Her scars tell the story of what she endured. Her pup tells the story of what she overcame. Paige’s journey is a story of hope for South African wildlife.
Undisclosed Location (27 December 2025) – A year ago, Paige should never have survived. Confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, starving, injured and caught in a snare for so long her skin began to grow around the wire, her story could have ended before it even began.
Instead, something extraordinary unfolded… a team of heroes helped her back to health. And back into the wild.
And now, a year later, almost to the day she was saved, we have the most incredible update!
She is not just surviving.
She has just become a new mom.
Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, a non-profit rehabilitation centre dedicated to the protection of native South African wildlife, recently shared the news that Paige, the female pangolin they rescued, has given birth to a pup. It is an incredibly hopeful story that feels almost impossible when you know what this little Pangolin has gone through.
For the safety of both the animals and the team who care for them, Umoya Khulula houses all pangolins offsite at a secure, undisclosed location. A necessary layer of protection for these endangered creatures as they heal.
Their Facebook post read:
“Paige, a female Pangolin, was confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade early this year. When she came in, we could not only see that she was in bad condition from being starved and kept for several days, but that she was also suffering from a horrific snare wire wound that must have happened before the poaching. The wire was in her skin so long that her skin was trying to heal over it.”
“As you can imagine, her recovery took a while, but we successfully managed to get her healthy and released. She did really well on her release and an amazing monitoring team checked up on her regularly.”
“When they saw her a few weeks ago, they noticed that it looked like she had milk… so trail cameras were placed to see if we could get a glimpse of the pup. And we did!!!!”
“Last week, it was confirmed that Paige has gone on to have a pup in the wild. Mum and baby look healthy but we are letting them be. She went through so much trauma, to see her raising her little one is a true miracle.”
“Thank you all that helped Paige become a mum again: Provet Animal, HospitalScales, Pangolin Rescue Fund, Limpopo Pangolin Collective, @francoismeyer”
From the moment she arrived, she surprised them.
Emma De Jager, Co-founder and Director of Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, spoke to Good Things Guy this morning, remembering those early days.
“Even though Paige was in such bad condition when she came in, you could see that she was not ready to give up. She ate well and allowed us to do all the medical treatment needed. Normally Pangolins do not allow us to do any medical treatments when they are not sedated but she allowed us to clean her wounds daily and give medication which is rare in a Pangolin. She had such a soft nature about her and accepted our help.”
Her recovery became a lesson in resilience… for the humans, not just the animal they were treating.
“When the monitoring team saw that she was lactating, we were over the moon, but still reserved as we hadn’t yet got a sighting of the pup, and we knew that everything that she had been through, there was still a chance that things might not go well. But when they got the camera footage of her and her pup, words can not describe. This Pangolin had been through so much and just to see her become a mum again and do exactly what she needs to do is the reason we do this work. She truly is an inspiration to all of us.”
Pangolins are critically endangered and notoriously difficult to rehabilitate. Each case is delicate, unfamiliar, unpredictable. But Paige gave the team something to hold on to.
“Pangolin rehab is very tricky, and each case is different but when we get cases like Paige we can see how resilient these amazing animals can be, and with the right medical assistance and care we can give them another chance. When working with endangered species sometimes it feels like you are fighting an uphill battle but Paige is a reminder that we are making a difference and we do have the chance to save this species.”
Out there somewhere, at a secure and undisclosed location, far from the cruelty she once faced, a pangolin pup climbs across its mother’s back. A mother who was never meant to make it this far. A pup who represents every hour of care, every late-night check-in and every fight to protect the voiceless.
One rescued pangolin will not change the world overnight. But she changes the landscape for her species. She changes the hearts of the humans who helped her. She changes the story… from loss to possibility.
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