Tough customer drops in

On Saturday (25/01) Claws received a call for help. The owner of Mr Air in Welkom had found an unwanted visitor in their shop. It was a white-throated rock monitor, commonly know as a legavaan. It is one of the largest lizards on the continent. Legavaans are known to be aggressive if cornered and can give a nasty bite and tail swipe. Rochelle Howard and her son, Jonathan Tonks, responded to the call and after a bit of a struggle managed to grab the lizard. They safely captured it and put it in a large 25 kg dog food bag. The legavaan was then released in a safe environment. “Claws is urging the public not to handle any strange animal or reptile, as it can be unsafe for both the human and the animal. We do however appeal to the public not to harm or kill animals out of fear of them. Please call us and we will ensure that the creature is safely captured and released back into the wild. People must know that it is illegal to capture and keep reptiles and wildlife. Apart from breaking the law, captivity reduces the animal’s life expectancyof captivity, and there is often neglect involved,” says Howard.