Sample Story

We found Methuselah three days after the veld fire swept through the Karoo flats behind our farm. He was huddled under a scorched kameeldoring, his shell singed black on one side and his eyes swollen shut from the smoke.

I drove forty kilometres to the nearest vet with him on a towel across my daughter's lap. The vet said he was severely dehydrated and had first-degree burns along his shell. She gave us antiseptic cream, a syringe for water, and very little hope.

That was seven years ago. Methuselah is now a healthy adult Karoo padloper tortoise with a slightly discoloured patch on his shell that gives him character. He roams our garden from October to April and hibernates under the stoep from May to September with a punctuality that has never varied by more than a day.

We applied for and received the necessary provincial permit to keep him — he cannot be released back to the wild because he was hand-reared too long. In exchange, we have one of the most ancient and extraordinary animals in South Africa living in our garden.

Some rescues change you more than others. Methuselah taught me that patience and steady care can heal things that seem beyond saving.