SERVALS OF UKUWELA - A JOURNEY BACK TO THE WILD
At Wild Tomorrow, we’re dedicated to more than just protecting wild spaces; we’re also committed to supporting the rehabilitation and reintroduction of vulnerable species into their natural habitats. In partnership with FreeMe Wildlife, a leading rehabilitation center, we’re working to give serval kittens a second chance at life in the wild. Among them, two young female servals are planned to eventually embark on a journey to their new home at the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve in Zululand.
FROM RESCUE TO REHABILITATION
The first of these serval kittens was rescued from the Hilton region closer to Durban, South Africa. While fire breaks were being cut on a farm, we believe the disturbance caused by the brush-cutters forced a mother serval to relocate her litter. Unfortunately, in the chaos, one kitten was left behind. After two days of monitoring, and with the kitten eventually crying out for her mother, our wildlife rescue partner, FreeMe Wildlife, made the decision to intervene, bringing the orphaned kitten into their care.
The second kitten’s story began in the Paulpietersburg region, where she was found alone on a farm driveway, likely abandoned due to a disturbance—perhaps by domestic dogs, though we can’t be sure. The farm owners waited for the mother’s return for two days, but when a storm was approaching and with no sign of the mother, they decided to bring the kitten in and send her to FreeMe Wildlife.
Although these two servals are approximately 50 days apart in age (about two months), they share a common goal: to return to the wild.
Pictured here is the younger of the two servals inspecting the camera equipment. We took a step back and allowed it to interact and inspect this new "object" in its space—curiosity and exploration are both natural behaviors in kittens. Photo: Chantelle Melzer
A UNIQUE APPROACH
We are planning to carefully document their rehabilitation journey, from initial rescue through to their eventual release and life in the wild, ensuring that their progress is both monitored and studied. FreeMe Wildlife follows a rigorous rehabilitation process that minimizes human interaction to ensure that the animals retain their natural instincts and behaviors. However, in the case of these two servals, we are taking a slightly different approach. The kittens will be habituated to Wild Tomorrow’s Wildlife Storyteller, Chantelle Melzer, who is responsible for documenting their journey from rehabilitation to release. It is important to note that this habituation is not about taming or domesticating the servals in any way—we are not petting or playing with the servals—but rather ensuring that they are comfortable enough with the presence of a camera and its operator, so they can behave naturally.
By allowing Chantelle into their space, we aim to capture the genuine, uninfluenced behaviors of the servals. The goal is to document these animals in their truest form, showcasing the unaltered beauty of their natural instincts. This careful approach will hopefully ensure that the result is both authentic and a true reflection of the servals’ wild nature, while also contributing to research on the successful rehabilitation and release of servals into the wild.
GREATER UKUWELA NATURE RESERVE
The Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve has been chosen as the release site for these young servals. The reserve’s rich biodiversity, wetland habitat favored by servals, and mission dedicated to conservation, make it an ideal location for these lucky wild cats to begin their new lives in the wild. Their survival is important not only for the individual servals but also for their species: servals are classified as “Near Threatened” and are a Threatened and Protected Species (TOPS) in South Africa, meaning they are a priority species to help protect and conserve.
Rehabilitation, as carried out by FreeMe Wildlife, is not just about saving individual animals; it’s about restoring the balance of nature, one species at a time. Today, all species have extra pressures placed on them due to human impacts from habitat loss and fragmentation to climate change. By rescuing and rehabilitating injured or orphaned wildlife, we can help mitigate these overlapping impacts and create a more hopeful future for threatened species.
And with each successful reintroduction, we take a step closer to a world where wildlife can thrive, free from the threats that brought them into care in the first place.
We invite you to follow along as we continue to document and share the incredible journey of these two servals. Together, we’re helping to secure a future where they, and other species like them, can live and flourish in their natural habitats.
You can read more about FreeMe Wildlife here: freemewildlife.org
Pictured below are the two extraordinary young servals, each with a unique story of survival. If successfully rehabilitated, they will in the future call Wild Tomorrow's Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve their new home.
Wild Tomorrow is raising funds to support the serval project including support for FreeMe Wildlife to fund food and enrichment for the servals while in their care, and for the GPS tracking collars needed for post-release tracking.
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Check out our video of our first rehabilitated serval release earlier this year at Ukuwela, and read more about this individual serval’s journey in our story, “A Serval’s Journey of Hope: from Rehabilitation to Release at Ukuwela”.