A nature conservator: Hendry Kortje

She sat with her back turned to me against the Yellowwood tree at the back of my yard. A pathetic figure. Her back is arched to warn me off, and though she hears my footsteps, she makes no attempt to flee. She tries to turn her head as I get closer, but I can see that even this ordinary action must be painful. Sadness washes over me and the burning sensation behind my eyes warns me not to blink at that specific moment.

She’s still young, but something must have happened that plunged her into this pitiable position. Laboriously, she stood up and a deep rumble of extreme pain escaped her mouth as she slowly and stately tried to get away from me. 

“Hie’ sit ‘n bobbejaan innie agtejaart. Sy lyk siekerig.” My brother said over the cell phone just a few minutes ago. Whereupon I hurried home. This female is the third baboon I must witness helplessly in just one month! Half an hour after I have observed this female baboon, the vet arrived to dart her. The first thing I wanted to know was if the potion he put in the dart would not kill my newest lady friend, on which he confirmed it will only put her to sleep so he can examine her. One shot to the shoulder and she landed face first in the dirt. I was quicker than the vet and the first thing I did was looking for a pulse. Five minutes later, my son hugged me where I was sitting next to my deceased girlfriend, my female baboon. While I was stroking the palm of her still warm hand, my teardrops were making sad patterns in the dust. Welcome to the everyday existence of Hendry Dawid Kortjè. I live on the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve with my wife, 2 children and my brother and work on the Reserve as a conservationist. My speciality is the eradication of all invasive alien trees, plants, and animals and of course I have to touch on all the other reserve activities as well. 

Not only do I live on a piece of land that is a heaven for hikers but also to free ranging animals. Mammals on the reserve include cape leopards, honey badgers, baboons, klipspringers and grysbokkies, mongoose and rooikatte (caracals) and smaller animals like mice, shrews and rats. Most of these are shy animals or nocturnal and are seldom seen. Large raptors can be seen against the skyline again after the devastating fires in 2021 when the reserve burnt down. Black eagles, the occasional fish eagle and spotted owl occur, while sugarbirds and sunbirds are more abundant. On warm days rock lizards can be seen basking in the sun. Berg adder, puff adder, boomslang and Cape Cobras are fairly common on the reserve. Luckily, I am trained as a snake catcher and snake handler which gave me a good understanding of the nature of these grillerige goggas. Our daily visitors will be the baboons. Although they are a different species as those stoutgatte in Cape Town we try to live in harmony with them. We know to keep a distance during mating season, and we know to stay away from them when they fight for leadership. 

Welcome to a day in the life of Hendry Dawid Kortjè.

A nature conservator. A father, husband and a poet and writer. 

 ©Hendry Kortje 20231101