19/05/2026
Earlier this afternoon, I posted on Facebook asking for volunteers to help herd a warthog into a safe area at the Braamfontein Cemetery, where I could load him into a predator trap. Just a few minutes prior, Flash had tracked him down in a large, bushy area. I hadn't seen the warthog yet, but Flash barked when he located it, followed by the sound of loud grunting, and Flash duly came running out of the bush.
Volunteers Rob, Sam, and Tracey arrived to help.
I put Flash back in the vehicle, and the volunteers and I proceeded to agitate the bushes to flush the warthog toward our capture point. We heard him move, but we didn't see him—and then, we lost him.
I went back to the vehicle to get Flash to pick up the scent again. He caught it immediately and darted into a dense patch of bush with me right behind him.
This is where I must stress something: we have tracked numerous warthogs, and Flash understands their behaviour perfectly. But what was waiting in that bush wasn't a warthog, this Flash and I found out the hard way.
It was a large male bushpig. Unlike a warthog, it didn't run; it stood its ground, hidden, waiting for Flash, and struck the second it saw him.
Flash sustained a nasty gash to his chest, which thankfully did not pe*****te his rib cage. I rushed him straight to our vets at Bryanston Avian, Exotic and Small Animal Clinic, where Dr. Melissa and Dr. Perushan fixed him right up.
There is a very short list of animals that I will not allow Flash and Chakita to track, and bushpigs have always been firmly at the top of it, as they are incredibly dangerous, aggressive animals.
We are back home now, and Flash is lying on our bed, behaving as if absolutely nothing happened. His dad is a bit broken up, though.
I think we’ll spend the next few weeks tracking tortoises😉
Huge thank you to Dr Melissa and Dr Perushan and vet assistant Brian and to our volunteers Sam, Rob and Tracey
