Human kindness gives bushbuck a second chance
The young buck is doing rather well in his new home.
Almost a year ago, Southbroom Conservancy committee members received a phone call from local yoga guru, Christian Kruger, to say he’d spotted a forlorn baby bushbuck (no mommy in sight) near the Southbroom Golf Club parking.
ALSO READ: Huge shark caught in sardine net
The committee members rushed off to meet Christian and together they managed to catch the nimble little guy, who was barely a few days old. He was just so sweet and immediately won their hearts over.
Snuggled up in the car on the way to the vet, Christian (named after his finder) seemed calm.
Amanda Murray who is a conservancy member said that perhaps it was the dehydration he was treated for, or fear, but they hoped it was that he felt secure being with people who were caring for him.
A call was made to the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Durban, who fetched him a couple of days later.
At CROW, he was put under the care of Kylie Hawkins, who at the time was the antelope caretaker, and her assistant, Zoe Dougall.
Christian was renamed Andy, after an employee at CROW in charge of maintenance.
He was given hourly feeds and effectively hand-raised until he was weaned off milk at around six months of age.
Andy took an instant liking to another bushbuck who came in around the same time as him – a little female called Pippa.
Happily, they formed a close bond and were even released together.
Amanda said that according to his caretakers, Andy was a very gentle little buck.
In April this year, Andy was ready to leave his carers and together with Pippa, they were released in a nature conservancy near Gillitts.
He was spotted again about two weeks later when some duiker were released in the same conservancy and seemed to be doing well.
The Southbroom Conservancy hopes Andy and Pippa continue to grow strong, remain safe and free, make babies of their own and share with them their story of human kindness.
They thanked Kylie and Zoe and the rest of the team at CROW for the wonderful work they do.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
