Taking Pangolin Off the Menu

This Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) was rescued from poachers and given safe haven at the Taipei Zoo. She and her two-month-old baby are evidence of the zoo’s successful captive breeding program. (Credit: Suzi Eszterhas) When acclaimed conservation photographer Suzi Eszterhas settled in for the evening, she didn’t know what to expect. She seldom does when trying to photograph elusive, nocturnal creatures. But circumstances on this particular night were unusual. She was sitting in an enclosure—albeit a naturalistic one—and although she knew her photographic subjects couldn’t flee, she thought it was quite possible she might spend the entire night being riddled by biting ants without capturing a single shot. A couple hours later, a bizarre creature—a Sunda pangolin nicknamed “Lucky” by the staff of the rehabilitation center where Eszterhas sat—sniffed his way out of his burrow and lumbered into the photographer’s frame. Eszterhas has photographed a lot of spectacular creatures and has made a name for herself capturing rare imagery of newborn animals in the wild, but this, the first pangolin she’d ever seen, made a lasting impression.