Everything you need to know about bushbaby baby season

Wildlife care workers are gearing up for a busy, yet very cute, season of bushbaby babies. They also warn members of the public that keeping a bushbaby as a pet is a serious offence.

March 4, 2021

Marinette Potgieter 1 minute read

Wildlife care workers are gearing up for a busy, yet very cute, season of bushbaby babies. They also warn members of the public that keeping a bushbaby as a pet is a serious offence.
The months of February and March are breeding season for the greater and lesser bushbabies found in the Lowveld.

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Although these adorable creatures seem like the perfect pet, wildlife authorities are warning nature lovers not to keep them or feed them, but to rather transport them to the nearest vet or rehabilitation facility.

“Keeping a bushbaby as a pet is illegal,” said April Lukhele, manager of the compliance monitoring unit at Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA). “If you are caught with one in your possession, without the necessary permit, you will be charged with the keeping of live game.”
Lukhele added that bushbabies are protected under the Conservation Act of Mpumalanga.

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Deidre Joubert of the Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Hectorspruit said they have already been overwhelmed by the number of juvenile bushbabies. “We currently have eight lesser bushbabies and one thick-tailed, or greater, bushbaby at our facility, and we get phone calls reporting more bushbabies almost every day.”
Public desire to keep bushbabies as pets is the rehabilitation centre’s greatest problem.

“People have even phoned me to ask if I don’t have a bushbaby that they can buy. It’s madness!”

The best thing to do in case a troubled bushbaby is spotted, said Joubert, is to call her or the MTPA directly, and they will arrange its transport to safety. “We beg the public not to keep them. They are family-orientated creatures and if a tame bushbaby is set free, it will be destroyed by a larger group of bushbabies. They fight to the death, and if your tame bushbaby encounters wild ones, it will not survive.”