Pangolin conservation in Nepal awaits enhanced interest, investment, and incentives

In 2019, a live pangolin was found in Bhaktapur, Nepal. The pangolin in the night gave birth to its offspring (also called pangopup). Pangolin conservation activist Kumar Paudel got the news and went to see the mammal and its newborn. “They needed immediate medical attention,” Paudel recalls, “Hence, I tried to reach out to various stakeholders, including the zoo and wildlife conservation organisations. But I soon realised that no expert or personnel could tend to them.”

Paudel, also a co-chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group for South Asia, had been researching and working in favour of pangolin conservation for more than five years at that time. But when he could not get any expert to tend to the estranged mammals, Paudel realised the harsh reality–how Nepal lacked not just the expert but interest in pangolins. “I realised it would have been different if it was a tiger cub or an elephant calf.”