The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) saw the last days of a porcupine named Tamatie (Tomato) after trying to save her life unfortunately she did not make it.
Her passing was on Friday, August 23.
The HESC reported that early one morning earlier this year, a small female porcupine and her mate were found where they had fallen into a cattle grid on the HESC grounds.
They managed to save both the little creatures by carefully pulling them out with a rope and releasing them, hoping they would realise that they were far too small to cross a cattle grid.
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But the next morning, the little female was found underneath the cattle grid again. Possibly injured or just plain frightened to death, she clearly could not be released in the state she was. At the insistence of Lente Roode, the Managing Director and Founder of HESC, they took her in with the objective of looking after her until she was well enough to be released.
She was sprayed with Frontline as she was covered in ticks and fleas and then made comfortable in a small pen lined with teff grass in Bokkie Bok’s enclosure close to the entrance of HESC.
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Porcupines are herbivores that eat mainly leaves, herbs, little sticks, tree roots and even tree trunks. HESC’s little porcupine ate all of that, but particularly liked tomatoes, hence her name Tamatie (Afrikaans for tomato). “To see her gobble down this delicacy amused us all no end,” said the HESC team.
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Although Tamatie was not tame, she seemed to be content and slowly but surely regained her strength, which is why they were totally taken aback when five weeks after joining them she was found dead in her enclosure. That very same morning she was still scuttling around her enclosure. The HESC mentioned that they have no idea why she died. They remember her fondly and just wish she could have been another of their success stories.
“Nature gives and nature takes and at HESC we accept this, despite always trying our utmost to rescue and rehabilitate any creature that comes our way,” the HESC team concluded
