A Kwekwe farmer who discovered a pangolin on his property decided to take an unusual step: he drove 215 kilometres to Harare to hand it over personally to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
John Mapurazi took a huge risk by transporting the endangered animal in his car and passing through several police checkpoints.
Under the Parks and Wildlife Act, pangolins are classified as specially protected species, and simply possessing one carries a mandatory minimum sentence of nine years. Had he been stopped, he could have been arrested.
State House officials, however, showed understanding and allowed him to meet the president.
President Mnangagwa later handed the pangolin to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZIMPARKS).
In Shona culture, the pangolin, known as “haka”, is considered a royal and spiritual creature, and its appearance is often interpreted as a sign of good fortune.
Traditionally, anyone who found a pangolin was forbidden from killing or keeping it. Instead, it had to be presented to a king or chief as a gesture of respect for ancestral spirits and the land.
Zimbabwe’s strict wildlife laws impose a mandatory nine-year sentence for capturing, harming, selling, or possessing a pangolin—a measure conservationists say is essential for protecting the species, even though public awareness remains limited.
ZIMPARKS officials stress that the best way to protect pangolins is simple: admire them from a distance and leave them exactly where you find them.
More: ZimLive
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