During March 2017, three serval cats that were confiscated by Nature Conservation were brought to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) to be raised. The plan with the cats was always to release them back into the wild. Life, unfortunately, had other plans and of the three servals, one did not survive. The two brothers, however, have been doing marvellously. They have been growing big and strong! The plan to…
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Hyena update Late in 2016 a young male hyena was brought to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC). The hyena was found on a neighbouring reserve on personal property and after unsuccessful attempts to locate its pack he was brought to HESC. Towards the end of 2017 the team at HESC were satisfied with his progress and it was decided that the hyena was ready to be released. The decision…
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Due to the Caracal’s geographical distribution that ranges over a wide range of environments, the animal experiences different threats and thus has a variety of population trends. The species is considered as “Least Concerned” (LC) in the Arabian Peninsula (Mallon and Budd 2011) but contrary, it has already vanished in Kuwait (Cowan 2013) and is on the verge of extinction in North Africa (Cuzin 2003, F. Belbachir, pers. comm. 2014)….
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At the beginning of the year an injured wild dog was transported to HESC and was treated by Dr Rogers. He had been severely bitten in the dorsal area (haunch/hind legs) and needed veterinary care. Dr Rogers darted the animal and stitched him up before placing him in quarantine – this is where we keep all animals in need of high care treatment. The full story on the arrival can…
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In this blog update, we share with you an update on Aschanti, the female cheetah released on Makutsi, and the three cheetahs that were released onto Blue Canyon. All is well with Aschanti, the female cheetah released onto Makutsi Game Reserve. A short while ago, the staff at Makutsi were convinced that Aschanti had had a litter. This was based on the fact that she had been sticking around the…
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