Serval Release

Wednesday 18th August 2010

Today we found out we were going to be present for the release of a Serval that was captured at Forever Resorts in Warmbaths. We travelled out to the Vleilande along the fence of the 400 hectre. There we found Sieg and the guy who brought the Serval to Sondela. We were each given a chance to look at the Serval in the cage, whilst Sieg explained the release procedure to us. There were a few beautiful Kudu bulls present for the release as well though they lost interest once everyone was there. The Serval was a large, beautiful male, although he was very wild. Once we ere all done looking at him, the cage was offloaded from the back of the bakkie and placed so that we could watch the motion of the Serval once he was released. The cage was placed on the floor and the door was opened. The Serval took off in a hurry straight into the long grass. It was incredible to see just how quickly they move and how well they camouflage in the long grass. Thereafter we had a debrief and headed back to the academy. It was overall a fantastic experience, a first for me.