By Felicia Hansen | Fundraising Manager
Dear Dassie Supporter,
First of all, thank you. Because you chose to support our hyrax project, this little update is especially for you.
This project has quickly become one of the most loved at DAKTARI. Eric and Caline have gathered a beautiful little community of supporters around them, and it means so much to us. Since you are clearly serious about your dassies, we will now send you updates every second month. We hope you will enjoy the stories and photos as much as we enjoy sharing them.
As you may know, Eric arrived in December 2025 after being found alone and undernourished. He had likely been picked up by a bird of prey and dropped too far from his group to find his way back. After attempts at rehabilitation elsewhere failed, he came to us at DAKTARI.
Caline, our resident queen, was… suspicious.
She looked at him as if to say, “Who is this small noisy creature and why is he in my space?” Eric, of course, had no doubts. He immediately behaved as if he had always lived here. Slowly, very slowly, Caline started to accept him. Now we often find them sitting together in the sun, bum against bum, completely relaxed. Peace has been negotiated.
Fun fact: hyraxes are more closely related to elephants than to rodents. Yes, these tiny fluffy creatures share evolutionary history with the largest land animal on Earth. And if you look closely at Eric’s mouth, you will understand why.
Yesterday Eric lost a tooth. Do not worry, this is perfectly normal. He is losing his milk teeth and starting to grow his little tusks. You can already see them coming in the photo. Tiny elephant ambitions in progress. Our baby is officially becoming a teenager.
And teenager is the correct word. Eric is now our little adventure explorer. He runs, climbs, investigates everything and tests boundaries daily.
Caline remains as wonderful as ever. She still prefers the office life and often chooses to stay inside more than Eric. However, something interesting happens in summer. Fruit season. Suddenly our office queen turns into a tree climber. She loves fruits and has been climbing more and more. It is very good exercise for her, and we fully support her fitness journey.
Both Eric and Caline are completely crazy about black-eyed peas. We have tried other beans, but they are simply not impressed. If you would like to try their favourite snack at home, buy a bag of dried black-eyed peas, soak them in water for three hours, and voilà, you have the perfect hyrax snack.
Beyond being irresistibly cute, Eric and Caline play an important role in educating the children who visit DAKTARI. Through them, the children learn about biodiversity, respect for wildlife, and the importance of protecting even the smallest creatures in our ecosystem. These little creatures help us spark curiosity, empathy and environmental awareness in the next generation.
Thank you again for being part of their story and for loving these extraordinary little elephant relatives with us. We look forward to sharing more adventures very soon.
If you are ever interested in supporting our wider mission to educate and inspire children to value their environment and stimulate community development, we always warmly welcome new volunteers. You can read more about how to get involved here!
With warm gratitude from all of us at DAKTARI
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