Baby boom has Crow on its toes

For the next three months, Crow expects an influx of rescues as a result of baby season. Already, in the past two weeks Crow has taken in more than 10 animals.
About two weeks ago, three baby scrub hares were admitted to Crow. Two were rescued by fire controllers at a planned sugar cane fire in Tongaat while the third one was rescued from a person trying to sell it on the side of the road. After spending the first six weeks of their lives with their mothers, scrub hares become solitary. This often makes it challenging for them to be rehabilitated. Fortunately, the trio at Crow is recovering well and will be released soon.

Monty, a five week-old baboon from the Queenstown area in Eastern Cape, was orphaned when his mother was shot by a sheep farmer. Crow thanks Lynn Shelley of Debracy Primate Rehab for Vervet Monkeys for arranging Monty’s transfer.

A grey heron was rescued by a member of the public from a group of boys in Northdene. The boys were hitting the bird with sticks on the side of road. It sustained minor injuries of which could have been critical if their activity was not stopped. He will be released as soon as a full recovery is made and he is able to feed by himself.

Three baby spotted eagle owls have been taken in by the centre. Two of the owls were rescued from Richards Bay. The six-week-old siblings will be released back into the wild after a few weeks.

Crow’s latest admission is an African black oystercatcher. The bird, which was caught on a fisherman’s line, will be sent for X-rays as an initial assessment did not reveal any injuries. African black oystercatchers are listed as near threatened species on the IUCN Red List. The African black oystercatcher, which has a population of less than 5,000, is indigenous to the rocky coasts and islands of southern Africa.

Contact Crow on 031-462-1127 and on 083-212-5281 after hours. You can also visit www.crowkzn.co.za for more information.