A BEAUTIFUL wildebeest calf, barely over a day old, was admitted to the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) on Tuesday, 12 January after being found alone and starving in the nearby bushes of a nature conservancy in Empangeni.
“He was so young and still had his umbilical cord. We’re not even sure he had even had his first post-natal milk yet. Sadly, he wasn’t in the best shape as he was very lethargic and showing alarmingly low blood sugar levels and blood pressure. He also seemed to be passing blood and tissue (a sign of haemorrhaging caused by stress).
“After a critical first 24 hours, plenty of IV fluid, milk and warm blankets, he showed small signs of improvement and we were cautiously optimistic. And we have reason to be. Little gnus are tough creatures: in the wild they are expected to stand and start running within seven minutes of being born.
“Currently our little wildebeest patient is doing much better. He is walking around, drinking lots of milk and had much more energy on Thursday, 14 January. He even made friends with our maintenance staff member and started following him around. We’re incredibly relieved that he is improving so quickly and are hopeful that this is a very promising sign for a full recovery. Thanks to the community for your outpouring of love and support everyone at Crow really appreciate it.
“We’d like to give special thanks to Luke Chambers of Kloof and Highway SPCA and Cristina Flamini for their help and support late into the night. This little wildebeest pulled through because of your help,”said Crow communications officer, Alex Kogl. The staff are working tirelessly to keep this little boy alive and keep him under the watchful eye of the clinic staff.
The young wildebeest will drink roughly up to 687 litres of milk, 343 litres of cream and dozens of eggs while he is at the centre. To support his care, consider leaving a donation with the reference “wildebeest” to the following banking details: CROW, First National Bank, Acc: 50770230859, Branch Code: 222126
WATCH: Happy ending for newly born wildebeest
