Empty cage, best cage: Crow reflects on 2020

AS we embark on the New Year, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) director, Clint Halkett-Siddall, reflected on the year that was, highlighting some of the centre’s milestones and dedication to wildlife rehabilitation.

“Crow has managed to carry on business as usual throughout the lockdown 7 days a week from 7am to 8pm, for which I give full credit to our highly dedicated and passionate team of staff and volunteers who give their all to Crow each and every day.

“Special thanks go to our clinic nurses who, during baby season wake up at night on the hour every hour to feed the orphaned babies in their care. Our baby birds take around 50 minutes to feed, with a 10-minute break only to start the whole process over again for 12 hours of the day. I would like to thank the team who have become extended family over the last two years. We have had our ups and downs, highs and lows but at the end of the day we pull through and pull together for the sake of the animals in our care. The only way to do great work is to love what you do, and this stands true for our team here at Crow.

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“In 2020 we said good bye to a few staff members who moved onto the next chapter in their lives and welcomed Zoe Dougal, Harriot Brill and Alex Kogl into our family. We are all saddened with the loss of our previous volunteer coordinator and fundraising manager this year.”

Over the past 12 months Crow admitted 3 386 injured, orphaned and displaced wildlife of which 1 076 animals were rescued during our 881 rescues this year across the province.

“As per our motto, the best cage is an empty cage and all the animals which have recovered and been rehabilitated will soon be released back into the wild where they belong. This is the most rewarding part of what we do and so far, in 2020 we have released 1108 animals back into the wild.

“Over the course of the year there are many rescues that stand out and each clinic member will have their own special memories. Two that stand out for me are reptile related. “In early June we received a call from one of the owner’s of one of our release sites in Albert Falls. He had received a very skinny and emaciated Southern African Python that needed our help. We drove through and collected the python and on arrival at the Centre we were shocked that she was still alive. She measured just under four meters but only weighed 12.45 kg, a snake this size should weigh around 25 to 30 kg.

“We suspect she laid a late clutch of eggs and as pythons incubate their eggs for 60 days, by the time she had hatched her young, food was scarce, and she became too weak to hunt. She had two layers of unshed skin and scale rot under her belly. We gave her a couple of days to settle in and then tube fed her Hills AD as well as a parasite flush and electrolytes. We continued with the Hills AD for four more feeds as she was refusing whole prey. We managed to get the two old layers of shedding off and treated the scale rot which is now fully healed. On the 29th of June she finally took her first frozen thawed jumbo rat. Since then she has been feeding well on a variety of frozen thawed rodents but still has a little time to go before she is up to weight and ready to be released back into the area where she was found.

The other ended on a more sombre note. On Tuesday, 1 December I received a call for a Black Mamba rescue from a member of the public who had spotted the snake in her garden. Usually we refer black mamba call outs to one of the snake catches in the area. As I had not caught one in over 10 years, as a reptile handler the general rule is not to handle a highly venomous snake if you are not 100 per cent confident. A big thank you to Shawn Hefer for his assistance in the catch and to James Wittstock from Croc World for coming through to neck the snake so that we could safely euthanise.

“For those of you who follow our Facebook page you will be aware of the shooting of the Crowned Eagle in Queensburgh this year. After a reward of R5000 was started by Ian Du Randt from Compass Medical Waste Services, many more donated toward the fund and we managed to raise R35 500 of which R24 000 was offered as a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit and the balance would be used for investigation and legal fees. Very good information came in and we do have a suspect whom I would say with almost pure certainty committed the crime. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZN Wildlife) have been investigating the case. The reward is still there for anyone who can provide physical evidence or an eyewitness account which will lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

“We also witnessed a very heart-warming story this year when a young boy Selo, rescued an orphaned grey duiker whose mother was killed by hunting dogs. The elders of his community advised him that he should put it back in the bush where he found it but he refused and marched on home with it where he spoke with his neighbour who got in touch with us. We collected the young duiker later named Layla and placed her in the care of our clinic nurse, Zoe Dougal who will be working with her through the rehabilitation program until she is ready for release.

“It has been a tough year in our current economic climate, with expendable income far less during a recession and corporates being understandably more likely to support people than wildlife. Covid-19 has had a massive impact on Crow as we said goodbye to our last international volunteer a week before lockdown and the programme which covers about 50 per cent of our overheads was closed. This year we have been knocking on doors and for everyone who has opened and welcomed us in, we thank you. In 2020, the wildlife centre retained its NSPCA accreditation, grown its 40-year relationship with EKZN Wildlife, built new relationships and partnerships and cemented existing ones.

“We remain South Africa’s longest serving wildlife rehabilitation centre and are a proud member of the IWRC. We also received our Marine species Only Crow and Sea World are able to deal with these species in KZN. Without our dedicated volunteers, we would not be able to carry out the work we do. Some of the jobs are less than glamorous but our volunteers always get the job done.

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All of us at Crow would like thank businesses, sponsors and the greater public for its support. “Your support is keeping our doors open and giving lifesaving treatment to the wildlife of KZN, so that future generations will be able to enjoy the privilege of seeing wildlife in the wild and of course keeping the environmental circle of life going.”

Support Crow by purchasing one of their beautiful 2021 wildlife calendars by emailing info@crowkzn.co.za  

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