Friendly duiker caught and moved without a fuss
NORTH RIDING – Duiker is darted, treated
It bleated like a troubled lamb a few times but it was otherwise compliant and hopped into its cage for another adventure.
The little duiker was already used to people trying to herd it, as well as the frequent barking of dogs in the nearby enclosures.
The roughly one-year-old male duiker was very tame, and probably grew up around people, explained Dr Armand Leonard of Northriding Veterinary Clinic.
The duiker had been found walking along Felstead Drive, not far from busy Northumberland Avenue in North Riding, and a resident opened his gate to let the buck inside on November 17.
Randburg SPCA was called and with their assistance, Leonard darted the animal and transported it to the SPCA, where he also checked on its health.
Kennel manager Cynthia Bezuidenhout said this was the first time she was aware of that the SPCA had cared for a duiker.
“Thankfully, last week I had got a lot of straw and different grass for our farm animals, so we were ready to take the little guy,” she told Randburg Sun the next day.
SPCA staff were preparing to move the duiker to Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital in Glenferness and there was talk about using a pool net to catch the duiker, sedating it, grabbing it by the horns or putting cotton wool in its ears.
It’s sharp horns and hooves could cause damage, Leonard explained. But none of this was needed as it calmly entered the cage to be transported without hurting itself or any of the people.
Plans would be made to release the duiker somewhere appropriate.
A permit is needed to keep a duiker, and so after Leonard and the SPCA appealed publicly for the owner to come forward and no one did, they assumed it was kept illegally by someone in the area.
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