Zimbabwe Seven

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 13 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Rafiki has returned home! How odd does that sound? Here at the Trust, we spend every day preparing these animals, which remain in our care, for their return to the wild. Believing, in our hearts that freedom is the ultimate joy which any mammal would want to attain. How wrong were we when it came to Rafiki!

Rafiki entered this world on 12 October 2005. Being the only offspring in this litter, sired by Muffet and Geronimo, Rafiki’s genetics were very strong or so we thought! We felt that Rafiki was bound to have a will of his own and if he did not get his own way – a fairly bad attitude, similar to that of both his parents! He could not have been more of the opposite, Rafiki was a timid kitten, who stayed very close to mum at all times, even when Muffet was hissing and spitting at the poor little fellow. As he grew up, Rafiki’s nature continue to be a gentle one. Even though he was totally raised by Muffet, Rafiki was happy to have human interaction from an early age. As he developed into an adult serval, he remained calm and totally accepting of a captive life. Muffet of course had developed an increasing desire to want more from life than captivity. And so, it was decided that the serval mother and son would be released at Stonehills Wildlife Sanctuary in Marula. As Muffet was reaching an age where I felt she would soon, be too old to be released. On 14 June 2006, Muffet and Rafiki were crated and travelled with Lisa to Stonehills Wildlife Sanctuary, where, with the support and help of both Richard and Bookey Peek, a release site had been developed.

Muffet being bold as brass, walked out of her travel crate and started to explore. Rafiki on the other hand was not so bold and remained in his crate for most of the day. In fact it was only with food that we were able to entice him out of the security of his crate. In December 2006, Muffet being totally ready and wanting to explore her new environment was released into ‘freedom’. As Rafiki was still rather young and growing, he was not released until December 2007, when he was now 2 years of age an old enough to have a collar fitted.

Release for Rafiki was not as smooth as it had been for Muffet. For the first few days Rafiki did not really explore very far from his enclosure. Then on the 10 January 2008, we lost his signal for four days. Thankfully on the 15 January he was located just outside the main boundary fence. As soon as he saw and heard familiar people, he came running towards them. He was very thin and extremely hungry. His left back leg had a wound and he was limping. His coat was very matte, and altogether he was a very unhappy serval. It was decided he needed to be recaptured and nursed back to good health. Two dormicum (sedative) were administered in a piece of meat and 30 minutes later, he was calm enough to move him into a crate and back into his familiar enclosure. After looking at his injury, it seemed likely Rafiki had crossed paths with a large male serval also seen in the area, and had received a rather meaningful telling off. This was enough for Rafiki to confirm his insecurities, and he just wanted to come back to a safe and familiar environment. He had found it difficult to hunt, which is unusual for a serval as most of them are hunting in captivity from very early on in their lives.

So, where do we go, from here with Rafiki? This is a very good question. As with the current land issues still facing Zimbabwe, the Tikki Hywood Trust has implanted all the female species, so that they can not breed for the next 18 months. The animals we have implanted have not had research done on them with these implants which is a very good chance for us to try and monitor them and document our findings. As we all know when it comes to smaller mammals, they all too often are forgotten. The first step with Rafiki, is to improve his condition and then see if we can recondition him to a captive world. Having king serval genetics, he is rather different to the other serval we have had, which may prove important in the future. It is hoped the Rafiki will become an ambassador for his species however we are a very long way from that, as he is not at all tame. But for me Rafiki’s story has made me stop and think! Like with the human race each and every animal that passes our way has a character of their own. Not every animal wants to be wild, not every animal has the strength of character to be released, and this is something which we must take in to account when dealing with the future life of these animals. To see a wild animal roaming freely in an environment it was born into is one thing, but to know that I have returned an animal into an environment where he is scared, unable to hunt successfully and not at peace, is something that I do not want to be responsible for.

Rafiki’s parents : Above : Geronimo his father,

Above– Muffet his mother.

For Rafiki, we have recorded the following measurements when he was collared for the first release:

DATE                                 29-Oct-07
NAME                                Rafiki
SEX                                     Male
SPECIES                            Serval
ARKS NO.                          SVA501
CAPTIVE BORN               Yes

BODY MEASUREMENTS
Body length (Crown to rump)                                 77.5 cm
Ear length Inner                                                            8 cm
Girth (at last set of ribs)                                            43 cm
Head (tip of nose to crown)                                       11 cm
Length front paw to elbow (at rest)                        32 cm
Length back paw to hock (at rest)                       19.5 cm
Circumference of neck                                             26 cm
Circumference of scrotum                                     11.5 cm
Length of scrotum (anus to bottom of scrotum)    4 cm
Ground to top of shoulder (standing height)        51 cm
Length of tail                                                          32.5 cm
Length of canines upper left / right                         1.5 cm 2 cm

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OR MARKS / EYE COLOUR Jet black spots. 4 stripes to end of rib cage - he is a half king serval. 2 solid matching stripes bending on inside of front legs.