Ecologists race against time to save the world's most poached animal

A male pangolin is being prepared to be released back into the wild at the Phinda reserve in South Africa. Photos: dpa

The world’s eyes are on the rhino, which is brutally hunted for its precious horn. But few people realise that it’s the pangolin, a small scaly mammal, that is the world’s most intensely poached and trafficked mammal.

The shy insectivores, which curl up into a ball when threatened, are critically endangered, with one African pangolin poached every five minutes, according to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).