The Dassie or Rock Hyrax is a special little creature, and one was found alone in Pretoria; the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital introduced it to their rescue colony.
Johannesburg, South Africa (27 July 2021) – If you have ever seen a Dassie, you will know they are fascinating little creatures. You will find them by the hundreds on top of Table Mountain, but they are prevalent in most parts of South Africa.
They have adorable faces that have quite a bit of character, which adds to their charm. Did you know that Dassie is their Afrikaans name? In English, they are called the Rock Hyrax. They are highly social and live in colonies.
They are excellent climbers and love to eat new plant shoots, berries and even a few poisonous plants that other animals and humans cannot eat. Dassies also have oddly shaped irises, this prevents light from distracting them from seeing birds that would hunt them from the sky.
They live to about the age of 10 in the wild if luck favours them, and they are not listed on any conservation lists. They play a vital role in the ecosystem by being food for larger predators such as the birds of prey, leopards, lions, jackals and snakes.
Recently a young Dassie was found in Gauteng and taken to the Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital to be treated by the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital.
“CUTENESS: This young Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis) (or dassie) was brought into Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital soaking wet, hypothermic, and dehydrated. Once stabilised, she started exhibiting normal dassie feistiness, and we hoped to return her to the colony and area she came from.
We found the location (near the Apies river, Pretoria) where she was discovered, but unfortunately, there were no sightings of other dassies, despite her calling. We decided to integrate her with a new colony of dassies that we have created from a few dassies we have received for relocation / treated over the past few weeks. We have erected a temporary enclosure for this new dassie colony where vegetation and rocky crevices are in abundance. So far she has integrated well and they will all be ready for release once we have a safe natural environment for them to be released in.”
The Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital treats indigenous for free, so they rely on donations to keep doing the good work they do. Below are the various payment options for the Wildlife Vet; they rely on donations, so if you can, you can donate through the methods below.
Snapscan: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/PXMP5766
Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… (For the USA and international-based donors)
Johannesburg Wildlife NPC
FNB Cheque account
Account nr: 62658400264
Branch code: 255355
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ
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