Young ‘wildlife warrior’ reunites with saved duiker

SCELO Mkhize was hailed a wildlife warrior after he rescued a duiker lamb in distress recently.

The 11-year-old boy had rescued a duiker when he and his mom, Thembelihle Zondi went out looking for firewood  in their rural community just outside Botha’s Hill. He got to meet the duiker during a visit to the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) on Thursday, 8 October.

READ: Compassionate boy rescues duiker in distress

He was invited to the centre to be shown the difference he had made to an animal’s life by choosing to rescue it from a rural area where dogs were most likely going to eat it.

“I was very excited when I found the little duiker in the bushes and fell in love with it instantly. I took it back home with me. My dad told me to return it where I found it but I knew it wouldn’t be safe so I asked my neighbour Malvern Dingwiza, to help me take care of it. We didn’t really know what to feed it so we had to look for someone who was trained to care for antelope to help us. After a few calls, we reached Linda Wenton came to take the duiker to be admitted at Crow. I wanted to keep her as my own and was very sad to see the little duiker go. But I’m so happy she is getting the care she deserves so that she can grow up to be big and strong,” said Scelo.

To nurture the young boy’s eager passion for wildlife, he was taken on a tour around Crow as part of his visit to the centre. “Though we do not offer any tours at Crow, we made an exception for this special boy as we felt we wanted encourage his obvious interest in animals and show him how his actions can change a life. After bonding with the duiker, Scelo also got to meet the tortoises, an owl and an impala for the first time. Stirring a love for animals and conservation starts at a young age and we’re proud to have met this young wildlife warrior,” said Crow communications officer, Alex Kogl.

WATCH: Scelo is a wildlife warrior