Galaxy Arrives Safely At His New Home

Galaxy was sedated around 9am on Monday morning, 9 September, at the start of his exciting journey to his new forever home at Panthera Africa. First, he received a full examination by veterinarian Dr Brendan Tindall as well as his vitamin injection, vaccinations and microchip. Dr Tindall from Robberg Veterinarian Clinic donated his time, services and resources for the relocation of Galaxy.

During the examination, Dr Tindall discovered that Galaxy had chewed a part of his tail again and that the vertebra was exposed, which requires an operation. The reason for this behaviour is that in the space of two years, Galaxy lost both his mates, Matilda and Saturn, and lost all zest for life. He became so lonely that he started to chew his tail, and as a result it had to be amputated. Unfortunately this has turned into a habit, and he needs special care and more enrichment in his life.During his 8-hour journey, Galaxy was calm and relaxed in his crate. The Panthera Africa team went to meet up with Dr Tindall and his team about 30km before they reached Panthera Africa, and followed the bakkie and trailer to welcome Galaxy home.

It took 8 people to carry Galaxy’s crate into his brand-new enclosure, since Galaxy weighs approximately 200kg plus the added weight of the crate. When the team opened the crate door it only took about 30 seconds before Galaxy stepped out onto the ground of his new foverever home. He stood completely still for a good 3 minutes, taking in his surroundings and the people who were so eager to welcome him. For the next 10 minutes he walked around his enclosure, slowly and calmly, and explored his new home.
Throughout the night, the Panthera Africa staff checked-in regularly with Galaxy. On Tuesday morning, at about 6:30am Galaxy walked into his feeding enclosure and ate his first piece of meat at his new home. The rest of the day, he rested from his long journey, lying in the shade looking relaxed and alert.

On Tuesday afternoon the staff left him some meat blocks with medicine inside, and the following morning the meat blocks were gone. The staff checked the night-vision camera and saw that Galaxy had eaten all his meat. This was a huge relief for the team as this meant Galaxy was able to take his medicine via his meat blocks and could be medicated every evening. The footage also revealed that Galaxy has an unique way of eating his meat blocks: he picks it up with his paw and then puts it in his mouth.

Because of the condition of his tail, Galaxy needs an operation. We have scheduled this for Thursday, 19 September. Two top veterinarians, Dr Brendan Tindall and Dr Peter Caldwell, will operate on Galaxy and remove a vertebra piece of his tail since there is no flesh or skin around it. He is currently on antibiotics for his tail wound and antidepressants to break the behaviour of chewing his tail.
If you would like to help Galaxy, please contribute towards his operation, so he can finally heal his wounds, both physically and emotionally. For details on how to donate, click https://pantheraafrica.com/donate/.