Crow appeal after maimed ‘pet’ duiker dies
A WILDLIFE organisation has urged residents who wish to keep wild animals as pets to first seek advice and follow proper procedures to ensure the wellbeing of the animals.
This plea was made by the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) following a series of incidents in which wild animals were kept as pets and ended up suffering or even dying due to the stress of living in inappropriate environments.
Crow intensified the appeal after a heavily pregnant blue duiker was recently rescued from a Yellowwood Park family, who had kept it as a pet before it died.
According to Crow’s operations director, Paul Hoyte, the duiker had suffered from severe stress because it was kept in uncomfortable conditions.
He said it had run into another home and that family brought the animal to Crow for rehabilitation.
An examination revealed its hooves had been cut with a cutting tool, which affected the nerves in the animal’s foot.
As a result, the duiker suffered pain and stress, compounded by its pregnancy.
Crow’s medical team said the trimming of hooves amounted to maiming because it resulted in a vital body part being removed, which was illegal.
Other types of maiming included teeth filing or pulling, cutting and pulling claws, the filing down of horns and hooves, as well as the docking of animals’ tails.
Hoyte said: “We have established that the duiker was kept as a pet and it could not cope. We plead with all residents who find these defenceless animals to contact the nearest Crow centre, SPCA or Ezemvelo for assistance and rehabilitation.”
He said in some cases residents tried to comfort orphaned wild animals without realising they were causing harm to them by subjecting them to alien conditions.
Hoyte said they found that mongooses, baboons, monkeys and duikers were often kept as pets in residential areas.
He added that they were working with the SPCA to identify the family that took the duiker in question as a pet.