When humans interfere

When humans interfere in the natural world they are mostly driven by their emotions, even if sometimes this seems the appropriate thing to do, the natural system has its own ways that should be respected and let alone.

This month we had a 3 month old grey duiker and a baby bushbuck brought in. It was a found by a family next to the road and found with small scratches behind the ears and deep cuts in both the back legs. The family that found it decided to take it a home, which they did for a period of 3 weeks. All though the wounds needed attention they did not take the animal to the vet as they could not afford the fees.

Only when the legs got so swollen that it couldn’t walk, they then decided it was time to bring it to us. Her legs were in poor condition and we needed Dr. Muller’s help to treat them and we feared she would lose both her back legs. Dr. Muller cleaned the wounds and gave her a week’s antibiotic treatment. So far her condition has improved and we’ve decided to name her Oak. We hope that her legs will recover soon enough to join the other Grey Duiker – Marula in the courtyard.

That same day, we were brought a baby bushbuck badly injured by a troop of baboons and however “considerate” this might seem; it should have been left for nature to take its course. We know this sounds mean, but he had a punctured lung and numerous bites, but everything has its balance in nature and it’s up to us to understand it with a greater mind and accept it. Dr. Muller tried to close the wounds and fix the punctured lung. Our students assisted in this and Brian gave him mouth-to-nose respiration, once it was breathing again we however feared and realized that the internal damage caused by the baboon was more severe than we thought, to our great sadness and despite our efforts, the little one didn’t make it. Nature took its own course once more and relieved this beautiful animal of many days and months of pain.