The Return of the Pangolin Book

Reversing Local Extinction

By Simon Naylor

Nearly half a century after pangolins disappeared from Zululand, one of conservation’s most unlikely comeback stories has quietly unfolded in KwaZulu-Natal.

Return of the Pangolins tells the remarkable true story of how locally extinct pangolins were successfully rewilded in the &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve. Rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, these animals were given a second chance through the tireless efforts of organisations such as the African Pangolin Working Group, led by Nicci Wright, &Beyond, and the dedicated teams working on the ground, including author Simon Naylor himself, and the many others who made this possible. 

This book chronicles the first attempted rewilding of pangolins, a pioneering conservation effort filled with trials, setbacks, and hard-won breakthroughs. Against the odds, the project succeeded. Not only did the reintroduced pangolins survive, but they reproduced, and their offspring have since given birth to the first second-generation, wild-born pangolin pups in the region.

Return of the Pangolins is a powerful testament to what is possible when science, collaboration, and unwavering commitment come together to restore a species and a landscape, once thought lost.