GALLERY and VIDEO: Wolf attack in Delta Park

Shirley Tebbutt was lucky to escape with her life, after a wolf attacked her in Delta Park on 31 March. Tebbutt, Delta Park volunteer and publisher of its online newsletter, the Delta Park Dam Clean Up, was innocently removing Water Hyacinth from of the park’s top dam when the attack happened. Luckily, SPCA Randburg Inspector Debbie Kegel was on hand, and caught the wolf before anyone was hurt.

“It is a grey wolf,” Kegel said. “We had tracked it from its den in Excel Park [in Weltevreden Park], where its family lives.” According to Kegel, grey wolves travel in small families, consisting of a mating pair and their offspring. They prey on mammals of all sizes, and are extremely rare in Africa. Tebbutt said that she was traumatised by the incident. “My what big teeth it had,” she recalled, with shaking hands.

“Imagine if the SPCA was not there. It really makes you appreciate life.” Ruimsig resident Josh Presley claimed to have seen the wolf in the park the day before, but was too scared to approach it. His photo of the wolf caused a guessing game on social media about what creature it was.

Kegel added that the wolf is being “rehabilitated” at SPCA Randburg, in North Riding, and will afterwards be returned to its family in Excel Park, which comprises the wolf’s female mate and four adult offspring. During the attack, Caxton Journalist Ashtyn Mackenzie was on scene to film the incident and take photos.

Details: Happy April Fool’s.