It was the month of August'2008. The safari season had come to a close. As some of you must be knowing that Tiger Reserves in Central India are not open for saafris during monsoon season starting from July till September. So, I was at the lodge, relaxing and almost nobody was there.
That afternoon at around 2:30pm, I received a call from my family friend saying that there is a "Strange Looking Animal" inside one of his neighbour's house.
Thinking of what it could be , I RUSHED.
I saw the owner was in inebriated condition, poking something with a stick. He was shouting,"You are the one who has broken my house".
As I looked around I could see the damage that has been done to the house. It was in a very bad shape, which justified the anger of the house owner but not hurting the animal.
His mother called me inside and showed me what all were saying as "Strange Looking Animal." I could not believe my eyes and shouted, "Hey!! Stop hurting , Its a Pangolin."
There was no way I could have left this poor animal in that house who unknowingly and without intentions entered the house
I asked for the sack, carefully kept it inside it and carried it back to my lodge. On reaching back, me and my friends set the pangolin free into the field surrounded by bamboos. We all kept looking at it quielyt and intently. Then the magic happened, it opened and unfurled itself showing its charismatic beauty.
I kept admiring this "Strange Looking Animal" as they called it, until it vanished into the wild.
That was my first and only sighting of pangolin in the wild.."Strange Looking Animal".
Blog by: Naresh Singh
Source: By: Naresh Singh
Date: 22 Aug, 2020
