Meet our boy… Scout!

Meet our boy… Scout!

Just less than a month ago, a kind gentleman stopped at our entrance with a small box. Little did we know how the contents of this little box would steal our hearts at first site. In the box sat a tiny baby meerkat staring at us with big curious eyes.

Our friendly traveler managed to catch the tiny meerkat whilst he sat next to his mommy’s lifeless body in the middle of the road on the outskirts of Oudtshoorn. The mommy meerkat had sadly been hit by a car and needless to say, the traveler didn’t want the same to happen to this youngster. He kindly drove straight to us so that we could provide it with the best possible care. The baby meerkat, which we fondly named Scout went into round-the-clock care in our Animal Care Centre.  

We have confirmed that Scout is a male, and we believe that around the date of drop-off, he was between 6 to 8 weeks of age. For the first few days he was fed milk by syringe and later moved onto solids such as chicken. He has formed devoted bonds with his carers who are working hard to instill natural meerkat behavior and enrichment into his daily routine.

Due to our staffs expertise and our recently built animal hospital, we often accept the responsibility of caring for injured fauna that get brought to us by local travelers, residents and even farmers in accordance with Cape Nature. In many cases we are able to rehabilitate and even release, specifically with injured snakes, tortoises and birds, but often releases are simply not possible due to the extent of injuries and human contact experienced throughout the process of rehabilitation. Scout for example, having been hand-raised, will join our meerkat exhibit where we pledge to care for him at Cango Wildlife Ranch indefinitely.

If we can get the public at large to take anything away from this story, it’s to encourage everyone on the roads to drive with caution. Far too many animals are injured and killed on our roads. Sometimes this is simply inevitable, but being more alert in the rural areas may save a few of our furry, feathered and scaled friend’s lives. We further encourage that when you find these injured animals that you notify local bodies/facilities who can assist, additionally Cape Nature is always contactable. Secondly we would like to commend the gentleman who brought Scout to us. It is important to know that these animals are not pets and we do not encourage that they be seen as such. It is important to emphasize that it is illegal to provide rehabilitation to sick, injured or orphaned wild animals without proper permits and licenses in place, and equally as important, we urge this be done by skilled individuals dedicated to animal care with access to the right facilities. 

Needless to say, Scout has a long journey ahead with us and we are honored to provide his forever-home where he will be represented alongside 89 other amazing species that form part of our education through conservation platform.