Netflix Documentary Focuses on the Photographer Who Saved a Baby Pangolin

Premiering April 21, the new Netflix documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey shares the heartwarming story of wildlife photographer Gareth Thomas and his rehabbing an endangered pangolin, Kulu.

Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is a documentary project over five years in the making. The film promises to be a hit, with a strong team behind it, including Pippa Ehrlich, an award-winning filmmaker and environmental activist. Ehrlich is best known for co-directing and writing the documentary My Octopus Teacher. That film documents the year filmmaker Craig Foster spent forging a relationship with a wild octopus in South Africa. It won many accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Like My Octopus Teacher, the Netflix documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey highlights the relationship between an individual and an animal that has changed their life. As titled, the doc tells the story of African Pangolin Working Group (APWG) team member and wildlife photographer Gareth Thomas and his emotional Journey rehabilitating a young Temminck’s Pangolin named Kulu.

The African Pangolin Working Group was established in June 2011. It is a non-profit that helps protect Africa’s four pangolin species: Temminck’s, Giant, Black-bellied, and White-bellied, all listed on CITES Appendix I. As CITES laws decree, “Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. They are threatened with extinction, and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species.”

The story of Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is so important to tell as Kulu was rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Highlighting the importance of laws regarding endangered species, the documentary also shows how difficult and crucial it is to rehabilitate and release endangered wildlife.

“It’s an ancient creature that runs the risk of extinction. And we’re trying to save a species. If a pangolin is too small, it won’t survive. The stakes are very high. There’s definitely a fear of failure. I’ve never had to nurture something so vulnerable in my life before,” Gareth Thomas says.

Pangolins are a unique mammal, with bodies covered in keratin scales. As a Temminck’s Pangolin, Kulu is nocturnal, entirely terrestrial, and bipedal, walking only on its hind legs. Most difficult for rehabbers, these animals are entirely myrmecophagous. This means that they only eat ants and termites. The APWG reports that an individual pangolin feeds on millions to billions of ants, termites, and their larvae each year. One of the challenging aspects of rehabbing shy Kulu was helping him eat enough.

“There’s only so much pressure I can put on him to eat. It’s taken Kulu a long time to feel secure in the environment,” Thomas adds.

However, in helping Kulu thrive, Thomas wasn’t only helping the pangolin but also himself.

“Before pangolin rehabilitation, I was sort of in that stage of my life where I wanted something more meaningful. It’s far easier to be vulnerable around a pangolin. Just the sense of freedom that I can give him out here, he changed the way I saw the world. I really just wanted to do the best job possible. But there’s got to be a point where you let go.”

Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey premieres on Netflix on April 21.

Image credits: Netflix, Gareth Thomas