Born Free

Hi this is Tracey again, Marketing Manager for the Wildlife Centre. I have a great story for you this week.

In February this year after a heavy rain storm, I found this tiny spiky ball curled up in my garage. It turned out to be a baby hedgehog, a very young one. I took it down to the Wildlife Centre where the vet looked it over. It was in good shape, if a little cold and very hungry. As it was so small they recommended I take it home and keep it warm. There followed several weeks of hot water bottle changing and LOTS of feeding. For a small creature she sure ate a lot! My gardener even got involved by helping to catch grasshoppers and crickets and other insects to supplement Kissy’s diet. We named her Kissy which is short for ‘kisoni’, the Chichewe word for hedgehog. For several weeks she lived in my laundry room and the vet from the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre paid her regular visits to check up on her.

Eventually, about 6 weeks ago, we decided Kissy was big and strong enough to be released. As I had found her in my garden this is where we released her. She still came back every night for her dinner though!! Then this week she introduced me to her new family, she has had 3 little babies!! They are roughly the same size now as Kissy was when I first found her that wet afternoon in my garage.

So you see it’s not just the large wild animals that the Wildlife Centre helps but the small ones that most people never see – who would have thought that we get hedgehogs in Africa?!?! Without their help and advice I don’t think this story would have had such a wonderful ending.

Please help us to continue helping the wildlife of Malawi. Every donation helps an animal. Just £10 helps us feed a baboon or vervet for a week, or provide medical care and food for a hungry hedgehog!!

Thank you!!