Baby jackal ready to return to wild

A BABY jackal rescued from a fire that killed her two siblings has recovered and is ready to return to the wild.

The side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta), named Umlilo, has been living at the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) in Yellowwood Park, Durban, since she was two weeks old.

Nine months after a fire in a sugar cane field in Zululand, she will be released into her natural habitat in the Thula Thula private game reserve, Empangeni.

Like all side-striped jackals, Umlilo is an omnivore who enjoys a varied diet dependent on the availability of food.

Crow is still fund-raising for a satellite tracking collar to monitor her activity, location and progress after her release and to enable the organisation to collect valuable data for research purposes.

Crow’s fund-raising and marketing officer Denika Govender said a further R15 000 had to be collected to cover the cost of the collar as well as medical and vet expenses.

Crow can be contacted at 031 462 1127 or emailed at fundraiser@crowkzn.co.za.