Marula

In early May this year we had a 2 weeks old female duiker brought in. With many changes happening in the rehab she was assigned to one of our students –Ale- who would later on become a staff member. Caring for young antelopes is a very difficult task as it requires a lot of dedication and commitment. Many weeks were spent on around the clock feeds to ensure this little girl with a red mohwak would get all the milk she needed. At about a month of age she adventured outside the clinic for the first time following her “mom”.  She eventually got used to her daily routine and would skip happily and playfully behind Ale in and out of the clinic and into the courtyard. As she grew stronger and started nibbling on her beloved raisin bush and marula she was officially moved into an outside cage and from there into the courtyard. When she was old enough and browsing happily she was let free around the rehab. Soon everyone was taking by her sweet temper. She became our tour undercover star. Kids loved her and she would usually let them stroke and feed her leaves.

 It sounds like a pretty simple and easy task to raise a duiker, however there were many days of obsessing over her bowel movements, her weight, the type of branches she would like, whether there was too much sun or if it was too cold, her anger wen she finished her milk... Now, 6 months later she is a complete independent personality who would still run up to her mom for a session of cuddling.

This week she’s been transferred to another home with other duikers. We would have liked to keep her but to prevent her from imprinting on other animals or humans we felt this was the best thing to do for her, as we don’t have any other male duikers. We will surely miss her around here but we are certain she will have a great life and make her new owners very happy.