The life mission of an environmentalist Reuters

Author Minh Nguyen

CUC PHUONG, Vietnam (Reuters)-Vietnamese environmentalist Nguyen Van Thai recalled in detail when he was a child when he watched a neighbor dig and kill a female pangolin curled up into a scaly ball.

This experience changed his current life dedicated to protecting critically endangered mammals.

“With this defense mechanism, she can resist all natural enemies, but cannot resist human killing,” Tai said.

This 39-year-old man grew up near the dense forests of Cuc Phuong National Park and founded Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, an animal charity in 2014. Since then, it has rescued nearly 1,600 pangolins.

In Asia, a lucrative illegal trade in body parts is said to cure everything from cancer to male impotence, making pangolins one of the most smuggled mammals in the world.

Thai said that pangolin parts can be sold for up to $300 per kilogram. The organization has set up a task force with rangers to patrol and look for traps set by poachers.

“When we saw them, we thought they were scary because they looked like dinosaurs,” Tai said.

“But in fact, they are very kind and shy, unable to attack or threaten humans. We are the reason why their decline may lead to extinction.”

Vietnam is home to two pangolin species, both of which are considered critically endangered. The Hong Kong environmental protection organization Wild Rescue estimates that 100,000 pangolins are poached every year, and stated that all 8 pangolin species are threatened in the world.

Thai’s manual for rescue and care of pangolins has been published in international academic journals and won the Goldman Sachs Environmental Award this year.

But this is insignificant compared to the work he and his team have done on the ground.

“The most wonderful moment is (when)… we witnessed rescued pangolins… walk slowly into the forest, because the forest is their real home,” Tai said.