New Life. New Sighting. A New Chapter for Pangolins?

In conservation, the smallest signs can carry the deepest meaning. A new footprint. A flicker of movement on a camera trap. A phone call from a boy on a motorbike.

And sometimes, if you're lucky, something extraordinary happens.

Over the past month, The Pangolin Project team has witnessed not one, but two remarkable milestones:

• A newly sighted male pangolin, previously unknown to us, seen live thanks to a community callout.

• And a pangolin pup, captured on camera, confirming what we had quietly suspected for weeks: a birth in the wild.

Two individuals. One forest. A glimpse into a species hanging on, and maybe even beginning to thrive.

🐾 The First Sighting in 6 Months: A Call That Changed Everything

It was 7:50 PM on June 24th when the phone rang at base camp. An 18-year-old high school student, riding home through the forest, had just seen a pangolin. He didn’t hesitate. He called us.

Within minutes, our team leapt into action. Blankets, torches, weighing scales—gear in hand and hearts pounding.

When they arrived, the pangolin was still there, watched over by the boy, his father, and brother.

And then came the surprise: this was not one of the pangolins we’ve tagged or recognised from camera trap data.
This was a completely new, untagged male.

A pangolin we hadn’t seen before. A pangolin we didn’t know existed.

And just like that, we were reminded:

There is more life out there than we realise.
There is more to protect than we can currently see.

The boy’s family is part of our conservation lease programme- a living link between awareness and action. This sighting happened because he knew that pangolins matter, and that when he called, we would come.

It was the first live pangolin sighting reported by the community in six months. And it was a gift.

The Pup We Hoped For: A New Generation Begins

Two weeks earlier, on Friday the 13th of June, our field team spotted a female pangolin on camera trap. Larger than usual. Slow. Heavy.
“We think she’s gravid,” one team member noted. “Let’s hope for a pup very soon.”

And last week, their instinct was confirmed.

At the very same burrow and a nearby one- our cameras captured a pangolin pup onboard its mother, wrapped around her tail. Possibly just a week old. Utterly precious.

Our WhatsApp thread lit up in tears, emojis, and disbelief.

“I feel like crying!”
“Team, this is the result of all your efforts.”
“Please look at how that little pup is using that magnificent tail!”

The birth happened in an area of intact forest, surrounded by de-electrified fencing.
Safe space. Clean habitat. A real win.

This is what we’re fighting for.
Not just survival, but new life. Not just holding the line, but pushing it forward.

What This Means

These sightings aren’t just anecdotes.
They’re indicators:

• That our monitoring is working.

• That de-electrifying fences and signing conservation leases is protecting habitat in real time.

• That the pangolins we know aren’t alone.

• That our forest still has a pulse.

• That YOUR support is making a difference.

Looking Ahead

It is now breeding season, and our field team is ramping up efforts. We’re increasing surveillance and listening harder than ever for forest whispers. Because we know they’re there.

And because we know that hope often arrives quietly.

In the rustle of dry leaves.
In the protective curl of a mother’s tail.
In a single phone call.

To our supporters, thank you. These stories are your stories, too.
You’re part of every rescue, every birth, every late-night dash into the field.

And you’re part of the growing belief that, yes, pangolins still have a future in Nyekweri.

Let’s keep that future moving.