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This mama pangolin and her baby were recently spared a cruel fate that has befallen 1,000,000 pangolins in the last decade. Being the most trafficked animals in the world, these gentle, armored mammals are poached and illegally traded for their meat and scales. Luckily, after a week-long search by investigators in Zambia, these two pangolins were found cowering together against their captors in a tiny box last Sunday.

“From the poor condition of the mother and baby, it is thought that they had been in captivity for over two weeks,” Vicky Flynn, a representative for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), told The Dodo. The two pangolins are now recovering with the help of the DSWF-supported GRI Wildlife Crime Prevention Project. “They seem to be eating, which is a great sign,” Annekim Geerdes, of the GRI Wildlife Vet Program, said in a statement. “They will be given a chance to rest and eat well again.” As soon as they recover, they’ll be released into the Kafue National Park, the largest in Zambia.

Pangolins are native to Asia and Africa. An estimated 116,990 to 233,980 pangolins were killed between 2011 and 2013 alone. The demand for their meat keeps growing.

More info: Facebook (h/t: thedodo)

This mother pangolin and her baby had been captured by poachers

Investigators in Zambia were looking for them for 1 week

Luckily, this Sunday they were found clinging to each other in a tiny box

“From the poor condition of the mother and baby, it is thought that they had been in captivity for over two weeks”

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The two pangolins are now recovering with the help of the GRI Wildlife Crime Prevention Project

Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked animals – more than 1,000,000 of these mammals were illegally traded for their meat and scales in the last decade

Fortunately for this tiny family, they were spared this cruel fate

Watch the video here:

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