Keeping indigenous animals harms their well-being
KYALAMI – This is why you shouldn't keep indigenous animals as pets.
Keeping indigenous animals as pets is illegal and is harmful to their well-being.
This according to Nicci Wright, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist at Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital who advised residents to contact them if they found any wildlife in the area instead of taking it home with them.
Wright’s advice comes after a male striped polecat (ictonyx striatus) was brought into their hospital. “The polecat was brought in by a resident who couldn’t take care of it anymore as she first found it as a tiny animal on the side of the road,” she said.
“She thought that she was going to be able to raise it, however, when the polecat grew, it started biting and she knew she couldn’t take care of it anymore and contacted us.”
Wright added that because the polecat was fed an incorrect diet, they x-rayed the animal to check if it didn’t have any metabolic bone disease and was given the all-clear. “We have built an enclosure for him here at the hospital and are feeding him natural foods.”
She said keeping indigenous animals as pets often made them psychotic and they resorted to self-mutilation and stereotypical behaviour such as pacing up and down.
Striped polecats are normally found south of the Sahara. Solitary and strictly nocturnal, they have well-developed scent glands which emit an eye-watering pungent smell to ward off any threats.
When last did you rescue an animal? Share your views on the Fourways Review Facebook page.
Also check out:
https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/283744/enviro-monday-humans-0-01-life-earth-destroyed-83-wild-mammals/
https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/270921/enviro-monday-ingenious-animal-bridges-worldwide-help-preserve-vulnerable-wildlife/
