A Thick-tailed Bush-baby was saved from almost certain death from a mob of

people in a Hoedspruit taxi rank.

This furry little animal sometimes known

as a Greater Galago
(Otolemur crassicaudatus) is nocturnal
and spends most of its time in trees.
Their call, hence the name, is a baby-
like wail and is one of the distinctive
night time calls in the bush.

The animal was spotted in a Monkey-

thorn tree overlooking a taxi rank. The
onlookers apparently believed that
seeing this animal was a bad omen
based on their superstitious beliefs or it
was simply to be killed for muti
purposes, food or an equally senseless
reason.

A resident, who witnessed the incident,

where people were trying to shoot the
bush-baby with a catapult, phoned the
local paper who in turn phoned
Moholoholo, the animal rehabilitation
centre. They in turn phoned Protrack
who were in closer proximity to the
incident.

Alex Volker along with three team

members rushed to the site to find the
creature high up in a Monkey-thorn tree
and a crowd of about thirty people
viewing the spectacle. The options were
simple, capture the animal or leave it to
be killed.

Climbing the thorn tree is less simple

than what would be imagined and not to
mention that the bush-baby was not
going to be easily cornered high up in
the tree. With persistence and resolve it
was coaxed out of the tree where it
decided to make a run for it on the
ground.

Evidently the Galago is far less nimble

and agile on the ground than in the
branches above and was easily
captured and later released in a nearby
secluded area.