Hoedspruit: Matimba’s grumpy roar now silent
The thought that maybe his time had come, soon began to cross everyone’s mind.
The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre had buried their famous roaring lion named Matimba on August 13 at the Centre.
Becky Lambert from the centre mentioned that Matimba’s story began 26 years ago. At the age of 21 in 2014 they were asked if they would take Matimba in together with his ‘wife’, Tamu, and provide them a good home for their retirement years.
Since they arrived, they became huge personalities at Moholoholo.
“The unconditional love between the pair was always a pleasure to witness along with their comical relationship as sweet gentle Tamu tames down old grumpy Matimba’s mood swings,” said Lambert.
Lambert explained that over the past couple of months, Matimba’s age really started to catch up with him, a miracle already that he made it to 26 years old considering their life expectancy is only 10-14 in the wild.
She said that he begun to show just how old he really was with less and less energy each day and struggling to walk, the thought that maybe his time had come, soon began to cross everyone’s mind.
However, one evening they all heard a very loud bang and rushed to find the cause, horribly it was the sound of Matimba collapsing into his feeding dish and hitting his head very hard, he just managed to regain enough strength to stand while Tamu physically supported him to walk.
“The next day the staff had a real and difficult discussion which concluded in a unanimous agreement that it was best for Matimba and his quality of life to put him to sleep. After that, the vet came out early to perform the procedure and out of respect for such a prolific character at the rehab, we decided to have a burial for Matimba with all the staff and volunteers. It was an extremely sad occasion but ultimately what was best,” she said.
Lambert concluded by saying that Tamu is coping with the loss of her mate much better than one might have anticipated. However, they are monitoring her very closely to make sure she remains happy and healthy with no signs of stress. Comments from sorrowful animal lovers were flowing at the Moholoholo Rehab Centre’s Facebook page.
“My heart is breaking. I am sending love, peace and good wishes to the staff and volunteers at Moholoholo. So sad, but thank you to all who dedicate your time, support, love and care to these animals. Without Moholoholo, he would not have lived such a long and peaceful life,” one of the sorrowful community members commented.
