We hope that your 2022 has gotten off to a the purrr-fect start! Okay, clawful puns aside, we would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Tanda Tula family – Nova, a three month old African wild cat kitten. When a neighbouring landowner got hold of Monique to let her know that he had a baby wild cat that was in need of a home, she didn’t hesitate to put up her hand.
Over the last few weeks of 2021, Nova settled wonderfully into her new home at Tanda Tula and grew in both size and confidence. This little girl began exploring the outside world full of francolins and squirrels (both of which she has yet to learn are way too quick for her to catch), as well as the ubiquitous Nyalas (who are as curious about this little cat as she is about them). Although these animals have likely seen African wild cats wondering around in the bush before, they are certainly not used to one running around during the daylight hours like this.
As she wanders around, Nova is instinctively learning more about her world, and honing her predatory skills. She still has a long way to go on this learning curve, but got a recent lesson when she ate a poisonous bug that necessitated a trip to the vet to detox her system. She got more than she bargained for on that trip, as she was not only returned to full health, but she was also returned as a boy!
Apparently we are not so good at sexing wild cat kittens, and our little girl is actually a boy! Perhaps that is why he got so excited when I was sitting in bed editing photos of the gorgeous N’weti leopardess? We look forward to watching Nova grow into a proper wild cat over the coming months, with the end goal being to have a wild cat that can happily take care of himself, but will always have a home to come back to should he wish.
All the best,
Chad and Monique
