A tomato crate, a phone call, a life saved: Musa Shamano and the pangolin

When Musa Shamano, 43, found an endangered pangolin near his family's groundnut field in Nkungula Village, in Zambia's Mumbwa District, he did the three things that give a trafficked species a chance: he protected it, placing it gently in a tomato crate; he reported it to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife office at Nalusanga; and he waited for help. Officers contacted Musekese Conservation, and the pangolin — found safe and in good health — was taken to the Chunga Area Management Unit for release back into its natural habitat. Zambia's Ministry of Tourism praised the rescue as proof that community reporting is essential to protecting one of the world's most heavily trafficked mammals.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: community action