Yesterday evening, one of my neigbours phoned me about a baby bush buck. I live next door to an eco-friendly golf estate, so they have a lot of wildlife including bush buck. My neighbour had been watching a female bush buck from her bathroom, when a car came speeding past, frightening her. She ran across the fairway, and in the process, gave birth and left her baby behind. It was pouring with rain and very misty, and she watched how the baby got up, tried to walk, and stumbled and lay in a hole, shivering there for about 45 minutes. When she phoned me, I was worried that the baby had not had its airways cleared, so I rushed out with towels in hand to see what I could do.
Under normal circumstances, I would NEVER touch a newborn wild animal, but in this case, it was necessary. The mother was not coming out of the bush, and the baby would not have lasted long out in the open. Luckily, her airways were clear and she was behaving fine, although she was still covered in bits of sac and was clearly terribly cold. I bundled her up in a towel, and made my through bush until I came to the patch of forest where the mother was hiding. She was eating the afterbirth when I approached with her baby. She got a fright initially and went further in, so I placed the baby as close as I could, and waited. I had a lady on the phone who raises orphaned animals ready in case the worst happened. Luckily, after no more than 3 minutes, mum ran out the bush, at first confused, but soon went up to her baby and started licking and feeding her. A happy ending for all!
I'm looking forward to seeing the little family around, hopefully in the not too distant future
Under normal circumstances, I would NEVER touch a newborn wild animal, but in this case, it was necessary. The mother was not coming out of the bush, and the baby would not have lasted long out in the open. Luckily, her airways were clear and she was behaving fine, although she was still covered in bits of sac and was clearly terribly cold. I bundled her up in a towel, and made my through bush until I came to the patch of forest where the mother was hiding. She was eating the afterbirth when I approached with her baby. She got a fright initially and went further in, so I placed the baby as close as I could, and waited. I had a lady on the phone who raises orphaned animals ready in case the worst happened. Luckily, after no more than 3 minutes, mum ran out the bush, at first confused, but soon went up to her baby and started licking and feeding her. A happy ending for all!
I'm looking forward to seeing the little family around, hopefully in the not too distant future