Rosie the Reedbuck’s day out

“This was the strangest day of my life!” said Lorna van Nus who recently had a very unusual visitor in her garden.

According to Lorna, they received a message on their Neighbourhood Watch WhatsApp group asking them to be on the lookout for a buck running around in the area on the morning of 20 September. “My first thought was, ‘Ah shame, I hope he is found’ and the next moment I saw something jumping over my fence into my garden,” she said.

On closer inspection she saw that it was the buck everyone was looking for, so she reported it to the Roodepoort SPCA.

Lorna was very concerned about the buck in her garden because she has dogs and was afraid they would harm it. She said when the buck jumped over the fence, it ran straight to the pool and jumped in. “The dogs did not follow it into the pool and that gave me the opportunity to take them to the front of the property so they could not bother our visitor. As soon as the dogs were gone the buck got out of the pool and found a spot of shade and calmly lay down,” said Lorna.

Lorna said the buck spent about four hours just relaxing in her garden while they waited for the SPCA and veterinarian to plan the best way of rescuing it to be released.

“I bonded with her and decided she has to be named, so I called her Rosie,” Lorna said laughingly.

Lorna has only praise for the swift assistance from the SPCA and the veterinarian from City Parks and Zoo. “Eric Taljaard, senior inspector from the SPCA, arrived at my property within 15 minutes after hearing where Rosie was. The vet was also very efficient – it took him about 15 minutes to dart Rosie after it was decided on as the correct plan of action. Everybody was very calm and professional – it was only me who needed something stronger for the stress!” she said.

Rosie was taken to the SPCA van where she was given fluids and some injections.

Mandy Cattanach, the manager of the Roodepoort SPCA, confirmed that they had received a call about a buck being in a Helderkruin garden.

“When the inspector arrived, he found the buck calmly lying in the shade. A vet from Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo came out, darted the buck and it was transported and released into the Kloofendal Nature Reserve,” she said.

Karin Spottiswoode from the Friends of Kloofendal Nature Reserve said they were also alerted by the neighbourhood watch about the buck. “We believe it came from the nature reserve, as we have about 32 buck here,” she said. According to her, she alerted the Roodepoort SPCA as well as the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, as they manage the reserve. She also sent out a message to residents to not approach the buck and further scare or traumatise it.

“We are very grateful to the SPCA and the veterinarian for their swift assistance. The buck is back at the reserve and happily reunited with her friends,” Karin said.

For more photos, click here.