After scooping acclaim with her hit Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher, Pippa Ehrlich is back with a gripping new documentary looking at one of the world’s most endangered species, the pangolin.
The small, scaly mammals found in Asia and Africa are very unassuming, but with the scales and meat in high demand in many countries, the species is the most poached and trafficked animal in the world with more than one million pangolins being trafficked over the last decade. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China, Vietnam and other countries, with wealthy people eating their meat as a status symbol.
Their scales made up of the same composition as human nails, are often used in traditional medicines in Southeast Asia, although this has not been scientifically proven. The skins are often processed into leather and are turned into boots, belts and bags that often make their way to the US and Mexico.
The new documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey will take a personal look at one man’s relationship with the creature. The film follows a man who finds Kulu the pangolin in a sting operation in South Africa but after leaving the city, goes on a heartfelt mission to rehabilitate his pangolin friend, ready for freedom in the wild.
With all eight species, four found on each continent, decreasing in population, the animal is becoming at ever-increasing risk of extinction with new data finding that poachers kill 2.7 million African pangolins every year. Some efforts have begun to protect the species, with official protected status in China, however, a thriving black market still exists.
Despite the widespread poaching of the species, many haven’t even heard of the pangolin with the new documentary hoping to make the issue much more widely known. The biggest recorded pangolin bust happened in Malaysia in 2019 where authorities found nearly 30 tonnes of pangolin products, including 1,800 boxes of the frozen animal, 61 live pangolins and 361kg of their scales – with a net worth of $2million.
The African Wildlife Foundation wants more action to be taken to stop the trade, they added: “Increased law enforcement is required at all points of the illegal trade to help save the pangolin. Furthermore, governments must disrupt the demand by dispelling the myth that pangolin scales contain healing properties.” Ehrlich’s new one-and-a-half-hour show will be coming to Netflix on April 21.