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00:00Okay, driving towards a huge storm cloud, on the way to try and stake out a pangolin burrow,
00:17I've got like an infrared camera, I've got like heat seeking, I've got camera traps,
00:21I've got everything, and it all could go horribly wrong. It's a huge cloud.
00:30Update, it's raining.
00:41My fellow crew members, Jerry and Lee, have gone to put out cameras right where the pangolin is sleeping.
00:49We hope. And my job is to stay here and look after the boat.
01:00Yeah. A little bit heavy.
01:07We're going to go around and see if we can get a little bit closer to the burrow.
01:12Oh, I can see Jerry.
01:15Pangolin researcher Jiazhe Lin, aka Jerry,
01:18Can you throw me the rope?
01:20has led us to this known burrow.
01:22Pangolins are a critically endangered mammal, so tonight represents a rare opportunity to see one in the wild.
01:33But because they're mostly nocturnal, I need to settle in for what could be a very long night.
01:40If I'm surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, I can hear the nocturnal birds starting to wake up.
01:48And hopefully the pangolin is too.
01:52Pangolins have been around for 50 million years.
01:56Yeah, I think it's just a rat.
01:59I'm starting to see why there are still so many secrets to unearth about them.
02:03I feel like I'm starting to go to a side.
02:05After hours of waiting...
02:10I think he went.
02:12..Jerry loses the signal.
02:14I think he escaped.
02:15He escaped.
02:16Yeah.
02:17Out the other side.
02:19Gave us the slip, the little bugger.
02:23A look back on camera footage later confirmed that the sneaky pangolin
02:28had escaped through one of the burrow's multiple exits.
02:30You have to take extreme measures to see a pangolin.
02:37They're so secretive and so remote and so unique
02:42that I sort of feel like I'm chasing a fever dream.
02:49As a nature journalist, I spend a lot of my time observing wildlife
02:53from behind my binoculars.
02:55But not this time.
02:58Seeing animals like this is absolutely incredible.
03:02In this series, I'm getting up close and personal...
03:06Oh, my God.
03:08..no matter how deadly the animal...
03:11Brilliant. That's fantastic.
03:12..and it's not just for fun...
03:15Oh!
03:16That's going to be your only chance. Get it on.
03:19..I'll be joining scientists on location
03:21as they try and gain a deeper understanding of animals...
03:24Yep.
03:25Three, two, one.
03:27..we think we know.
03:29So adorable.
03:30This time, it's the sun-de-pangolin.
03:35These mysterious, scale-covered animals
03:38are the most trafficked mammal on the planet.
03:42So the clock is ticking for scientists to uncover their secrets.
03:47Do you see it?
03:48That's the head.
03:49What? He's huge.
03:51Oh, my goodness.
03:53I'm Dr Anne Jones, and things are about to get wild!
04:12My expedition to find a wild pangolin
04:15has led me to a precious wildlife corridor in Sabah,
04:19a state in the north of Borneo.
04:21In the heart of this remote rainforest
04:26lies the Danau-Girang Field Centre.
04:29Hey!
04:30Oh! Good catch!
04:32Which will be my home for the next week.
04:33Yeah!
04:34It's so isolated here that everything from drinking water
04:39to camera gear to camera gear must be ferried in on these little boats.
04:45Hello!
04:46Hey!
04:47How's the journey?
04:48I'm a little bit wet.
04:49Oh, this way, baby.
04:51Oh!
04:51Do you need a pull?
04:52I do.
04:53I do.
04:53I do.
04:53I do.
04:54OK.
04:56Jerry will be my guide for the week.
04:58No.
04:58He's in the middle of a PhD looking into possibly the weirdest of all mammals.
05:04The Malaysian, or Sunda pangolin, one of ten species found across Asia and Africa.
05:11So, this is our main building, where we eat and we work.
05:16The facility is devoted to research into the wildlife of Saba, and pangolins are currently
05:25a hot topic because of their links to infectious diseases like COVID.
05:29Good afternoon, everyone.
05:30I'm Jerry, as you may already know.
05:33So, I'm sitting down with some fellow nature nerds to find out more about these secretive
05:39creatures.
05:40Pangolin is actually derived from the Malay word, panguling, which means the one who
05:43grow up, and then they curl into a ball when threatened. You can see it from this video.
05:49Although this is a great defence against most predators, it makes them an easy target for
05:56poachers to snatch up.
05:58So, pangolins are the most trafficked animal in the world. I think everyone kind of knows
06:02that.
06:03Some parts of the world actually take their meat as delicacy, but we don't actually know
06:08reefs associating with it.
06:13What makes this potentially dangerous for humans is that the animal's diseases might
06:17transfer across species when they're eaten as bush meat.
06:21We want to know what are the viruses that are associating with pangolin.
06:24In fact, COVID-19 was identified in Sunder pangolins within months of the start of the pandemic.
06:32These strange anteaters are also trafficked for their unique armour-like scales.
06:39Pangolin is the only mammal with true scales. People believe that their scales have medicinal
06:47value, which is not true because it's made of keratin, just like our hand and our fingernail.
06:51The confiscated amount of pangolin scales is way more than elephant ivory and also rhino
06:57horn.
06:58So this is how their scales look like.
07:04They're huge!
07:05Yes.
07:06This is from an adult.
07:07Well, they look like a cross between a shark tooth and a seashell.
07:10So we're talking about mammals here. We're not talking about a weird sort of lizard.
07:14Yeah.
07:15Because they're almost impossible to follow 24-7, we have to rely on another set of eyes
07:30to see what they get up to. And PhD student Maz Jumail is a bit of a trail camera expert.
07:37It's kind of like a passive way of looking at very, like, elusive animals. This is the
07:45best chance to actually see them in the wild. Yeah.
07:48What's the chances of me actually seeing one, you reckon?
07:50Randomly? In the wild? Um, 2%?
07:55Best chance to get them from the cameras.
07:57I mean, I wish I hadn't known that before I flew out from Australia. I mean...
08:01I just pray.
08:07The sun has finally come out, and we're heading off on my first research mission.
08:14Setting up the motion sensor cameras.
08:20What are the signs you look for in the environment that a pangolin could be here?
08:23We look for a sign that's, like, freshly done.
08:26If the tree have a good cavity, because they are the semi-arborist species, so they sometimes
08:31actually sleep on the tree branches.
08:34So this pangolin could be in a freshly dug burrow, under a tree, or because it's semi-arboreal,
08:43you could also be sleeping on a tree branch. But, like, which tree?
08:54Pangolins are so elusive. You know, they're not just going to give up their secrets willy
08:59nilly. They're going to make us work for it. So we're on our way to put out a camera
09:03trap. We're going to leave it out for the whole duration of my stay. And yeah, I hope
09:08the pangolins reward this hot and sweaty mosquito lychee walk with some awesome pangolin
09:17selfies.
09:18So that's the entrance there. You can see that it's still quite flooded now.
09:26But the water is flowing out. So hopefully in the next few days, the water will be all
09:32dry out. And then animals will start using it again.
09:35So Maz, why is it that you do this type of work?
09:39As a scientist, I have a lot of questions and being in the forest doing field work, it's
09:45kind of like giving me answers to all my questions.
09:47Yeah, I understand that.
09:50Ooh, that burrow is right in the centre of the shop.
09:52Yes, great job.
09:53So Gerry, why is it important to actually know who the pangolins might be bunking in with?
09:59Knowing what animals are sleeping with pangolin, we can actually know how a pathogen can transmit
10:05from one another.
10:07Research shows pangolins share sleeping sites with bats and rats, both of which can carry
10:14a raft of diseases deadly to humans.
10:17So in the burrow is when they're in really close proximity. So animals that otherwise might
10:22be dispersed in the environment are coming into potentially physical contact inside these
10:27burrows. So that's a disease transmission potential event.
10:31And consuming wildlife always comes with a risk. And who knows, like if we keep doing
10:37this, we might actually face another pandemic.
10:42So this burrow sort of reminds me of a university share house, right? Because who you end up bunking
10:48in with is who you end up sharing diseases with.
10:53It's wild to think that the occupants of these little burrows in Borneo could have a significant
11:00impact on the human race.
11:02How do you remember where you put the camera traps?
11:05Oh, GPS.
11:06Ah, that's good.
11:07Yeah.
11:08Because like, they're camouflaged and we're in a forest.
11:11Yeah.
11:12Over the next week, the water level drops and the burrow becomes an active home again
11:20for monitor lizards, moon rats, mongooses and yellow-throated martins. But no pangolin.
11:33Time to head back to my own burrow.
11:38This is home for the next week or so. It's pretty basic. It's got a generator. So that's
11:45good. And I just hope these doors are strong enough to keep all the wildlife out.
11:52As I settle down for the night, winged hunters emerge from the shadows. And when the roar of
11:59the generator is finally switched off, all that remains is the jungle's nightly chorus. And
12:06my dreams of finding a scaly mammal.
12:25My first night in the jungle actually wasn't too bad. And I'm up early to check out what
12:32other critters I can spot.
12:39One of the things about being in the jungle is you have to watch your pockets. Well, not
12:45really. There are mafiosos here. That's what everyone calls these guys. Long-tailed macaques.
12:52And I sort of think that in some ways they're the antithesis of the pangolins for me. Because
12:57I haven't seen a pangolin yet. But I've seen plenty of these. In fact, you almost trip over
13:03them when you're walking here at the field centre. And no matter where you are in the forest,
13:07there's likely to be one just looking at you with their cute little eyebrows. And I think
13:14they're sort of adorable. But around here people say they're a nuisance because they like to
13:19do things like steal your washing off the line and look at your camera traps or whatever you're
13:25trying to do. They like to fiddle with things. So, yeah. It's a meet the locals sort of day.
13:35Another local hero is PhD student Amanda Wilson, a nocturnal specialist who is taking us up
13:44river tonight to survey pangolin activity deeper in the jungle.
13:50Is it actually safe to go into the jungle at night?
13:54Yeah, well, there's a lot of dangers out there. Yeah.
13:57You should look out for snakes. Uh-huh. Wasps.
14:00Python. Cobra.
14:02We have some creepy crawlies around, like sentibees.
14:05Elephants actually. Crocodiles.
14:07Sometimes we see elephants. Yeah, basically be careful with everything.
14:11So don't touch, don't touch anything. Yeah, don't touch anything.
14:15Okay. Good.
14:17Well, good. This will be fun.
14:20Despite the possible danger, it's clear that to increase my chances of seeing a pangolin
14:25in the wild, I have to search for them day and night.
14:30I'm feeling great about heading into the jungle at night.
14:33Because this is the thing with secretive species.
14:36They're often out and about doing things in the middle of the night
14:41when there's less predators like us.
14:43So the time to see things is when it's dark.
14:48Oh, like that tree root.
14:51Number one killer in the jungle.
14:54Yes.
14:56Some nocturnal animals have a reflective layer behind their retina
15:00called Tapitum lucidum, which basically gives them night vision.
15:05I just got 5,000 spiderwebs in my face.
15:09Humans don't have it, sadly.
15:11Usually when we walk at night, we try to look for reflective eye shines.
15:16So it makes it easier for us to spot them.
15:19Even creatures as small as frogs, they have reflective eye shines.
15:23So that means that if someone's watching us, we will hopefully be able to see them.
15:28See something?
15:30I did see some eye shine, but it went on and off.
15:34It looked twice.
15:36Green.
15:37Oh.
15:38Might have been...
15:40Actually, might have been eye shine on my glasses from behind, was it?
15:43Oh.
15:44That's my sauce.
15:46My eyes may have been deceived, but there are other signs we can look out for.
15:51What do you reckon?
15:52Could that be pangolin food?
15:54Yeah.
15:55It just makes this place look even better for pangolin.
15:58They feast on around 200,000 ants or termites every day, using their sticky tongues, which
16:05can extend a whopping 25 centimetres.
16:08Do they munch them up before they go into their tummy?
16:11Nope.
16:12So pangolin don't actually have any teeth?
16:14They don't have teeth?
16:15Yeah.
16:16They're a mammal that doesn't have teeth?
16:17Yeah.
16:18It's also one of the unique creatures as a mammal that don't have teeth.
16:22Instead of teeth, they have spines in their stomach, and sometimes swallow small stones
16:29and sand to help grind their food.
16:31Well, look, as much as I'm enjoying seeing these ants, it's also making me incredibly itchy
16:36looking at them for some reason.
16:38I'm already scratching.
16:39Yeah.
16:40Yeah.
16:41Let's go.
16:42Let's go.
16:43Let's go.
16:44Sorry, ants.
16:45Out the way.
16:46Out the way, ants.
16:47I love being places with experts who can tell you about everything that you're seeing
16:50and hearing.
16:51Of course, no pangolin.
17:01Because pangolins are at risk of extinction, I'm curious to know more about the
17:06and how they live in Borneo's modern landscape of mixed agriculture and jungle.
17:11By tracking over 20 individuals using VHF radio signals, research assistant Ray Zygus
17:18and Rodney and the team are mapping out their habitat use, uncovering important information
17:23about where they roam, sleep, eat and breed.
17:27So are these two males?
17:28Yeah.
17:29Pangolin, they're territorial.
17:30So when they encounter each other, they will actually fight.
17:34Even though they are territorial, they can tolerate each other to a certain extent.
17:44Right.
17:45Yeah.
17:46Okay.
17:47So they have overlapping territories if they're males.
17:50Yes.
17:51But what about females?
17:52So the first wild pangolin that we take, is there any...
17:57So this is the first one?
17:58Yeah.
17:59It's a female.
18:00Ooh.
18:01They've discovered that while pangolins are happy to use a variety of habitats, females
18:08still prefer to raise their young in the rainforest.
18:14So for nesting, they mainly prefer the Balthazen, the Forester Terrier.
18:29She have a home range that's like totally inside both of the male home range.
18:34Hers is much, much smaller.
18:37Yeah.
18:38So what's going on?
18:39They just don't move as much as the male.
18:41That's what we think.
18:43We have to encounter, you know, male and female, like, sharing one serving site.
18:47Does that indicate you think they've got a sort of social life?
18:50More like a...
18:52You can call it social, but I think it's more like a friend with benefits.
18:56I've spent the week with my gumboots full of mud and my trousers full of twigs.
19:05I've done stakeouts, set camera traps, and been devoured by insects.
19:10And it's today's trip that is my very last chance to see a pangolin in the wild.
19:15We're currently in one of the tributaries of Kinabatangan.
19:16We're heading towards a pangolin called Lanny.
19:17It's a sub-adult male pangolin.
19:18Right, so that means, like, he's not sexually mature yet.
19:20Yeah.
19:21Yeah.
19:22Still got a little bit to go.
19:23Yeah.
19:24We'll be pursuing two tagged pangolins.
19:25A teenager, Lenny, and a large adult male called Kim.
19:28And according to Jerry's data, they should hopefully be somewhere in the wild.
19:29We're currently in one of the tributaries of Kinabatangan.
19:31We're heading towards a pangolin called Lanny.
19:34It's a sub-adult male pangolin.
19:38Right, so that means, like, he's not sexually mature yet.
19:41Yeah.
19:42Yeah.
19:43Still got a little bit to go.
19:44Yeah.
19:45We'll be pursuing two tagged pangolins.
19:48A teenager, Lenny, and a large adult male called Kim.
19:53And according to Jerry's data, they should hopefully be somewhere in the wild.
19:57This patch of forest.
19:59Going to the mud.
20:00Whoa.
20:01Mud.
20:02Mud.
20:03Mud.
20:04Yeah.
20:05I'm a person who prefers wearing hand-knitted woolen jumpers.
20:10That gives you an idea of how far out of my comfort zone I am.
20:15But, with every step, we're getting closer to a pangolin.
20:20So, this is the front of the entailer.
20:25Uh-huh.
20:26So, you just look for a direction where it beeped the loudest, and then we head towards
20:31there.
20:32Yeah.
20:33Yeah.
20:34Yeah.
20:35It's like, somewhere in that direction.
20:38Yeah.
20:39We're unable to go in a straight line.
20:41So, we're sort of, like, wibble wobbling all the way around the pangolin, trying to find
20:45a way that we can get close.
20:48As exhausting as this is, it's actually a good thing.
20:53You want a pangolin, an animal whose greatest threat is humans, to be very well hidden.
20:58And so, even though we have a little tag on this one, it's extremely difficult to find,
21:03and that is a good thing.
21:16This place is spiky.
21:18It's getting spiky through your pants spiky.
21:20That's how spiky it is.
21:22After two hours, feeling like we're staggering around in circles, Jerry's VHF tracker gives
21:33us some good news.
21:34What do you think?
21:36I think the pangolin's just there.
21:39We're down at zero.
21:41That's really good.
21:43The lower the number on the device, the closer we are to Lenny, the pangolin.
21:48So, where do you think it is?
21:49I think it's here.
21:50This big one?
21:51Yeah.
21:52Oh, my God, it's so dense.
21:56How high up will it go to sleep?
22:00It will go up until the highest point.
22:02Oh, really?
22:03Yeah.
22:04So, we've got to look at all the tree.
22:05Yeah, every part, especially the denser part of the tree.
22:11Jerry has previously filmed the Sunda pangolins using their claws and semi-prehensile tails to
22:18climb in a surprisingly agile way.
22:21Will it stand out if I see it?
22:24Not really.
22:25It's quite small.
22:26So, it's, yeah.
22:27How big?
22:28Four kilo.
22:29Oh, tiny.
22:30Tiny.
22:31Oh, no.
22:32Four kilo.
22:33Like, medium-sized cat size.
22:34Yeah.
22:35Small.
22:36Little.
22:37Oh, God.
22:38All the light tooks in.
22:39It's okay.
22:40We still have Kim.
22:41We still have one more try.
22:42One more try?
22:43Yeah.
22:44Which way is out?
22:45That way?
22:46Yes.
22:47And off we go again, back into the thick jungle, this time tracking the second tagged
23:00pangolin.
23:01That beef really does represent my last shot at seeing one.
23:11And as we hit the five-hour mark of our trek, I get deja vu as each spiky piece of impenetrable
23:18forest starts to look the same.
23:21What sort of reading are you getting, Jerry?
23:24We're at zero.
23:33We're at zero.
23:34We're at zero.
23:35We're at zero?
23:36Yeah.
23:37I think it's just here.
23:42Can I have the torch?
23:45So, who is this that you've got tagged?
23:47So, it's Kim.
23:48Kim?
23:49A big boy.
23:50Fourteen kilogram.
23:51Big.
23:52Yeah.
23:53Big.
23:54I want to try to see whether I can see him.
24:01What's that?
24:09Oh yeah, he's here.
24:10Want to come down and have a look?
24:11I do.
24:12Nice.
24:13You ready?
24:14Yeah, I am.
24:18That way?
24:19Yeah, careful.
24:20This is where it's slippery.
24:21Is it?
24:22Yeah.
24:23So, if you look into this hole, you see it?
24:28That's the head.
24:30What?
24:31He's huge.
24:32He's huge.
24:33He's huge.
24:34Oh my goodness.
24:35You see the head?
24:36I can.
24:37Yeah.
24:38Yeah.
24:39Yeah.
24:40It's like looking at a fossil, because he sort of looks like shale.
24:43All the scales on top of each other, it's like a rock formation.
24:49That's what he looks like.
24:51I can see him breathing.
24:52I can see his scales moving when he breathes.
24:53Do you get attached to them?
24:54Because he's clearly a cool dude.
24:55I try not to get too attached to them.
24:56Even though we give them a name, like they're not ours.
24:57You know, they belong to the wild.
24:58Okay, you know how you said that they were closely related to cats?
24:59Yeah.
25:00It is like watching a catnap because he's like, completely zonked and I can just see his
25:21breathing.
25:23breathing, it's like the most peaceful mammal, reptile, toothless, dragon thing ever.
25:37You can understand why they get poached so easily, right?
25:40Yeah, he's not offering any resistance, is he?
25:42Yeah.
25:43Even they roll up, you can still grab them.
25:45Oh, well, I could watch this forever.
25:49He's a good boy.
25:56Yeah.
26:01Sometimes when you're interested in nature and therefore in conservation, the world can
26:07feel really heavy.
26:11I feel like the science that I've seen is on a cliff edge.
26:16This could be the very first and the very last of the science that we get to conduct
26:23on this Sunda Pangolin before it goes extinct.
26:28But my week here at Danagirang Field Centre has filled me with a lot of energy because
26:42I'm always going to be able to conjure up the image of a softly breathing sleeping pangolin
26:51safe in its burrow whenever I need to remember the magic that nature holds.
26:59I truly believe these students are going to be the ones that lift these species out of the
27:07crisis, if they can.
27:09It gives me a positive feeling, a regenerative sort of feeling, like I can go home and do
27:19something myself.
27:26I truly believe these people are going to be the ones that I need to do.
27:37I actually have an opportunity to change to believe, who has improved my heart, so that
27:43I need them to share up the work of a splendid heart.
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