okay.

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

- [jackal howling]
- [lion roaring]

[pensive music playing]

[telemetry beeping]

[Gareth exhales sharply]

So I get there yesterday.

Set up the camera trap.

It's all right, my boy. It's just me.

Start digging.

[pensive music continues]

So I'm just, like,
"Oh Jesus Christ, I'm digging up a body."

[melancholic music playing]

[shakily] I feel like I've got,
like, emotionally, just nothing left.

[grunting]

Ja, I'd been digging for like,
for two hours.

My back's, like, giving in.

[telemetry beeping]

Eventually, I realized I needed help,

so I called in the anti-poaching unit.

We were, like, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig.

It took us, like,
four and a half, five hours.

We dug a swimming pool.

[tense music playing]

Eventually, we get to this hollow point.

[voice breaking] And at that point,
I was convinced

the chances are that he's not alive.

I'm digging up his body.

[tense music continues]

[grunting]

[grunting] Okay, guys,
just k*ll the lights.

[tense music continues]

[music fades]

[exhales sharply]

[sobbing]

Hey, are you okay? Are you okay, my boy?

Hey? Are you okay?

And he looks at me.

Are you all right, my buddy? Hey?

I just fall over. I was like,
"Oh my God, he's alive."

Are you okay, my boy?
Hey? Are you all right?

Hey? Are you okay? Are you hurt?

Are you hurt?

Hey? Are you all right?

Hey? Are you okay?

Hey? What are you doing in here?

Check him out. Look at him.

He's, like, shell-shocked
of what's been going on

and the noise around him
and everything like that.

Okay, I think he's a little bit weak, so…

Hey, it's all right. I've got you, my boy.
You're okay. You're okay, my boy.

Hey, you're okay. You're okay, my buddy.

Hey, are you okay? Hey? Are you all right?

Are you sleeping? Hey?

Are you okay, my buddy?

Look at me. Are you okay, my boy? Hey?

Hey, look at you. Hey, it's me.

It's me, my buddy. It's me.

Hey? Are you all right? Hey?

You're okay, my boy.
What are you doing to me?

Hey, come on. Come on.

Here you go, let's go up.
Come here. Hey, it's all right, come here.

Are you gonna walk for me?

Hey? Can you walk?

I wanna see, like, okay, is he weak?

And he slowly starts walking.

[sniffing]

He finds a nest of ants,
and he just climbs in.

Just starts to chow like crazy.

[sniffing intently]

The little dude was starving.

What an ordeal.

[continues sniffing]

It never occurred to me
that him being trapped in a burrow

would be something
I would have to worry about.

[birds calling]

{\an8}[vehicle approaching]

[rhinoceros bellows]

[Gareth] All right, big girl. Just relax.

[Dr. Caswell] Have you seen
any interactions

between him and some of the big mammals?

[Gareth] So, the interesting thing
is he'll actually follow them around.

- Because he'll roll in their dung.
- Oh yes.

And he'll cover himself.

If you're a lion,
and you're smelling rhino sh*t,

you don't think that it's something
that you're gonna hunt.

[Dr. Caswell] Ja.
There's so much mimicking in most animals.

Hey, my buddy.

Are we gonna do this,
and I'll leave you alone?

- Come on. Come. Come.
- [sniffing]

Come. Come.

[laughs]

Come here. Come on. Let's be quick.
Come on. We'll be quick. Hello.

Come on. I know you're a free pangolin.
You don't wanna be handled. Hey?

Pull it up this way. There we go.

{\an8}Hold still. There we go.

Hey. You're very calm in there. Hey?

Have you been good?

Have you been a good boy?
How's this tummy? That's good.

Huh?

Hah. Completely unfazed.

You see how slowly he's moving, eh?

Not that…

[mimicking frantic walk]

Ja.

Looks like
he's heading west into the valley.

[birds calling]

[thunder rumbling]

[soulful singing]

[Dr. Caswell] As a human being,

it's your role
to protect the animals around you.

As scientists,
we're trying to now link the science

and what people understood.

[sniffing]

You've got this magical animal

that can make it rain.

[thunder rumbling]

Everyone wants the rain.

The myth that protects,

that has let humans
and the environment live in harmony.

[soulful singing continues]

[wind whooshing]

Those stories,
they were passed through generations,

but we're raising a group of people now
that need to be told things as they are.

They are not interested in
what people used to believe.

[guitar music playing]

Whether science combined
with the traditional ways of doing things,

or science comes alone,

at the center of everything

is that we need
to protect the environment.

[thunder rumbling]

What has our kind done to the Kulu kind?

[soulful song playing]

[exhales sharply]

[Nicci] I think that if
such a special creature like a pangolin

is lost,

it symbolizes the way we treat everything.

[soulful singing continues]

[wind whooshing]

[thunder rumbling]

[low rumbling]

[thunder crashing]

[rhythmic clapping]

[singing becomes spirited]

[thunder rumbling]

[spirited singing continues]

[song ends]

[animals calling]

[inspirational music playing]

It has been a hell of a thing,

like a long, long journey.

[chuckles]

He's just a completely different animal.

He's so relaxed. [laughs]

It just feels like he can do things

when he wants to, on his terms,

{\an8}without any sort of pressure.

{\an8}He's carried on gaining weight.

[music continues]

He's now mapped out this entire area.

And he's moved
into this dense, thick riverine territory.

It's like he has found
the wildest pocket of wilderness,

and that's where he's staying.

[inspirational music continues]

[soulful vocalization]

He might be looking for a female.

I mean, the fact that
he's now going around

and just scent-marking everything

is a pretty good indication
that he's ready.

And we know
there are other pangolins in the area.

He's now been in the wild

for longer than he's been in captivity.

It almost seems
like a debt was paid at that point.

[music continues]

[sniffing]

The last two times
that I've gone out to go check on him,

he's tried to hide from me.

By lying flat,

he's trying to blend in
with his surroundings.

That feels like the last step
in his rewilding process.

[music continues]

I mean, there's got to be a point
where you let go.

{\an8}[inspirational music continues]

{\an8}[insects chirping]

In a way, we maybe should never
have seen him in the first place.

I mean, if he's just never seen again,

that means he's out there doing his thing.

[inspirational music continues]

[soulful vocalization continues]

[music continues]

[soulful vocalization continues]

[ululating]

[music fades]

[percussive music playing]

[soulful vocalization]

[music ends]