Fine Art Wildlife Photography Print by multi-Award winning photographer Sam Turley - Pangolin
Accolades: Highly Commended in Africa Geographic's Photographer of the Year 2021
Location: Wild is Life sanctuary, Zimbabwe.
Description: Marimba is a Ground Pangolin. Like many others of her species, her mother was poached for her scales to be used in traditional Chinese medicine. Marimba was thought to have been just a year old when she was orphaned – too young to fend for herself. The decision was therefore made to take her to the Wild is Life sanctuary in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she met her full-time carer, Mateo.
Pangolins are notoriously difficult to look after in captivity and require particular and personal care. Mateo’s gentle nature seemed like a perfect fit, and a remarkable relationship was born.
Pangolins are naturally nocturnal. However, for their safety, Marimba and Mateo go out in the day so she can satisfy her insatiable appetite for specific species of ants and termites. Marimba and Mateo have spent ten hours a day together for the past thirteen years, and it shows – they are inseparable. Many attempts have been made to rewild Marimba, but she always finds a way back to Mateo. She is simply too attached to him, and being so young when her mother died, she never learnt the essential skills required to survive in the wild.
As Marimba cannot be released, she will live the rest of her life at the sanctuary as an ambassador for her species. Her story has already touched the lives of so many, highlighting the importance of protecting these wonderfully unique creatures so that others do not succumb to the same fate as her mother.
Do not be fooled by their reptilian appearance. Pangolins are affectionate, gentle, sentient beings that are rapidly disappearing from our planet. They are the most trafficked group of animals in the world, and unfortunately, most human-pangolin interactions end in another pile of lifeless scales.
In a perfect world, the close connection between Marimba and Mateo would have never existed. However, I hope that this image portrays the relationship that we as a species should strive to have with pangolin to save them from extinction—one of trust, love, and compassion.