Pangolin rescues

Pangolin rescues

 ''Playing some board games with my best friends in Sengkurong, I received a call at 9:00pm from a gentleman called Ah Loong. He called and ask what would I do with an animal like a Pangolin if I get one? And I replied ‘ Ahh… Well we usually rehabilitate them and check if they have any health issues, and then we release them immediately..’ He asked several questions and was relieved to know that we always release all the animals asap. I also felt content that this person genuinely cares for the animal and is cautious on who he is giving to.

 At 10:00 pm, I received another call but this time from ‘ Miss Jenny’, my high school teacher. This is the first time she has ever called me and I wondered “am I in trouble?” Then, I found out that she is Ah Loong’s brother and was surprised it was actually me and I still had her number. She requested for me to come as well to their place.

At 10:20pm, I reached their house and I was greeted by Miss Jenny and Ah Loong. When I looked at the pangolin I was like, “That is a dinosaur!” I don’t even know how they put it in the cage! I was told it was originally caught in Tutong and there were already buyers from Limbang, Malaysia (Smuggling does take place in Brunei sometimes). I handed them over some pangolin leaflets for their knowledge.

The next day, 6 of our members, including a local newspaper reporter from Brunei Times, went to a location in a protected forest where we released the most trafficked mammal in the world : Pangolin, back into the wild where it belongs. It is always beautiful to see the beautiful animal to go back into the wild. Camera traps were deployed to see what it would do next or if it would feed in the area. Hair samples and ticks were taken as well to be given to a Pangolin expert for further examination.

A string of pangolin rescues took place in the next two weeks. On  the midnight of July 1st, we received a text message stating that a pangolin had wandered at their residence in Kampong Tanah Jambu – a very populated residential place in Brunei. I called up Irene who lived near by and we both made our way to their place. Good thing Irene had her new Iphone and new Waze/googlemaps, otherwise we would have ended up at the wrong house and it was already getting late. We arrived at their place 25 minutes later since their call.

Muhammad Hasnal and Arif handed over the pangolin, which was a very young female. It was very stressed out so we quickly took in and released it the next day. We even taught the youngster, Arif, who himself is also a nature lover, on how to handle a pangolin properly.

Two days later I received a call at 9:00 am from Bud, which was very surprising because he knows I hate to wake up in the morning so I was like “why is he bugging me?” Good thing I picked up his call and got to know that another Pangolin is to be rescued, YES ONE MORE PANGOLIN had popped up at a CfBT teacher’s house in Kampong Sungai Tilong. And what was even better, Bud was almost there to rescue it. We got the pangolin and released it in the afternoon in a good spot in Ulu Tutong. This was one monster male pangolin and also a very active one. It was also one of the best times I had my pangolin photography sessions. That particular day was full of rescues, as before the release, we rescued a cobra at my friend’s house and during the release we got a call from KB regarding a hornbill (both will be talked about in separate articles)(Hornbill rescue, click here).

I am very happy and proud to say that Brunei Darussalam is a kingdom of unexpected treasures indeed. We still have amazing wildlife. However the future is bleak if no one cares about it. It is evident now that Borneo is in trouble and has one of the, if not, the highest deforestation rates in the world. Brunei could be one of the last remaining hot spots for wildlife or a heavenly space for animal. However, I also feel proud that our education programme through school talks, social media, word of mouth, book clubs and documentary nights is kicking in and it is becoming a cool thing to rescue animals and Bruneians are learning more about local wildlife and awareness is slow but surely kicking in.

Remember everyone, there is no one else protecting OUR wildlife. Lets be the voice of the voiceless together. If we can make a difference, so can you.

* School teachers can contact us for wildlife talks  at 1stopborneo@gmail.com

Rescued By Ah Loong, Muhd Hasnal & Arif