Animal Enrichment Workshop, Western Cape

Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre at Plettenberg Bay hosted the Western Cape Shape of Enrichment Workshop.  27 enthusiastic delegates from all over the Western Cape arrived on 8th September 2008 to be inspired by Valerie Hare.

With delegates as diverse as keepers in the traditional sense of the word, to Cape Nature officials, Plett Seabird Rescue staff and the SPCA,  the course was set to be somewhat unusual.

Our African Rain Bird!  When he calls, we know rain is on the way. Poor fellow fell out of his nest and some dogs thought they would play with him. He is in fair condition now but his leg is badly injured and he is unable to regain full use of it.  At the moment, we have him in an aviary, learning how to get along with his disability.  He is doing well however, we have made the decision to transfer the Coucal to Birds of Eden to live out his life safely in their vast aviary.  The reason for this was two-old - firstly because of his malformed leg, and secondly because he is too accepting of humans, and this may lead to him being caught by dogs again once released.

Ref : 10/125  Admission Date : 13/07/2010

Lady Loerie came from Knysna.  Her legs were completely lame.  We have previously treated Knysna Loeries for a lack of calcium, but this little Loerie has not responded to the treatment.  She has feeling in the legs, but cannot hold her weight on them.  Sadly the window for recover has past, and Lady Loerie cannot have a reasonable quality of life being strung up in a sling, and therefore we have to do the kindest thing for her.

Ref : 10/142.  Admission Date : 20/08/2010

This Grey Heron was found in a bog at Brenton on Lake.  A concerned citizen called us to report the injured heron.  Sanparks who are responsible for the area were called to assist, but the Heron was inaccessible in the centre of the bog.  He disappeared for a few days, and when he was spotted again, we went out to rescue him. This proved more difficult than we imagined!  Even equipped with waders, the bog was very deep, and we quickly became entangled in the reeds.  Eventually using "froggie style" to displace our weight across the reeds we were able to get to the heron and recover him. His wing was beyond repair although not broken.  The injury looked like one caused by a powerline. The Heron was brought to the centre, rehydrated and we attempted to stabilise him before attending to his severe injuries.  The wing was amputated to prevent further decay and infection to the bone setting in.   Unfortunately, 2 days late, the Heron died.  His post mortem revealed that bone infection had already set in beyond where it was reasonable to amputate the wing. The bird was not strong enough to withstand a more severe amputation, but we were working against time with this case, because of the severity of the injury, we couldn't wait for him to become stronger.  Unfortunately, we were working against the odds with this bird, and it was not to be.

On 4th July we received a young female Vervet Monkey from Cape Nature.  She had been knocked over on the road, and sadly, her baby who was with her at the time, was dead on arrival. She is currently being treated in our hospital for concussion.  She is trying to eat some soft fruit.

Update 5th Aug: Although her sight and hearing had recovered, the vervet suffered from vertigo and became extremely anxious around other monkeys.  Since she had no chance of making a full recovery for release, and because her quality of life in captivity would have been compromised by the anxiety and vulnerability she felt, a decision was taken to euthanase her out of kindness. These decisions are not taken lightly, but are in the best interests of the animal.

An unusual visitor to our shores, this White Chinned Petrel was completely exhausted when it reached land.  Rescued off Robberg Peninsular from the relentless waves, the petrel is now starting to put on weight and recover from his ordeal.  He is gaining approx 40g weight per day, but is still underweight.

Update 4th August : The White Chinned Petrel was transferred to SAMREC for further evaluation since it did not respond adequately to our treatment. It subsequently died and a post-mortem revealed that it had 11 pieces of plastic bag in its stomach.

Using our oceans as a garbage dump causes the death and suffering of millions of sea animals and birds each year.

4th August : We have 4 penguins in rehabilitation at the moment.  Two came in as victims of an oilspill, and we have two other baby blues who beached at Plettenberg Bay and Sedgefield.  All the penguins have responded well to our care, and once stable will be transferred for further rehabilitation and release back to our oceans where they belong. In the picture, Senior Animal Keeper Tracey and Eve Joubert wash the oil off one of the penguins received.

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Snorkey, the little bushpig, was rescued from Jansenville with a broken leg. He was taken to a vet and splinted and then brought  to Tenikwa to be rehabilitated. He has improved well and is walking and running now, putting full weight on his leg.

Unfortunately, Snorkey was already habituated before coming to Tenikwa, and so it is impossible to release him safely into the wild.  He needs to go to a game reserve where he can be protected against illicit hunting and poaching.  Amakhala Game Reserve has accepted Snorkey for release, and we are in the process of arranging the paperwork at the moment, and soon Snorkey will again be out in the veld, doing what bushpigs do best.

And so on 30th July 2010, we loaded Snorkey into our vehicle, and he started on the final leg of his journey back to the wild.  At Amakhala, Dr William Fowlds was waiting for us, and we drove to the boma where he took this great leap out the vehicle .  Now begins his final preparation.  At Amakhala, he is going to have to get used to natural food and he will obviously have to learn to fend for himself once he is released.  We felt a little sad leaving him behind, but consoled by the fact that, for Snorky, he's been given a second chance at living a normal bushpigs life in the wild where he belongs.

Knysna Loeries

We have two Knysna Loeries in rehabilitation at the moment.  The one was found at a guest house and was completely paralysed.  She has made remarkable recovery and is now ready for release.  The other loerie came in about 4 weeks ago. It flew into an office and lost its tail feathers whilst being caught.  The tail feathers have now grown out sufficiently for it to fly, and so the two loeries will be released together where the second one came from, later in the week.

Update 4th August : The two Loeries have been released at Ingwe where they have both been sighted subsequently.