Living in harmony with urban wildlife

Wildlife responder, Shireen Freeman, is encouraging residents to slow down and enjoy the presence of urban wildlife.

- WESLEY FORD OWN CORRESPONDENT

On Sunday, June 24, Ms Freeman from Grace Valley Wildlife Rescue and Mike Amira from the Owl Box Man shared information on urban wildlife with about 40 residents at the South African Centre for the Netherlands and Flanders in Pinelands.

Ms Freeman runs the Grace Valley Wildlife Rescue in the Overberg region, though she assists people throughout the province, putting them in touch with their nearest permitted wildlife rehabilitation centre.

"As a wildlife responder, I help healthy wildlife stay in the wild and ensure that wildlife needing care gets to permitted species-specific rehabilitation centres," she said.

Ms Freeman, originally from Pinelands, reminisced on her childhood days when she would walk around the neighbourhood, peering into hedges to spot chameleons, though these days, most of those hedges had been replaced with high walls and electric fences, and seeing a chameleon had become a rare stroke of luck, she said.

Ms Freeman noticed that gardens in the area had changed; some had been paved over or covered in fake grass, which led to fewer insects and, consequently, fewer birds and other wildlife that rely on them. Ms Freeman is also concerned about the widespread use of poisons.