TWO young servals are once again roaming free, following their recent release at Pakamisa Private Game Reserve by Yellowwood Park-based wildlife rehab centre, Crow.
Sabrina, a young female serval, ended up at Crow after she was confiscated by police in the Tongaat area where she was being kept illegally. A few weeks later, Salem, a young male serval was rescued from a storm water drain that he and his mother had fallen down and consequently got trapped in. Sadly for Salem, his mother died due to her injuries shortly after their rescue.
The Crow team, who have successfully rehabilitated and released several of these majestic cats that are currently listed as a threatened or protected species, were overjoyed that the pair were finally free following several months of being cared for at the centre and in a pre-release boma at Pakamisa.
It is imperative during the rehabilitation process that the animals do not become imprinted or lose their natural fear of humans, which will jeopardise their chances of being successfully released back into the wild. For this reason, wildlife rehabilitation is considered a very specialised task and Crow is currently one of only a handful of centres that is registered to work with servals and other threatened and protected species in KwaZulu-Natal. As Crow clinic nurse, Sue-Ann Shutte explains:
“Rehabilitating wild animals is not for the faint-hearted. It takes skill, dedication and patience as well as nerves of steel, especially when dealing with wild cats such as servals. But as any wildlife rehabilitator will tell you, ultimately being able to give a wild animal back its freedom, definitely makes all the hard work worth it in the end.”
If you would like to support Crow and their work in wildlife rehabilitation, you can buy one of their 2015 “Born Free” wildlife calendars that are produced by Under an African Sky and available to buy from their centre, online and at selected retail outlets for R170 each excluding postage. For more information call Crow on 031-462-1127 or visit their website at www.crowkzn.co.za.
