Endangered species rescued by FreeMe Wildlife in KZN
The FreeMe Wildlife organisation in Howick is doing its part in protecting threatened or protected species (ToPs) in the province.
The long list of various ToPs species they have rescued and rehabilitated include pangolin, Southern African pythons, wattled cranes, blue cranes, secretary birds, blue duiker, oribi and common reedbuck.
Their recent rescue is a juvenile grey crowned crane from Underberg over the Easter weekend.
According to the organisation, they received a call from a man in Kokstad who had picked up the bird on his farm. "The bird seemed unable to walk very well, so he decided to call us for assistance," said the organisation in a Facebook post.
It added that the grey crowned cranes are part of the threatened or protected species and they have been listed as "endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN red data list).
Maritzburg Sun, Speaking to the
FreeMe Wildlife CEO Wade Whitehead said the grey crowned crane is doing well so far, but it will be a long road to recovery.
"We have been tube feeding the bird and it has slowly started gaining weight, to the point where it is now starting to self-feed."
Whitehead said the Fondation Brigitte Bardot sponsors their animal care costs.
Meanwhile, another endangered species they recently rescued was a gigantic Southern African python that was found deep in the Umkomaas Valley near Richmond, which was handed over to them by Terry Tedder.
"The team that found the snake said they saw that it had trouble moving and decided to call Tedder to help. We then met up with Tedder at Hilton, where he handed over the snake to us," said FreeMe Wildlife.
They said that upon inspection, and with the help of Dr Diana Foden and her mobile X-ray, they discovered that the gigantic snake had a fracture in a single vertebra and one rib, most likely from a blow of some sort to the snake's body and that was what caused the snake to be immobile.
The big snake is also currently recovering at the FreeMe Wildlife centre and receiving the necessary treatment.