Long thought to be extinct in Kenya, giant pangolins are now being helped back from the brink

In 2018, sightings of these solitary, nocturnal animals were recorded in Kenya for the first time in half a century. Now conservationists are working with farmers to create space for them on the land

When Fred Telekwa settled on his farm inside Nyakweri forest, in western Kenya, four years ago, his main worry was how to prevent elephants and buffaloes from destroying his crops. The nearby Maasai Mara game reserve housed a huge amount of roaming wildlife.

Two or three elephants can clear an acre of cabbages in one night. I had no choice but to put up an electric fence to ward off the animals," he says.