Festival Workers Unloading Truck Find A Stowaway Who’s 870 Miles From Home
Everyone was shocked to see him.
The Corona Sunsets Festival was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 13 and went off without a hitch. Once it was over and the festival-goers were heading home, Control A Events took over and packed up all the equipment, furniture and decorations. Once all the trucks were loaded, they drove the 870 miles back to Cape Town … without realizing they had a stowaway in the back of one of their trucks.
Once the team arrived in Cape Town and started unpacking, they discovered Maurice, a bush baby who’d curled up in one of the boxes and accidentally taken a road trip. Everyone was stunned and at a loss for what to do next.
After the shock wore off, the company contacted Cape of Good Hope SPCA, who came out to collect Maurice right away. Besides being hungry, thirsty and confused, Maurice was otherwise in good condition. The biggest problem was figuring out the next steps of what on earth to do with him.
“The SPCA’s Dr. Fatima Mayet immediately fell in love with him on admittance and wondered if returning him to Johannesburg and his family was a possibility,” Wendy Willson of the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital (JWVH) told The Dodo. “The SPCA thus contacted the [JWVH] to ask for guidance on his care and assistance on what to do with him further, as bush babies do not occur in the Western Cape, so releasing him was not an option.”
The team at the veterinary hospital was able to pinpoint exactly where Maurice had come from, and once the proper permits and permissions had been obtained, the plan to get the bush baby back where he belonged was set into motion.
Impact for Wildlife and Airlink worked together to fly Maurice safely back to Johannesburg, where JWVH picked him up and kept him for a 48-hour observation period to make sure he was OK. Even though Maurice was surely eager to get home, his new friends gave him the royal treatment, and he enjoyed his time at the vet hospital very much.
“Maurice kicked back and enjoyed the tasty menu provided, showing a particular love of organic banana yogurt,” Wilson said.
About a week and a half after Maurice accidentally left his home, he finally made it back where he belonged.
“Veterinarian Dr. Jess van der Merwe opened his carrier and placed it in a tree,” Wilson said. “Maurice quickly realised he was home [and] wasted no time at all — he scooted straight out and up a tree, stopping briefly for a grateful glance back at Dr. Jess, and then disappeared confidently into the tree canopy!”
Maurice hadn’t expected to go on a life-changing journey when he climbed onto that truck, but luckily, he made friends all across South Africa who refused to rest until he was home safe.