Wild Hope: Pangolin Protectors

Augusto Bila • Mozambique • 2024 • 12 min

Story

Despite growing up near Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, Elias Mubobo had never seen a pangolin until he started working there as a vet. Now he helps rehabilitate rescued pangolins and educate the surrounding community about them.

Why watch?

Conservation - Short Form nominee: Jackson Wild (often billed as ‘the Green Oscars’)

Did you know?

Pangolins are the only scaled mammals on earth, but their scales have made them the most trafficked mammal in the world, despite being among the cutest.

Hundreds of thousands of pangolins are illegally trafficked each year, with their scales sold for use in traditional medicine.

Pangolin Protectors came out of NEWF partnering with Gorongosa to run The African Science Film Fellowship, a year-long project with 12 African filmmakers, including Bila. The fellowship was backed by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, who produced the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes.

Pangolin Protectors was screened as part of Wild Hope, Tangled Bank’s series highlighting the change-makers restoring our wild places and sparking new hope for the future of our planet.