This South African native species has been around for about 85 million years, according to the documentary. Before we give you the name, can you guess the animal? See if your kids can help!
1. This animal mainly eats ants and termites.
2. This animal is endangered, largely due to illegal trade.
3. This species has one main defense—and it’s not to run away, bite or attack. It will simply roll up into a ball.
4. This animal walks like a T-Rex and is covered in scales!
5. This animal is prey to many of those at the top of the food chain, such as leopards, lions, and hyenas.
Have you guessed it yet? If you guessed pangolin, you guessed right! If you did guess correctly, congrats, because I never would have before watching this documentary!
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is a timely documentary, rated PG, and is the perfect watch for the whole family in recognition of Earth Day, endangered species, and to build awareness about the impacts of climate change.
In this documentary, you will get to join Garrett, the leading wildlife specialist, on a special project where he rescues a pangolin from illegal trade, brings him into protective captivity, and builds a plan to release Kulu back into the wild.
Garrett, the pangolin whisperer so to speak, describes himself as a rebel, hyper-active kid who did not make it through high school. His struggle to fit in with others and follow school expectations caused him to doubt himself and feel like he was not enough. After experiencing a tragedy in his adult life, he began his wildlife work where he would fulfill a calling to rescue endangered species.
Why do people poach pangolins?
The pangolin is such a rare species-- with its full-body scale covering-- that illegal traders around the world seek them out in their natural habitats to sell them to interested buyers. In some countries, pangolins are a gastro delicacy, while in others, the scales are actually used for medicinal products.
What happens when humans get involved?
You’ll see in the documentary that human interference with pangolin rescue can sometimes be more dangerous to the animals than the odds of being traded illegally. For example, Garrett describes how dangerous—and deadly-- electric fences in wildlife preserves can be for pangolins. One zap can be life-threatening, and they won't necessarily see it coming. Also, years of practice with rescuing wildlife has shown that sometimes animals are released before they are ready to be independent, which causes them to fall in danger of prey or malnourishment.
What is Kulu’s likelihood of survival in the wild, after growing up in the care of wildlife vets?
One thing that Kulu must worry about is unfamiliarity with his new habitat. After being stolen and then rescued, it’s taken him some time to trust his caretakers, and being without them for a long period of time could cause him some stress. In addition to a new environment, Kulu will also have to worry about natural predators that weren’t too much of a threat while he was under human protection.
One thing Kulu doesn’t need to worry about-- food! There are tons of ants, and a large variety of them to choose from in the South African wilderness. If he can learn the ropes of the new area and maintain his only defense of hiding or rolling up into a ball, he can also survive his predators.
Follow Garrett and his crew into the wilderness of South Africa to see if they have what it takes to help Kulu start a new life, apart from the protection of humans.
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is now streaming on Netflix, and if you have a kids profile setup, your kids can watch straight from there!