weekly newspaper. It has been a big year for the pangolin: the glaring stage light of Covid-19 has fallen on this shy, scaly mammal as the possible source of the virus that has brought the world to its knees. In February last year, Daily Maverick broke the story linking pangolins as the likeliest vector of Covid-19 via bats to humans. The exact source has not been confirmed yet, but the attention, though it comes from panic and fear, might be the best thing that ever happened to what has been called “the most trafficked mammal you’ve never heard of”.