Meerkat found in Mindalore
Residents discovered a wild animal in a suburban area, can you guess what it was?
An afternoon stroll on Thursday 4 June to a nearby shop in Mindalore left a mother and daughter pleasantly surprised after meeting a new friend.
Tanya van der Westhuizen and her mother Kitty van der Merwe were on their way to the shop when a meerkat appeared out of nowhere and made its way towards them.
Without a doubt, Kitty picked up the little meerkat and tucked him warmly under her jacket.
On arrival at their house on Ruben Street, Tanya and Kitty placed the meerkat into a bird cage to keep him safe.
Tanya believed the meerkat must be someone’s pet as the meerkat seemed to be tame and trained.
After various phone calls to local pet shops, a bird farm and the local SPCA, Tanya was referred to Free Me, a wildlife rehabilitation centre that specialises in rehabilitating wild animals and placing them back into the wild.
“It was extremely strange for us to find a meerkat in our neigbourhood,” Tanya said to the News.
Deidre Joubert came to pick up the little animal at Tanya’s home later that day to take him to their animal clinic for evaluation and care.
Deidre explained to the News why it is so dangerous to keep these fluffy animals as pets – they have a natural instinct to be the alpha male as they grow older. She warns against petting meerkats, as they tend to bite children and then will move on to women, and later men, as they consider themselves the leader of the pack.
They are very social animals therefore they move in packs with their families.
“Another problem we find is that those who wish to pet these animals, tend to feed them the wrong foods, causing a calcium deficiency, which can lead to other life-threatening health problems,” Deidre said.
It would seem this Timone’s story has a happy ending as he was taken away safely by Free Me to his new home.
