Man Resuscitates Puma, Five Crocodiles Escape as Flash Floods Wreak Havoc. (25 November, 1996)

When Abel Erasmus, owner of a restaurant in Oudtshoorn, went to the Cango Wildlife Ranch to hand out free hamburgers to staff rescuing wild animals from a flash flood, he never thought he would land up trying to resuscitate a puma. The unconscious South American cat was rescued from her cage when the Olifants River flooded. She stopped breathing when she was pulled out of the water. The Head of the Cheetah Conservation Foundation and Manager of the park, Este Dukas, said she and Erasmus had taken turns blowing into the puma's nose while holding her mouth closed. 'The puma, called Dusky, survived and had a drink of water this morning. She is going to be fine,' Dukas said yesterday.

Dukas said saving Dusky was unnnerving because she started growling as she revived. Erasmus said last night he was so involved in trying to get the puma to breathe that he never thought she might bite him. 'I thought the noise she was making was water in her lungs.' Because the puma suffered from epilepsy, Dukas was warned by a vet that she would be endangered if she were darted. 'Although she is a dangerous animal, she was as tame as a kitten - I think she realised we were trying to help.' Most of the sodden cats were in shock and local policemen brought blankets to dry them down. One jaguar was temporarily housed in the back of a police van because there were no more cages. The saved animals included two jaguars, two pumas, seven cheetahs, two bat-eared foxes, three meerkats, one leguan, two pygmy hippos and five capybara (South American rodents).

Two bat-eared foxes drowned. The park's three lions were found huddled together on the site of their washed-away enclosure. 'I was so relieved they were still there because their enclosure was gone and they could have walked off,' Dukas said. The saved animals are being housed at the Tygerberg Zoo until their enclosures are rebuilt. Meanwhile police along the banks of the Olifants are on the alert following the escape of five crocodiles from a wildlife park in Oudtshoorn during the flash flood. 'They are big enough to take off your hand or a few toes,' Dukas warned yesterday. Own correspondent. Courtesy of The Star.