Two retired neighbours had to rush to the doctor after being bitten by the same little animal on separate occasions. Both received anti-rabies injections as a precautionary measure. As it turned out, tests revealed that the meerkat had not suffered from rabies, despite its abnormal behaviour.
It all started on 21 December when Mel Brown took her dog, Travis, for his usual afternoon stroll. The meerkat appeared out of the blue and started following them, refusing to back off.
Fearing that the meerkat would attack her beloved cocker spaniel, Mel frantically tried to shoo the animal away, but it persisted and eventually bit Mel in the calf before running off.
Rabies scare
Aware that she was in need of an anti-tetanus shot, Mel, blood streaming from the gash in her leg, immediately drove herself to the nearest doctor.
She says to her surprise the doctor insisted on treating her for the possibility of rabies. "It seemed like all hell had broken loose at the doctor’s rooms. While my wound was being cleaned, countless calls were made to the state vet and various government departments. Evidently they felt the threat of rabies was a real possibility as the meerkat’s behaviour in chasing and attacking me wasn’t normal."
Mel is still undergoing treatment and has had various injections amounting to over R4000. Immuno-globulin had to be flown in from Durban and was injected directly into the wound.
Meerkat comes second
The second bite victim, Barry van Ginkel, was looking after his neighbour’s pool over the holidays when he first spotted the meerkat. "Initially I ignored it, but on 31 December I spotted it in my garden. I tried to grab hold of it in the hope of capturing the meerkat to hand it over to nature conservation, but it attacked me, bit my hand and I was forced to retaliate."
Barry hit the meerkat with his kierie and took the dead animal to a vet who sent the remains for analysis. As it turned out, their fears were unfounded as the meerkat tested negative for rabies.
Since then the general consensus has been that the meerkat was brought to George as a pet, as these animals do not occur naturally in the Garden Route. A solitary meerkat is also very unusual, for as social animals they always operate in groups. The meerkat would have been kept illegally as Cape Nature has no record of any permit being issued allowing a captive meerkat in George.
Sad situation
Barry, who also had to dish out thousands of rands for his subsequent doctor’s bills, says he finds it very sad that people take wild animals out of their natural environment to keep as cute little pets.
"This animal could still have been alive today. The incidents also alarmed the city fathers who were very worried about the possibility of a rabid animal in town. Thankfully it turned out the meerkat was clean, but a wild animal has died because of some individual or family’s unthinking actions."
Research has shown that keeping a meerkat in a cage causes it severe stress leading to aggression. The meerkat may attack people, inevitably leading to the animal being destroyed as was the lamentable case in Loerie Park.
The Captive Animals' Protection Society has launched a website, savethemeerkat.com, a campaign to protect the meerkat and other exotic animals from the pet trade.
Meerkats are very popular pets in Great Britain and are increasingly bred in artificial circumstances and sold in pet shops and by amateur breeders.
Meerkats live in the Kalahari desert and vast parts of Southern Africa, burrowing tunnels to keep cool.
Part of the mongoose family, a meerkat can live to the age of 14 and weighs about 1kg.
They live in colonies of up to 30 and eat insects, lizards, birds and fruit.
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Mel Brown and Barry van Ginkel were both bitten by a ‘tame’ meerkat in Loerie Park in George. With them is Mel’s beloved cocker spaniel, Travis.
Article and photo: Ilse Schoonraad
