Just a week ago, a tiny springbok calf was hours away from dying. Today, she’s bouncing around like a bokkie should.
Velddrif, Western Cape (09 January 2026) – Late in December last year, The Owl Orphanage received a call from a concerned Piet Barnard, who had spotted a very young springbok calf wandering near a busy road in St Helena Bay.
She looked lost, weak and disoriented, barely able to keep herself upright.
Jacques, founder of The Owl Orphanage, immediately contacted Fiona, one of the centre’s first responders based in the area. Fiona collected the fragile calf and rushed her to the clinic.
When Jacques examined her, it was clear just how serious her condition was.
“She was skin and bones. She was completely dehydrated, and obviously hadn’t had food or milk for quite some time. Another day, and I think she would have been dead,” he says.
She still had part of her umbilical cord attached, suggesting she was only a few days old. Jacques knew she was right on the edge. That night was rough.
He gave her calming medication and only a tiny amount of milk – too much liquid, too quickly, could have killed her in her condition. She was placed in the centre’s medical room and monitored closely. Throughout the evening, she suffered seizures and stiffened up repeatedly.
By morning, there was still no improvement. Jacques made the heartbreaking decision to call the SPCA to arrange euthanasia.
“If they dehydrate, their system eventually goes into shutdown, which then affects their organs. The most humane thing to do is to end the suffering,” Jacques explains.
But then something unexpected happened.
“In the very moment I got hold of the SPCA and began making arrangements with them, she suddenly stood up,” he recalls. “She must have heard that conversation. I’m convinced she did. She was weak, but she was standing.”
Weak but upright, she slowly began wobbling around and made a direct line towards a glass door leading outside. Jacques placed her in a small enclosure there, where she started nibbling away at the grass. When he offered her a bottle of milk, she polished the entire thing.
“Suddenly she showed this remarkable strength and spark of life,” he says.
It felt like a miracle.
Normally, a wild springbok takes about three days to adjust to feeding from a teat. This little fighter latched immediately. After her feed, she rested, and when she woke up later, she was stronger again, walking more steadily.
It’s been about a week since she was first rescued. The little one is now running, jumping and behaving exactly like a healthy springbokkie should. She’s gained weight and is feeding well.
“It was really such a remarkable recovery, I’m lost for words,” says Jacques. “She had a change of heart there. She decided that she was going to be a bokkie, and she was going to live.”
With special permission obtained from CapeNature to rehabilitate the little one (Springboks are a threatened and protected species), The Owl Orphanage will care for the calf until she is strong enough to be released back into the wild, where she belongs.
This little bokkie has already shown a fighting spirit far bigger than her tiny body.
Photo Credit: Johan Willemse / The Owl Orphanage
Photo Credit: Johan Willemse / The Owl Orphanage
Photo Credit: Johan Willemse / The Owl Orphanage
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