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www.thevillagenews.co.za
23 September 2020
All hands on deck to rescue grysbokkie By Anina Lee
T
he Whale Coast Conservation chameleon rescue volunteers are trained to have eagle eyes. It was this capacity that enabled one of the young chameleon rescuers to spot something under a tree as she and her mother drove past the green field near the old circus grounds. She immediately asked her mother to stop to investigate. What a surprise when the ‘something’ turned out to be a Cape grysbok lying in the shade of a tree. What was the bokkie doing there, far from its habitat in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve and on the wrong side of the Main Road? The likely explanation was not difficult to imagine, but what to do about the bokkie now? It was not safe there, and crossing the road back to the reserve would be more dangerous than staying where she was. What’s more, the incident was starting to attract attention from passers-by, adding stress to the anxious antelope, not to mention overheard plans to “take it home for supper” that equally stressed the volunteers. The obvious first call was to the chameleon project leader, WCC’s Sheraine van Wyk. By chance, Sheraine was close by and immediately went to assess the situation. A call
to the Fernkloof Senior Field Ranger revealed that, by chance, he was also close to the scene and could join the bokkie rescue party. In the meantime, the Overstrand biodiversity manager had also been alerted to the bokkie’s plight, and a team from Law Enforcement arrived in force. The immediate challenge was how to catch a grysbok without causing too much trauma to her. A human chain was the answer. A semi-circle of would-be rescuers slowly and carefully drove the bokkie towards the fence surrounding the field. Despite the calm approach, the bokkie panicked and ran straight into the fence. But the young chameleon rescuer was up to the task and caught the frightened antelope as she tried to break through the human chain. With the help of the more brawny men, the bokkie was loaded into a municipal ‘bakkie’ with a canopy. But wait, there are more twists and turns to the story. There was blood on one hind leg. There must be an injury. The initial plan to immediately release the grysbok back into Fernkloof now took a turn. It was necessary to have the bokkie checked by a vet. If it had a severe injury, it would not survive in the wild. And what is more, she (and a ‘she’ it was) appeared to be pregnant. This was probably the reason for the
bokkie straying onto the grassy field where she could find more nutritious grass for two of them. We may think there is adequate nutrition for bokkies (and baboons) in the fynbos, but this is not necessarily so. Historically, buck of all sorts would have come down from the mountains onto the lowlands where the grazing is much better. Now all the good grazing is covered in houses, greatly reducing their available food sources. This destruction of habitat by humans is the primary driver of the wildlife extinctions we are witnessing. So off they went, to the vet, bokkie on a mattress in the back of the bakkie. At the vet, the waiting room was crowded with little dogs and their owners. No chance of seeing the vet anytime soon. Sheraine knew that the little bokkie would be too stressed to stay in the bakkie for long. Fortuitously (again), an intern with wildlife experience was at hand who could sedate the bokkie and take her for X-rays. It transpired that the bokkie had an injury to the hoof. There was a fractured bone in one half of the cloven hoof. The hoof was duly splinted with a sports bandage and returned to the bakkie. To further complicate matters, the vet determined that she was quite far along in her pregnancy. So now there were two new challenges. The bandage had to be kept dry and removed after around six long weeks of recovery, and there was a baby on the way. That meant that a wild animal had to be kept in captivity for up to six weeks, during which time she was sure to give birth. By this time it was almost dark, and most people had gone home – except the rescue team of Sheraine, the
ABOVE: The pregnant grysbokkie lies sedated in the back of the bakkie after her injured hoof had been treated at the vet. RIGHT: The tree on the circus grounds where the grysbokkie was found. LEFT: The grysbokkie was offered a place of refuge by a farmer in the Valley for the six weeks it will take for her hoof to heal. During this time she will also be giving birth. municipal staff and the chameleon volunteers. Where to find a suitable place for a bokkie and her fawn to stay for six weeks? Well, it was a bit late to find room at the inn. So she was housed overnight in a rubbish bin – or at least a small enclosure that houses the rubbish bins at Fernkloof. This was not an ideal place, with a cement floor and no heating on one of the coldest nights of the winter. Thoughtfully, the chameleon volunteers called in favours and rustled up a dog kennel and some straw. Bokkie took to the kennel and could rest there temporarily. In the meantime, Sheraine was calling her own contacts, and a willing farmer in the Valley came to the rescue. Next morning bokkie, still in her kennel, was transported without stress to the farm. There she was made comfortable in a large horse stall with adequate food and water.
What outstanding cooperation between Whale Coast Conservation, Overstrand Environmental staff, the veterinary clinic, volunteers and a compassionate farmer. But this is not the end of the story. We would like to be able to pay the vet’s bills. A pregnant wild animal has to eat the correct diet – whatever that might be – and be cared for in a way that doesn’t habituate her or the expected fawn to humans so that mother and baby can be returned to the wild. How did her foster family find out what to feed her and make sure she was staying healthy? Be sure to follow Bokkie’s progress in next week’s edition of The Village NEWS. If you can help to pay the vets’ bills for any injured wildlife, please contact Sheraine on sheraine.wcc@ gmail.com. Every bokkie counts.
