We couldn’t help but be touched when we heard the news about Piglet, the rescued baby aardvark.
Poised to become the first time a baby aardvark has ever been rescued and released back into the wild, Piglet’s dramatic story began a few months ago when he was rescued over the New Year from a farm in Vryburg, South Africa.
ABOVE: A wild adult aardvark at Tswalu
Poor little Piglet was close to death - he was ice cold, almost comatose and extremely thin – and in need of urgent medical care if he was to survive. Luckily the farmer who found him contacted Dr Dorianne Elliot, a veterinary surgeon from the Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital at the internationally renowned Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital in South Africa. After driving 300km through the night to rescue him, Piglet was eventually put into an incubator by Dr Elliot, and drip fed around the clock to help restore him back to health.
ABOVE: Piglet the aardvark was able to be bottle-fed two weeks after his drip feed was removed
It was touch and go at times, but despite his dire state, it seems that fate had other plans for Piglet. Miraculously after five days he was able to stand and his drip was removed two days later.
ABOVE: The little aardvark with his adpotive dad Joe Schoeman, manager of The Motse at Tswalu
Fast forward three months and Piglet is doing well. In fact we’re almost jealous of the little mite as he begins to settle in at Tswalu Kalahari, a luxury private game reserve in South Africa, where he even has his own room! However, he won’t be a pampered Piglet for too long - the plan is to eventually get him back out into the wild and rooting for termites like an average aardvark. Altogether now - aww!
ABOVE: Tswalu spa manager Corli and her husband Joe Schoeman have taken Piglet into their care
Picture credit: J. Neytzell-de Wilde
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