JUNIOR’S FOURTH MONTH

25 March 2008        
 
No longer a baby, “Junior” weighs over 16 kg and is becoming extremely strong.  Anyone entering his enclosure now, needs to be strong and tough because he gets very excited, jumping and biting all over the place.  He can now easily knock a smaller person off their feet.  He eats an entire springbok leg per day and as a treat he still gets a bottle as well.  His diet is further supplemented with chicken on certain days.
 
He had his second vaccine on March 13 and had no side effects from it.  He does not enjoy traveling and was so relieved to get out at the vet’s practice that he did not even notice the needle of the injection.  He has now also learnt to climb the fence of his enclosure, but luckily so far he has not realized that if he climbs high enough he can get out of the enclosure.  Despite rather cold and rainy weather during the past two weeks, he preferred to stay outside.  A new, large kennel has been bought for him to shelter in during bad weather.  He eats inside the kennel, but as soon as he has finished, he goes outside again.  His large blue bed will need replacing soon.  It has become quite dilapidated since he insists on eating on top of it.
 
He has now also learnt to tear his toys to shreds.  Even his large, yellow ball was demolished this past week and he carried the pieces around his enclosure almost as if he was showing off a kill.   He used to cry during the day if no-one spent time with him, but he has stopped doing that now -  again proving that he is becoming a big boy.
 
His day starts off in the morning with:
250 ml of milk
At 10:00 he is fed springbok meat
At 17:00 he is fed some more springbok meat and some days chicken is added
As a treat he is given some more milk at night
 
He will be receiving his final vaccine within the next two weeks and then it is only a matter of time to ensure that there are no side effects before he returns to Laohu Valley Reserve.