Injured Serval Soon to be Released
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March 20, 2008 |
 'FRODO'S' STORY OF HOPE
Last October Lisa Hywood from the Tikki Hywood Trust (THT) in Harare rescued a young serval that had been hit by a car and had a badly broken humerus. Vets Lisa Marabini and Keith Dutlow operated and pinned the leg but ‘Frodo’ suffered major complications. He was operated on twice more before the bone fragments were successfully pieced together with a metal plate and screws. Lisa and Ellen Connolly at the THT provided excellent care for him and in December he was moved to an enclosure at the vets’ house.
Lisa’s Update
‘Frodo’ has been an amazing serval and he continues to gain strength and condition on his journey towards being released. Thankfully that date is near approaching! This next month will be the final leg towards ‘Frodo’ being released. ‘Frodo’ has undergone his last operation and it was decided to leave the plate in his leg. His wounds have healed well and he will be released next Saturday 12 April.
Over the past three months we have seen ‘Frodo’ develop to almost full maturity particularly noticeable in his facial features. Even though his body has undergone severe changes due to his injuries, ‘Frodo’ has grown in body condition and character.
From an enrichment point of view, ‘Frodo’s confinement in his current enclosure has been difficult for him. As you may or may not be aware, this is one of the areas in which the Trust specialises - the enrichment of wild animals in captivity. Due to his injuries we could not run the risk of hurting ‘Frodo’ further if he took fright and reinjured his leg. Interacting with ‘Frodo’, a wild serval, cannot be done in the same way as with a captive born serval. Due to the constant administration of drugs, ‘Frodo’ developed a hatred of humans – which of course is no surprise. Any interaction with ‘Frodo’ has had to be very gentle. We stimulated him through changing his environment by bringing in logs, grass bedding from our other serval, water baths with lots of toys and hiding his food around the enclosure on a daily basis. Being in such a confined enclosure, I am sure that ‘Frodo’ is more than ready for release.
The next step is not just to release ‘Frodo’ directly into the wild. It will be a soft release whereby the animal goes into a large enclosure first. His will be 40 m x 50 m, placed near a man made watering point in the Save Valley Conservancy. ‘Frodo’ will remain in this enclosure long enough for us to see that his leg is working well and he is able to hunt and fend for himself. He will be able to get used to new sights and sounds, which will be very different from where he has been since his birth. Once we are satisfied that ‘Frodo’ can hunt and fend for himself he will then be released. The gate will be opened and ‘Frodo’ will continue to be fed by the enclosure. This way he will know that he can always return to the enclosure for food.
‘Frodo’ has touched the hearts of many people since his ordeal started. We have watched him fight for survival and it will be a great day when we are able to give ‘Frodo’ back his freedom. Thanks must go to all who continue to support ‘Frodo’ both financially and physically. If it were not for such like-minded people each animal with which we are involved would not be able to find its way to freedom.
The complete story of ‘Frodo’ can be viewed in the October archives at http://www.africanheartbeats.com/. Information about the Tikki Hywood Trust can be found at http://www.wildlifedirect.org/ by going to the blog called 'Zimbabwe Seven'. |
posted by Miriam @ 5:17 PM  |
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