Pangolins: The World's Most Wanted Animal

While this is often a sad look at how poorly one of the world's more fascinating wildlife species is treated by humans, it also shows some hope for pangolins in the form of a dedicated conservationist and the help she receives from others around the world. And while this episode was produced before the COVID-19 outbreak, it does touch on the problem of "wet markets", where this illegally poached and trafficked animal is often taken and sold for human consumption. It's still not completely understood if the global pandemic could have begun from people eating pangolins, bats or another species-or a combination of. But this film will make you angry and make you shake your head at the ignorance and greed of many human beings. And will give you hope that there are other humans with the dedication and courage to do the right thing for wildlife (and thus the right thing for humans as well).

I love a pangolin - which was the main reason I stuck with this rather awkwardly structured "emotional journey" narrative doc following conservationist and pangolin superfan Maria Diekmann as she travels through South Asia weeping fitfully at the various deplorable treatments of these lovely beasts. It's difficult because these animals are being hideous treated and awareness of the consequences of their trading from the wild has rather skyrocketed in recent years... but I couldn't help yearning for a full doc covering the hectic Vietnamese pangolin hospital and its staff. Through the lens of Diekmann and her relatively cosy sanctuary a continent away, it all seemed rather unbalanced somehow, rather more tragedy tourism than real awareness-spreading or fact-finding. Still, though, aren't pangolins lovely?