Caring guards help wildlife too
Hi-Tec Security staff come to aid of not only paying customers, but to animals found in distress too
❝ it was so traumatised it spent the rest of the night cuddled in a blanket on my lap
GLENDA WEBSTER KENTON RESIDENT
Hi-Tec Security guards in Kenton-on-Sea have earned a reputation as some of the most caring and committed guardians of Kenton’s wildlife, which is vulnerable to dogs, poachers and even passing cars.
In Kenton, the Wildlife Watch Protection Hotline is run through the Hi-Tec control room 24/7.
Kenton resident Glenda Webster, herself a passionate advocate for wildlife in Kenton and surrounds, related some of the incidents which Hi-Tec guards have responded to.
“Some years ago, armed response brought Wildlife Watch an injured piglet they found in Boknes.
“I took the piglet to the SPCA in Port Alfred – from whence it eventually found a ‘forever home’ with a new family on a smallholding in Bathurst,” Webster said.
One of the more heart-wrenching incidents involved an injured blue duiker found by armed response officer Severiano Scott in December last year.
Scott was returning from a callout to the Kenton Eco Estate and as he crossed the Kariega Bridge, he noticed a little blue duiker limping down the bank.
He stopped to pick it up to bring to Wildlife Watch.
“The dear little creature was so traumatised it spent the rest of the night cuddled in a blanket on my lap, where it unexpectedly slept peacefully. “In the morning I took it to vet Dr Leon de Bruyn,” Webster said.
She provided a copy of De Bruyn’s report.
“The duiker had numerous punctures that appeared to be bite wounds on its legs and severe bruising in its inguinal [groin] area.
“It had a non-weight-bearing lameness on its left hind leg and the hip appeared to be abnormally positioned,” De Bruyn wrote.
He placed an intravenous catheter and sedated the little buck.
X-rays confirmed the left hip was dislocated.
“We administered anaesthetic and manipulated the hip back into the socket.
“We also cleaned and disinfected the wounds and treated the blue duiker with an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, pain-killer and multivitamin injections,” he said.
Webster returned with the antelope three days later as it was still lame.
De Bruyn found that its hip was again dislocated, and using an anaesthetic, he repeatedly attempted to reduce the dislocation, to no avail.
“We could also see the severity of the bruising in the groin had worsened and realised there was major soft tissue damage. De Bruyn wrote that he had no option but to euthanise the buck as it would always be in severe pain.
He said it appeared as though it had been chased and attacked by a predator or predators and was then struck by a motor vehicle.
“While it is possible it was a natural predator like a caracal or a jackal, the location of the incident and the nature of the wounds point more to a domestic dog attack.
“It is important that domestic pets are kept confined to the owners’ properties and walked on leashes within eco estates to protect the natural fauna,” he wrote.
In a happier recent incident, last week Hi-Tec technician Flip van der Mescht rescued a fledgling cattle egret. It is now in the hands of Caring Owl in Makhanda (Grahamstown), as it is still too young to fly.
If you would like to assist with any wildlife protection activities, or expenses, contact Wildlife Watch Kenton-on-Sea on WhatsApp 066227-5670.