In addition to having tongues that are half as long as their bodies and generally like armored skunks, pangolins also have a positively cuddly appearance when they swim:
This clip was recently uploaded to the Latest Sighting YouTube channel and stars a rescued Temminck’s ground pangolin named Dithlong (or “Ditsi”). Illegal wildlife traffickers captured Ditsi in South Africa’s North Western province last year, but their plans were foiled by a sting operation led by law enforcement officers, and Ditsi was seized in the raid.
Like many other pangolins rescued from poachers, she was taken to the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital – an organisation that specialises in the treatment and rehabilitation of these threatened mammals – where she was nursed to health before being handed over to a team at the Manyoni Private Game Reserve to prepare her for release back into the wild.
Ditsi is currently in the “soft release” phase of her journey back to the wild, during which time wildlife monitors will look after her and let her roam free until she is deemed ready to head out on her own.
Pangolins remain one of the most trafficked mammals in the world due to a demand for their scales and meat. “The vulnerability of these animals is why the Zululand Conservation Trust has dedicated a large number [sic] of our conservation funds towards the protection, rehabilitation, and monitoring of these incredible animals,” representatives from Manyoni Private Game Reserve told Latest Sightings.