Zimbabwe Seven

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 21 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Today has to be one of the saddest days of my conservation journey. I was informed that Muffet had been shot – killed! Muffet is dead! Those words just keep going around and around in my head. How, why, for what – questions and then more questions. At the end of the day – questions are irrelevant as Muffet is dead and nothing that is said or done will bring her back.

Muffet arrived in a Bata shoe box 11 years ago. This tiny, blind, deaf and very noisy little bundle of fur. I was a very green adoptive mother and Muffet was the first carnivore that I ever raised. Even though Muffet had a brother Tigger, it was to be Muffet who would be more of a teacher to me over the many years of life together which we were to explore. Life with Muffet was to be an adventure as well as a nightmare on the odd occasions. At first I did not even know how to feed her and Tigger, there seemed to be more milk on them than in them. Muffet was an incredibly small serval which made everything so much more terrifying for me. Every conceivable illness which a young orphan could get – Muffet got. I can remember one night it was obvious that Muffet was ill, she was vomiting, had diarrhoea and a very sore stomach. Even after being on antibiotics, nothing seemingly worked. At my wits end I drove in from the farm which is an hour’s drive from town to see Dr Chris Foggin. My opening comment was there something so wrong and I can not fix her!! Chris very calmly gave Muffet an anti spasmodic and stated that I perhaps needed a valium and an early night!

Muffet survived kitten hood. Being very set in her ways and with a very definite idea as to who she was and what she wanted. Muffet was tame towards me but very otherwise with anyone else. She seemed destined for being a wild animal. Being so small I always felt very maternal towards her and worried that should she be released then perhaps she would not make the grade due to her size – I had forgotten to take into consideration the size of Muffet’s heart.

Once Muffet had reached adulthood, she was introduced to William to see if she would be if she could conceive, give birth and raise her young. It was like a duck being introduced to water. Muffet had William exactly where she wanted him and ruled the roost! When she was nearly ready to give birth, we removed William and started getting Muffet ready for the next big step in her life. Duke and Duchess were born on 12 August 2003, Muffet was fantastic and I got to see my first serval birth. These two perfectly formed kittens arrived in the basket. No sooner had Duchess arrived, that Muffet start making a lot of calling noises. She kept running from the basket to the gate, no at all interested in being with the kittens. I would pick her up and put her into the basket and try and get the kittens to latch onto a nipple so that they could drink. But Muffet was not having any of that – no way! After nine hours of trying everything that I could think of to make Muffet accept the kittens, I decided it would be better that I remove them and start hand raising them myself. During the experience Muffet never once showed any aggression towards me, even when I finally removed the kittens and carried them away.

For reasons, which even today I do not fully understand, Muffet touched my life. She became a friend as well as a teacher through out our 11 year journey. Through the farm invasions, I realised just how important we as human handlers with wildlife grow to be one with the animals we care for. That when their routine is changed, it affects them; they sense the struggles and battles which we are experiencing on their behalf. Shortly after the farm invasion, I had to make the decision to either retire Muffet to a life in captivity or plan to release her before she became too old. Release was decided. If you knew Muffet you knew that she wanted to experience the pleasures of being a wild animal. Stalking, hunting and then the final kill, Muffet wanted all of those gifts. With a very heavy heart Muffet went to Marula on 13th June 2006, to get use to her new environment. She settled very well and it was soon evident that she wanted to go free. Six months later, in December 2006, the enclosure door was opened and Muffet walked into the wild with confidence, as well as a little bit of arrogance. Not once did Muffet look back from that moment. After Muffet had been released, it was at least six months and I decided to go and visit her in her new found freedom, so that I had peace of mind that releasing her was the right thing to do. Of course, the day I arrive at Stonehills, Muffet’s signal could not be located. The next day we still could not find Muffet. With each passing day, my anxiety levels increased together with concerns of what might have happened. Then on the fourth day, Mabena (scout tasked with tracking Muffet) radioed through that he had found her signal. Action stations!!! Richard, Bookey and I jumped into the vehicle with meat just in case we found her in bad condition and headed off in the direction of where Mabena had located the signal.

With my heart pounding and my hands sweating, I had a million and one thoughts going through my head. “Would Muffet remember me, would she be aggressive towards me?” I could barely contain myself with excitement, nervousness as well as fear of not knowing how either Muffet or I would react. We reached the area where the signal had been detected by Mabena. We all got out of the vehicle and started walking in the direction of where the beep beeps were coming from. After five or so minutes I started calling Muffet’s name, the excitement was just too much for me and the scientific way of telemetry was not good enough for me at this moment. As soon as I started calling, I heard a meow in return. Muffet had recognised my call!!! It could have been a scene from some romantic movie, one side a woman running and calling and the other side a serval running, meowing and jumping! Once we reached each other, Muffet allowed me to stroke her and play with her, there was absolutely no aggression, hissing or biting. We just talked and walked and for that moment the world stopped and there was nothing that was more important, than Muffet and I bonding once again after a long separation. I fed Muffet some of the meat we had brought, she accepted it but not because she was hungry (as she was in very good condition) but because I had been her mother and accepting the meat is a form of submission in the animal world. Muffet then took me on a walk, marking the trees and allowing me to stroke her as we went. After what seemed like hours, Muffet lay down and I lay next to her, just talking and being with her was like nothing I could explain or put into words. Here was this adult serval who I had nurtured from a kitten; we had survived the land invasions together, moving from one facility to another as well as the release. Now here Muffet was in the place she belonged the wild and at the same time allowing me to interact with her. Just when I felt we were getting really comfortable, Muffet stood up, as I stood up to follow her she hissed at me, making me stop in my tracks. This was the end of the road! Muffet had reunited with me and allowed me to see her world for only as long as it would take for me to be satisfied that she was ok and belonged in the world that she now existed in. Muffet slowly walked away, every so often looking back and hissing at me. As we drove back away from the area where we had just left Muffet, I was sad and over whelmed at the same time. Sad because out here in this world I could not protect Muffet and feared that Muffet did not understand or know half of the dangers which could and would face her, sad because she had been my baby and now was all grown up and able to take care of herself. She had returned to the wild successfully after being born and raised in captivity – this is huge, this is over whelming.

So now I sit here writing about a beautiful cat that had entered my life and had affected me in many more ways than I would ever know. She mapped out the way for so many other orphaned serval in captivity and serval who are to be released. I had let her down; I was not there to protect her from the fate which was to be her ultimate death. How do we protect wildlife in a country like Zimbabwe? Is there a future for these wild creatures, who stories are made from and who roam our land with no malice? In my hearts of hearts I fear that Zimbabwe can not protect her wildlife unless massive changes are made, and the land tenure and law and order are restored. I have reached a turning point once again in my conservation journey thanks to Muffet. My heart is very heavy.

The Trust will do everything we can with the help of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Authority to prosecute the culprit. However no matter what we do, Muffet is gone. Her light has been snuffed out by man, and with her death, a light has been blown out in my life.

In Loving Memory Of Muffet 1998 – 2009
Buddhist saying:
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.  

9 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 13 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Rafiki has returned home! How odd does that sound? Here at the Trust, we spend every day preparing these animals, which remain in our care, for their return to the wild. Believing, in our hearts that freedom is the ultimate joy which any mammal would want to attain. How wrong were we when it came to Rafiki!

Rafiki entered this world on 12 October 2005. Being the only offspring in this litter, sired by Muffet and Geronimo, Rafiki’s genetics were very strong or so we thought! We felt that Rafiki was bound to have a will of his own and if he did not get his own way – a fairly bad attitude, similar to that of both his parents! He could not have been more of the opposite, Rafiki was a timid kitten, who stayed very close to mum at all times, even when Muffet was hissing and spitting at the poor little fellow. As he grew up, Rafiki’s nature continue to be a gentle one. Even though he was totally raised by Muffet, Rafiki was happy to have human interaction from an early age. As he developed into an adult serval, he remained calm and totally accepting of a captive life. Muffet of course had developed an increasing desire to want more from life than captivity. And so, it was decided that the serval mother and son would be released at Stonehills Wildlife Sanctuary in Marula. As Muffet was reaching an age where I felt she would soon, be too old to be released. On 14 June 2006, Muffet and Rafiki were crated and travelled with Lisa to Stonehills Wildlife Sanctuary, where, with the support and help of both Richard and Bookey Peek, a release site had been developed.

Muffet being bold as brass, walked out of her travel crate and started to explore. Rafiki on the other hand was not so bold and remained in his crate for most of the day. In fact it was only with food that we were able to entice him out of the security of his crate. In December 2006, Muffet being totally ready and wanting to explore her new environment was released into ‘freedom’. As Rafiki was still rather young and growing, he was not released until December 2007, when he was now 2 years of age an old enough to have a collar fitted.

Release for Rafiki was not as smooth as it had been for Muffet. For the first few days Rafiki did not really explore very far from his enclosure. Then on the 10 January 2008, we lost his signal for four days. Thankfully on the 15 January he was located just outside the main boundary fence. As soon as he saw and heard familiar people, he came running towards them. He was very thin and extremely hungry. His left back leg had a wound and he was limping. His coat was very matte, and altogether he was a very unhappy serval. It was decided he needed to be recaptured and nursed back to good health. Two dormicum (sedative) were administered in a piece of meat and 30 minutes later, he was calm enough to move him into a crate and back into his familiar enclosure. After looking at his injury, it seemed likely Rafiki had crossed paths with a large male serval also seen in the area, and had received a rather meaningful telling off. This was enough for Rafiki to confirm his insecurities, and he just wanted to come back to a safe and familiar environment. He had found it difficult to hunt, which is unusual for a serval as most of them are hunting in captivity from very early on in their lives.

So, where do we go, from here with Rafiki? This is a very good question. As with the current land issues still facing Zimbabwe, the Tikki Hywood Trust has implanted all the female species, so that they can not breed for the next 18 months. The animals we have implanted have not had research done on them with these implants which is a very good chance for us to try and monitor them and document our findings. As we all know when it comes to smaller mammals, they all too often are forgotten. The first step with Rafiki, is to improve his condition and then see if we can recondition him to a captive world. Having king serval genetics, he is rather different to the other serval we have had, which may prove important in the future. It is hoped the Rafiki will become an ambassador for his species however we are a very long way from that, as he is not at all tame. But for me Rafiki’s story has made me stop and think! Like with the human race each and every animal that passes our way has a character of their own. Not every animal wants to be wild, not every animal has the strength of character to be released, and this is something which we must take in to account when dealing with the future life of these animals. To see a wild animal roaming freely in an environment it was born into is one thing, but to know that I have returned an animal into an environment where he is scared, unable to hunt successfully and not at peace, is something that I do not want to be responsible for.

Rafiki’s parents : Above : Geronimo his father,

Above– Muffet his mother.

For Rafiki, we have recorded the following measurements when he was collared for the first release:

DATE                                 29-Oct-07
NAME                                Rafiki
SEX                                     Male
SPECIES                            Serval
ARKS NO.                          SVA501
CAPTIVE BORN               Yes

BODY MEASUREMENTS
Body length (Crown to rump)                                 77.5 cm
Ear length Inner                                                            8 cm
Girth (at last set of ribs)                                            43 cm
Head (tip of nose to crown)                                       11 cm
Length front paw to elbow (at rest)                        32 cm
Length back paw to hock (at rest)                       19.5 cm
Circumference of neck                                             26 cm
Circumference of scrotum                                     11.5 cm
Length of scrotum (anus to bottom of scrotum)    4 cm
Ground to top of shoulder (standing height)        51 cm
Length of tail                                                          32.5 cm
Length of canines upper left / right                         1.5 cm 2 cm

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OR MARKS / EYE COLOUR Jet black spots. 4 stripes to end of rib cage - he is a half king serval. 2 solid matching stripes bending on inside of front legs.

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Apr 08 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers,

How many times have you heard someone say, “I love all animals”? This seems to be a cliché that is tossed around all too frequently, when in fact, loving and understanding an animal is completely different from admiring them from a distance. Loving an animal unconditionally, means understanding their every mood, need and habit. Knowing what is best for these creatures (and not necessarily yourself) and being selfless enough to give it to them. Nevertheless, in order to know what is best for a wild animal that is kept in captivity, you truly have to work with one, and this should be a privilege. Sadly, this is not the case in Zimbabwe, where private animal collections are feeling the brunt of the economic meltdown. Starvation, poor enclosure conditions, physical & mental abuse seem to be the order of the day. It is now a war of a different kind that we face daily in this stricken country - a fight against cruelty. With so much human tragedy abounding, the welfare of animals always takes second place and people meet their misery out on the fellow creatures, sometimes even in ignorance. What is even more frustrating though is that it does not have to be like this. There are still organisations and individuals who work tirelessly to protect and save all animals and these people need to be given more authority to effect the changes that need to take place.

What brings us to this point is the following sad set of events;

On Saturday 21 March 2009, the Tikki Hywood Trust received a juvenile genet. This terrified creature was brought to us after a call from ZNSPCA, asking if we would be prepared to take it. We at the Tikki Hywood Trust, have worked with the ZNSPCA over the past ten years when ever there has been a cruelty case regarding wildlife. At the Trust we have developed milk formulas, husbandry and management techniques to maintain and breed genet successfully in captivity. We are also prepared to share our information with who ever inquires, our aim is to ensure that all creatures are treated with dignity and respect if they have to remain captive.

After an informal investigation by a respected member of the public, the ZNSPCA was informed of animals and birds that were being kept in undesirable conditions at the Kuimba Shiri Bird Park, a private collection which is situated just outside of Harare city centre. Apparently, the baby genet was being hand-raised by a member of staff and was not on display. To our horror when he/she arrived, she was still in the bird cage that he/she had been kept in all along. This was a birdcage measuring 61 cm x 31cm x 31 cm. The only other thing in the cage with the little creature was a small, dirty towel that was rancid with the smell of urine and fear. Nothing can quite describe the whirlpool of emotions; desperation at the poor little baby pacing frantically in cage where her/his toes push through the bars, unbelievable rage at the people who have done this and THINK IT IS OK?!! Why does this have to happen when there are always alternatives? Why does yet another innocent creature have to suffer immeasurably for human self-gratification?

There are so many questions one could ask, but sadly, no answer will truly be satisfactory. All we do know is that organisations such as ourselves are the ones continually picking up the pieces and trying to help injured, orphaned, and abused animals and return some form of dignity and quality to their lives.

We have yet to determine the gender of our latest arrival, due to his/her very frightened state and horrifying ordeal in such a young life. But all animals that come to us are named within the first 24 hours of being with us, so very diplomatically; this tiny viveriad has been christened “C.K.” (since all our new genet are named after perfumes) – which is androgynous enough to apply to either gender once we confirm it!

CK is definitely underweight and tiny, due to malnutrition. When first let out of the little cage you could clearly see that this was possibly the first time out of the cage for the little one in a very long time. The environment we had chosen was a very secure bathroom with all doors and windows sealed, too much stimulation would have caused problems, and we wanted her/him to feel safe. At the stage of receiving the genet, we were merely temporary custodians, until it could be deliberated, by the authorities as to what his/her fate would ultimately be. What we would like to see happen is that this genet is raised and then released back to a wild environment where it belongs.

Unfortunately, at this stage we cannot show you any pictures of C.K. - he/she is still far too nervous to intrude. However will show a picture of the prison that she was kept in…………..

5 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 16 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Mufasa as as kitten

On 28 February 2009, Mufasa was released at Chishakwe Ranch which is part of the SAVE Valley Conservancy in the south eastern part of Zimbabwe’s lowveld. Mufasa was rather reluctant to just walk out of his new enclosure which had been his home for the past three months. It took us a lot of enticing to get Mufasa to the open gate where we had placed meat. However, once he saw the open gate, he grabbed a piece of the meat and headed off into the veld surrounding the enclosure. Both Nick and I had the telemetry a receiver so that we could track Mufasa. At first he headed north, which was not quite where we wanted him to go, but he needed to explore on his own. This is his first time into the wild and I had the privilege of being a part of that. Once we had managed to redirect Mufasa from continuing his exploration to the North, we left him for an hour to be on his own. Later that same evening, we went back out to track Mufasa. At first I could not get a reading - you can just imagine my panic, the thoughts which travelled through my mind! Has he been attacked, killed? After 20 or so minutes the “beep beep” was heard and my heart relaxed! It is one thing to hear the beep and quite another to actually locate the animal which you are tracking. But after a while, there Mufasa stood, totally relaxed and at ease with our presence. There was, lots to tell about this new adventure. So over the next 20 minutes Mufasa and I walked together in the bush. It does not get better than this feeling. To walk and observe an animal whom you have raised - finally being free and doing what it is that wild animals do, is priceless. With him spraying branches and trees and talking all the while, it made me realise that Mufasa was where he was born to be. He came back to the enclosures, called to Arwen and then trotted back through his gate and into his own enclosure. I followed. Once in his enclosure, he started calling and making a lot of noise. Pawing and scratching at the ground, very excited, and chuffing all the while.

Mufasa coming out of the crate when first moved to Chishakwe Ranch

Mufasa was hand raised by myself (Lisa) and obviously a bond had developed over time, between us. As a human, I am always surprised at my own selfishness in wanting to keep all the animals I raise - just so that I know they are safe forever, and that I know that every day they have food, warmth and what I think they need. But do we as humans really know what these wild creatures need? With each release I am sure a piece of my heart goes with each one of these animals, who have become part of my family. However, when I finally do have the joy of seeing them, walking freely in what is their new freedom - I realise that there is still, so much that we do not understand and that being wild is a gift beyond measure, which as humans, we can give to our fellow mammals, whom we share this planet with. Releasing is a very emotional step which I continue to struggle with even after doing it for so many years. Each animal who takes their first steps into the wild, makes my heart stop and my mind full of what can go wrong. It is so difficult being wild, when you are born into it. So to be captive born, with all the theoretical warmth and comfort that goes with that, and then enter into this new world, has so much against these captive born animals. Have we prepared them sufficiently, will they know how to react to all the new dangerous situations that they might find themselves in? Only time, will tell and we will be the first to report back to you re the adventures in the wild.

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 09 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Our readers were equally as affected as we were here at the Tikki Hywood Trust when we were informed of the senseless murder of Twiza the giraffe (October 2008 blog) and then the brutal killing of the two bull elephants (November 2008 blog) who had been moved to the Chiredzi River Conservancy in the 1992 – 93 drought. Any death of an innocent animal can not received the right justice, in my opinion – however as a result of these deaths, there has been an outcome which we feel is positive and therefore would like to share this with you our supporters.

On the 16 December 2008, the Tikki Hywood Trust sponsored a meeting held at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authorities. This meeting included all of the stakeholders of the conservancies and other personal, involved with the protection of wildlife in Zimbabwe, The Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe Reserved Police and the Attorney General’s Office. The Trust’s aim, to host this meeting was to get some results on the ground in the areas where there is intensive poaching,  as well as for everyone to try and work together to address the horrendous issue of poaching here in Zimbabwe.

The issue which was mirrored by everyone was that the anti –poaching scouts currently on the ground are poorly equiped. These anti poaching units could not, understandably go up against the poachers who were not only armed but dangerous at the same time. How could we expect the scouts to track as well as apprehend poachers who were armed with weapons like AK 47’s when they only had a panga (large bush knife) for protection?

The answer, was quite simply that we needed trained, armed personal on the ground with the authority to shoot, should it be necessary to do so. Each conservancy was allowed to state how many trained rangers from Parks and the ZRP they were allowed. As a result of this meeting, shortly after Christmas these trained personnel were deployed and to date are still on the ground in the various conservancies.

Today when I contacted Theresa ( she lives on Wasara Ranch which is part of the Chiredzi River Conservancy – Twiza’s family) to ask how things were going on the ground with the poaching? Her reply was “we currently have no poaching on Wasara!” With tears in my eyes I re-read and re-read that statement. Six months ago, most people living on the CRC were sure that there was no future for either themselves or the wildlife which still lived in that area.

So a little light has been turned on and animals are being saved. This is not too say by any means that there is not poaching elsewhere, in Zimbabwe, as there most certainly is. But this is one little star fish which has been returned to the sea. Many we find the strength to keep finding and throwing those star fish back one by one.

Above is photograph of wild elephants coming to interact with Teresa’s tame elephants. In this way the tame elephants can habituate and interact and get to know the wild herds so that they can integrate peacefully at a later stage.

Tags: , anti-poaching, hope

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 13 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

On the 11 February 2009, Zimbabwe took yet another step in her history.  The signing of a Unity Government between Zanu - PF and the MDC, had finally been achieved.  We as proud Zimbabweans, wept with both tears of relief and joy.  We now await the rebuilding of our beloved country - Zimbabwe.  Each one of us, will now take a positive step forward with our heads held high and with our hearts over flowing with excitement.  For 10 years we have watch our land being burnt, lying fallow, trees being destroyed, animals being snared and tortured, both for food and money - in short each day slowly but surely our heritage was being lost and our hands were tied.

On behalf of all of us here at the Tikki Hywood Trust we would like to sincerely thank you, our supporters and the people who have stood by Zimbabwe waiting with baited breathe for a positive outcome.  Lets hope that this is that such outcome and together we can start rebuilding this land which we all love!

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jan 28 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers,

Well it seems like we have been quiet for the past few weeks, over the Christmas and New Year period, but believe us, it has not been restful! In the wonderful world of wildlife, there is no such thing as a holiday……….. Animals are really not bothered whether the 25th December is a public holiday or not…….

7th January 2009 was an interesting start to the year. We performed two contraceptive implants in two of our animals: Francis the female civet received a suprelorlin implant as well as Burma, our youngest female African wild cat.

The procedure was performed by Drs. C. Foggin and M. Peacock of the Wildlife Veterinary Unit.

To our knowledge, and to the knowledge of the company that produces the implants (Peptech P/L), these have never been used in African civet before.

At this point some of you readers may well be asking what a breeding centre is doing putting contraceptive implants in their animals??

As always there is method in the madness – and we will explain to you in each case:

Francis has had issues since her arrival at the Trust, as a young, tailless and very mixed up little civet. Her sense of abandonment was extreme and we had to spend a long time building trust with her. It has taken over 16 months to get Francis into a position where she now feels reasonably safe in her environment and so the next step is to integrate her with one of the males. Since she is still a bit sensitive, we would like her to get to know one the boys without the potential of breeding just yet as this could be too much to handle. For this reason, we decided to try a deslorelin implant, which has been successfully used in most felids. Francis has chosen Assisi as her new friend and he is more than willing to make her acquaintance, although they already know each other well through the fence between enclosures.

We do not know for definite yet whether this form of contraception will work in a civet, neither for how long. In felids the implant may last for up to 12 months, so we will monitor Francis closely to this end.

Burma was a straightforward case of temporary contraception, as she is about to be integrated with the youngest male wild cat, Versailles. We want them to bond without reproducing; so that by the time it comes to move them on to the Marula release site they are already paired. We plan for their movement to a release site in March, circumstances willing.

Above is a photo with Burma and the pulse oximeter sensor on her tongue!

At the same time that we did the implants in the two girls, we took the opportunity to knock Hasha, our elderly aardwolf out so that we could give here a thorough physical. Hasha was given a light morning cocktail of dormicum to make her relaxed enough for the next stage of her knock down. Chris Foggin expertly placed a dart in her rump and before long we were brushing and grooming Hasha and giving everything a thorough check. Her teeth are quite worn – which is to be expected for a 17 year old aardwolf. We are pleased to report that she is otherwise in fine health, although perhaps a little underweight in the hindquarters. We will subsequently supplement her diet with a bowl of pronutro at lunch time just to firm her up.

Other news – the bat eared foxes are growing daily. It has been a wonderful privilege to be part of this special time of them growing up; their individual characters are coming through now. Their coats are changing and not surprisingly – their ears are growing! At this stage the boys appear to have slightly longer ears than their sister.

We have had more hedgehogs born! This seems to be a headline for every other blog!! Another two hoglets were born on 20th January to Beatrix (who initially had two hoglets in October last year). Both babies are doing very well. We are now in a position to initiate a substantial release program for the hedgehogs which we hope to collaborate with a local secondary school in the area where most of them have come from.

And so, 2009 seems to have started pretty much where 2008 left off………Let us hope it brings more clarity and purpose to all our respective situations and put us in a position to keep doing what we are passionate about – saving animals and returning them to their natural environments.

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jan 01 2009 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers,

Zimbabwe – once a land of hope, passion and prosperity. Today those have been replaced with dismay, chaos and poverty. In less than a decade, Zimbabwe has changed, and most certainly not for the better. How we continue to fight the good fight I truly have no idea. It is only thanks to so many of us who know and love this land we call home, that we are able to continue.

The turmoil and lawlessness still continues unabated here in Zimbabwe. We move from one horror story to another, poaching, snaring and mayhem is the order of the day it seems. However amongst the sadness, there have been some positive developments with the Trust. It is the end of the year and I fear that this newsletter could be filled with sad stories and this is not my intention. So this newsletter will not focus on outside matters concerning wildlife, but is restricted to our animals, who are oblivious of the goings on in the country and remain content in their own worlds, being animals, which is how I believe it should be.

TIKKI HYWOOD TRUST ANIMAL EVENTS: 

BAT-EARED FOXES

Our top story has to be that of the arrival of our precious Bat-eared foxes from South Africa. Born on the 11th October 2008 but rejected by their mother, I received a call from Ed Hern of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve to say that the precious bundles were available for adoption.

A little bit of background to the Bat-eared foxes; Zimbabwe currently has nine species of wildlife which are Specially Protected by the Zimbabwean Law, one of those nine are the Bat-eared foxes. In 2001, the Tikki Hywood Trust, applied for a permit to breed these amazing creatures in captivity with the aim to release them back into the wild. However, due to the Trust’s policy of not taking healthy animals out of the wild, only taking orphans and or abused animals into our care, it has been a very long wait.

So yet another adventure lay ahead of us. On arriving at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, we were met by Ed and all the necessary documentation and permits were sorted and forwarded to the clearing agents at Beitbridge, so that we were not unnecessarily held up at the border with our very precious live cargo! My heart was beating so fast and my excitement at finally being able to meet with the foxes must have been apparent. At last I was allowed to meet our new babies. On entering a room, I could hear this very unusual squeaking coming from a card board box which had an infra-red light over it. As I peered into the boxes there before me were three tiny faces staring back. My first thought was at how tiny and I mean tiny they were. Not quiet 160 grams! Having mainly had experience with felines, I was expecting the canids to be larger! I went the day before I was due to return to Zimbabwe, so that the foxes could get use to me feeding them and to try and lessen the stress of being with someone new. My first feed was a total disaster and John, who had been feeding the foxes up to date, must have thought “what an idiot!!” The foxes were not at all happy with my new smell and the syringe which had been used to feed them was rather interesting to use, without drowning the pups! It was agreed that I would be doing the next few feeds before I was due to leave the following day. I am pleased to report that with each following feed I improved and the foxes were happier to be fed by me. That night the foxes found their way into my bed and by 2 am the next morning we were all set and ready to return home!

It was a long trip, 22 hours. A huge thank you, to Tim Paulet who was fantastic and very patient with my odd ways. The foxes behaved incredibly well on the journey. Every 4 hours I would mix the milk formula for the pups and feed them, allow them a little bit of time to run around the car before putting them back into their travel basket. The Zimbabwe/South Africa border was another story. Clearing on the South African side was a breeze, however when we arrived on the Zimbabwean side, things were not so smooth and actually challenged ones patience. There was evidence that the cholera situation was not improving and through every doorway we had to go through, a horrendous water trough, which I am sure carried worse germs than cholera! After an hour with a clearing agent things were not looking good. How we managed to leave with all the necessary paper work and the foxes not dehydrated due to the heat, two hours later was a miracle. The Zimbabwean border is most certainly not for the meek and mild or those of us who are impatient!!!

To date the foxes have grown and are now over 600 grams, three weeks after arriving in their new home!

This project would only have been made possible thanks to Tim Paulet and Bevis and Anne Smythe, who are now the official Bat-eared fox sponsors.

AFRICAN WILD CAT

With Zimbabwe in the turmoil that it is in, we have had to take a long hard look at all our projects and give them some serious consideration. What has become increasingly apparent is that our release sites are no longer as secure as what we thought or hoped. There are so many unknown elements on the ground now, with the movement of people in and out of conservancies and protected areas that we now have to rationalize any release to the highest priority of the animal in question. We have therefore decided to implant some of our African wild cat females with contraceptives to temporarily halt breeding. This would also help us with the enrichment and stimulation of the animals, so that male and females can be integrated in the same pen without the worry of babies!

So, with all this in mind we decided that Hooch was the ideal candidate for the first implant, since she was already a successful breeder and had in fact developed a deep and loving bond with Starsky. On Tuesday 28th October 2008, Dr. Chris Foggin together with assisting vet Dr. Margie Peacock arrived at the Trust to perform the procedure. We sedated Hooch with an injection and then Drs. Foggin and Peacock went to work putting the implant just under the skin between the shoulder blades. It was also a good opportunity to re-measure Hooch and check her teeth – which we are happy to report are in very good condition. Hooch recovered very smoothly from the whole procedure and was blissfully oblivious to the waxy cylindrical implant slowly settling into her system. By the 12th November we were confident that the implant was working and so we decided to re-unite the feline couple. It was a pretty anti-climatic re-union – Starsky seemed more intent in making sure there were no food items in Hooch’s enclosure, whilst she seemed more intent on making sure that Starsky still knew what a gentle “tap” from her velvet paws felt like! She was playful to start off with and initiated more contact than he did, but we are very happy to report that the pair have settled into a comfortable mutual co-existence and occasionally can be found napping side by side when they think no-one is looking!

Two days after the excitement of Hooch’s implant we had another African Wild Cat event – Versailles managed to get out of his enclosure and decided to visit India & Burma on the 30th October. The escape artist was discovered during feeding time, where he was sitting patiently at the gate to the girls’ enclosure. This presented rather a dilemma as he would not go quietly back to his own enclosure, it was getting dark so drugging him was not an option (as it would have to be oral and would take too long to achieve). Our only recourse at that point in time was to put him in the same enclosure as the girls. India was summarily removed as there was a potential that she would have fought with him. After several hours of waiting and gingerly checking at the gate – Versailles was eventually encouraged with a chicken to go into the enclosure with Burma. Ultimately, he seemed quite pleased with himself to have achieved this purpose and celebrated by chasing Burma exuberantly around the enclosure!
Once we were certain that he was settled and not going anywhere further, we had to decide on a plan to remove Burma, otherwise there would definitely have been little pitter patter of kittens’ feet. To achieve this, we had to drug Burma to catch her. She was issued with a little blue sleeping tablet (we use dormicum) in a chicken and once the drug started taking effect, she was wobbly enough for Lisa to encourage her into a basket to be moved.
And so the tale of Versailles’s self-initiated enclosure rotation ends on a happy note.

SERVAL

We have delighted in watching our little serval family grow. We have said it before, and say it again here that Arwen has been an amazing mother, very tolerant and totally accepting of our presence in hers & her babies’ lives. Evenstar has grown into a beautiful, confident male serval with a very happy go lucky disposition. His little sister, Quickbeam, is shy and more reserved, having taken on some of her aunt Shenzi’s traits (Mufasa’s sister). In late August we started rotating mother and kittens to the neighbouring enclosure to give them some different stimulation. This all went very smoothly, with everyone enjoying the new sights and smells and the kittens very quickly discovering favourite sleeping spots in the thick ivy.

Throughout August and the following month, we continued to rotate the serval. Whilst mother & babies were in the main enclosure, Mufasa would go to the dense jungle that we commonly refer to as our nursery. As to be expected – Arwen started to come into a regular oestrus cycle not long after the birth of the kittens and of course Mufasa could pick this up and was confused as to why he could no longer be with her. This caused some frustration with him and he would pace at the inter-leading gate. When we are faced with behaviour like this, we try to understand it and find a way of trying to stop it, not only for our own purposes but also for captive animals the world over. A method that we have found to be effective in these situations is to give the animal a mild sedative so that the whole situation is calmed down. Also bear in mind that these creatures are mostly nocturnal as well, so moving around in inappropriate daylight hours will make them even more agitated. In this case with Mufasa, we decided to use Valium (also known as diazepam), a well known human sedative and anxiety drug. What we have subsequently discovered, that valium has a not so nice side effect – it causes aggression in the feline species. So we have subsequently stopped using it and replaced it with a drug called rivotril which reacts quickly in the cat as well as proving to have no side effects.

The beginning of December saw the biggest move since the Trust has been involved with serval. The release of a complete family of serval. Mufasa, Arwen, Evenstar and Quickbeam have all been moved to Chishakwe into the Phase two of the release program. Chishakwe Ranch, in the SAVE Valley Conservancy is the newest release site, and we are delighted to have the support of Derric Wilson, L.J. Campbell as well as Nick and Sarah Greef and Rosemary Groom. Our human family is growing!

Releasing any animal into a new environment is certainly a very emotional step. When these helpless animals enter one’s life, you are never fully prepared to see them leaving your safe and secure environment and heading off into a new one, even though it is for the best and the next stage in their step into freedom. I never quiet understood my parents’ faces when saying goodbye to us at the airport as we embarked on a new and exciting journey into the big wide world. However, with moving the serval, I realised just how hard it must be for each parent saying goodbye to their special babies who have now grown up and are now trying to find their wings. It is all too daunting and there is so much that can go wrong yet at the same time so much that is wonderful, new and exciting.

The capture and collaring of wild animals is always a stressful affair. Hence here at the Trust we try to work on what we call a passive capture. With the use of Dormicum which is a human drug used primarily in people to help them sleep, the cats are subjected to less stress and it also has an amnesic effect, which means they have no memory of what happens whilst under the influence of the drug. So at 5.30 am on the 1st December 2008 all the serval were dosed with dormicum orally. They were then left for at least 40 minutes so that the drug could start taking affect. Arwen was affected the most and in less than 20 minutes it was very obvious that she was under the influence. The key with using this drug is not to rush it, and allow the properties of the drug to take full affect before working with the animals. Arwen was the first cat to go down and be sedated enough to place the collar onto and then get her into a box. The second was Evenstar whose hunger over took him and he chased after a piece of meat which was thrown into the crate. Quickbeam took a lot more persuasion but nonetheless finally moved into the crate prepared for her. The hardest serval to work with was Mufasa. Even though he had double the dose that was given to Arwen, the affects of the drug did not seem to be quiet as strong in his system as it had been for her. I did not want to drug him further as this would be more stressful as well as allowing a potential for more complications. So very gently and slowly I managed to place the collar onto Mufasa’s neck as well as secure it, amazing that these animals can develop so much trust with their human counter parts. This side of wild animals never ceases to amaze me; their unconditional love in those of us that work with them on a daily basis and perhaps this is one of the reasons as to why I have found it so difficult to let them go. After 20 minutes, Mufasa was collared and in his crate ready for the trip to Chishakwe.

Not only was this also the first time that we were releasing an entire family, but Ellen was in charge of the transportation as well as placing the serval into what will be their new environment at Chishakwe without me and making sure they were settled in this environment. She was calm, thorough and did a sterling job. On arrival, the cats were offloaded into a cool dark place and the enclosure was inspected. Like with anything new, there are always the odd hiccups and teething problems. The biggest worry at was the fence was not having enough voltage to stop interested predators such as leopards and baboons as well as the larger animals who might just be curious about this new environment such as elephants and rhinos. Thankfully due to all hands on deck and everyone working to the same end result, the fence was sorted and all worries were laid to rest. We have just received an email from Sarah saying that Mufasa has caught his first hornbill – this is the first step to the cats ultimate release and puts my mind at ease that the serval have started to adjust to their new environment.

HEDGEHOGS

Hedgehogs, hedgehogs and more hedgehogs! This has been the best breeding season ever with regards to the hedgehogs. Four litters by the end of November, totalling 16 babies born so far. And we are expecting at least two more litters before the end of the hedgehog breeding season which is February / March 2009. Gemima, Miss Tiggy and Beatrix have been incredible mothers, raising their babies without any human intervention – we are relieved to report.

So why have we finally had such success? Well I do believe it is due to a few reasons which I will point out below;

• Firstly, the diet is very important and from a near 80% carnivorous diet we have introduce fruit on a daily basis where their diet now consists of at least 70% fruit and 30% meat.
• The environment is totally controlled with regards to temperature and this I do believe has made a huge difference. Throughout winter we kept their environment at a constant 24 oC plus – even with the lack of ZESA (electricity). Hedgehogs are prone to respiratory infections and in the past we have had mortalities due to pneumonia. Apart from ring worm, we have not experienced any respiratory problems or other ailments.
• We have also kept the females separate from the males. When the females are in season then the males are introduced, but only for awhile during the mating and then removed. When the hoglets are born we make sure that the females are on their own and that there are no disturbances.

GENET

Since our last newsletter, we have released four genet! Rascal & Widget, the two young males were the first to taste the freedom of Gosho Park (located near Springvale School & Peterhouse Girls school in Marondera – see our newsflash entitled Spots & Spines) The release has been highly successful and the boys have been sighted since the release which is hugely encouraging. Following this, Munchkin’s two offspring of 2007, Este & Lauder, were the next to be released in the same manner as the two boys. So, on the 8th November they were relocated to Robyn & Andy Jouchin, where they were left to settle until the 30th November and were then released. Both releases were what we call “soft-release” where a door or window is just opened and it is up to the animal to decide to go or stay. We are pleased to report that neither Este nor Lauder were hesitant in any way – they went out confidently and we believe have settled into the sights and sounds of Gosho very happily. What has been interesting, is the two boys who were both hand raised, were more hesitant in leaving their new safe environment and once released kept coming back to that environment. Where as the naturally raised genet, went wilder in the new environment and once released have not look back.

The genet news certainly doesn’t end there. The two orphaned genet, Coco & Dior have been the subject of some deliberation since they do not have a strong future as wild genet due to their respective setbacks. A further complication was that both were maturing sexually, and Dior was having some rather unbrotherly thoughts about his sister! Since separation was not an option, it was decided that Dior should be sterilized. So on the 30th September, Dior had his operation at Chisipite Veterinary Surgery under the care of Dr. Claire Savage and Dr. Margie Peacock and their assistants. The whole operation was hugely successful and Dior’s recovery was very rapid. We are also excited to report that it was the first genet castration performed by Drs Savage & Peacock and certainly the first performed at Chisipite Vet Surgery.

Eight days later, Dior having recovered very well from his operation, both these little genet were moved to an outside enclosure (having previously only lived indoors with us). They adjusted amazingly well and even became more approachable to new people. Due to the fact that they had settled so well, we decided that the next step would be to integrate all the genet, so that they could also be rotated in their enclosures. At the same time that we did the implant in Hooch, we made a decision to try the implant in Coco as well – as this type of contraceptive had not been tested in genet.

It has to be said that putting the implant in Coco was not as smooth sailing as it was in Hooch. For a start, immobilizing a genet is not so simple – their metabolic rate is so much higher than a wild cat and they react unpredictably to various drugs. She was given a dormicum (orally) at first to make her sedate and then given ketamine and xylazine to knock her out. Once she was anaesthetised, the implant then had to be manually cut in half as the dose was for an animal of 5kg. It is inserted subcutaneously in the skin between the shoulder blades. There was a slight hiccup when the implant came out with the needle and had to be sterilized and re-inserted. However, this was done expertly by Drs Foggin and Peacock and then Coco was put in a recovery box until she came round. But, it did not end there for Coco, 24 hours after the implant was put in, she got very sick. Her temperature plummeted and she was lethargic and off her food. She was brought back into the cottage for a couple of days and was nursed back to strength. We still are not 100% certain what caused this problem but it definitely had something to do with the implant whether it was a secondary infection from the entry wound or the implant itself. There is a very happy ending to this tale though – both Coco and Dior are absolutely fine after their respective sterilizations and they are integrated with Munchkin and the three are getting on famously.

CIVET

Francis has been a case study since arriving at the Trust. She has developed and grown into a magnificent female civet, however she has not totally overcome her pacing and panic attacks. With this in mind, we feel that maybe by introducing Francis to Assisi, our orphan male civet, she might be able to learn from him to be more relaxed and to sleep when civet are supposed to sleep – during the day!
There are always little events that serve as gentle reminders (and sometimes not so gentle!) that we are dealing with wild animals that can be aggressive and unpredictable. Francis is certainly no exception, and there is nothing quite as terrifying as a full frontal attack by a snapping and snarling civet. On the evening of 17th October Francis decided to show her “wild” side when Ellen walked into the enclosure with a late evening snack for all the civet. Fortunately no blood was shed, but it has reminded us that even routine behaviours can give unpredictable results. Thankfully we can report that no love was lost in the incident and Ellen & Francis have made up, but we have come up with a new game plan with regards to Francis and her introduction to Assisi. Sometime in the first week of Jan 2009 we are going to put a Suprelorin implant into Francis for contraception. By doing this we can rather focus on her and the introduction to the male civet without worrying about the possibility of breeding. The implant should work for approximately 12 months, which we feel is sufficient time for her settle and hopefully Zimbabwe. We will definitely keep you all posted!

PANGOLIN

The pangolin has to one of the most challenging animals I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Nothing prepares you for being in the presence of a pangolin. Since my first encounter with a pangolin in 2000, I continue to marvel at these creatures. This most certainly is an animal that sees right into your soul. No wonder the elders of long ago – so revered this mammal, and deemed it so sacred that only a King or chief could receive them. Since the farm invasions and the Trust having to move, we have not been able to do too much work with the pangolin other than working on the transmitters and assisting in getting pangolins released from National Parks.
Thankfully, we have found Roxy Danckwerts of Chedgelow Farm, to be another person whose life is being touched by these phenomenal mammals. Roxy has a wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Harare, taking in animals who have been on farms that were invaded and orphaned animals who otherwise would have no where to go. Each animal is not only given the most amazing environment to live in but they are individual adored and taken care of.

On 25th August 2008 Roxy received a young female pangolin and immediately contacted the Trust. Due to the fact that we no longer had suitable facility to maintain pangolin, Roxy very kindly agreed to keep “Mbira” at Chedgelow Farm, as she has a better food source to maintain a pangolin – ants and termites! Each pangolin needs to walk a minimum of two to three hours a day to forage, so this is near impossible to achieve based in town. When we name an animal, a lot of thought goes into that naming. So what is “Mbira”? – in our Zimbabwean culture it is a musical instrument, normally associated with bringing rain which means bringing hope, or communicating with the ancestral spirits.

It seemed that our pangolin acquisitions were not going to stop there, on 22nd October “Tsonga: was delivered to the National Parks Head Quarters – another juvenile female pangolin. (Tsonga – African musical flute bow) We were contacted and asked if we could take her on, as she was too young to release back into the wild. Without hesitation I collected her from Parks and drove straight out to Roxy. On arrival Tsonga, appeared to be in good condition, just under weight, which is to be expected due to the time of year, and also we were not sure how long she had been in captivity. However due to their age, this underweight condition would prove to be the most challenging issue to face. Cape Pangolin, are by far one of the world’s hardest animals to keep in captivity and one of the biggest obstacles is their specialized diet. The Cape Pangolin just will not eat an artificial diet, even after trying the same diets which are used on the Chinese pangolin and the Tree pangolin both of whom are native to Asia, our pangolin quite simply refuse all substitute diets. Through our work with pangolin at the Trust, we have found that they need to walk in order to find their prey, (which consist mainly of ants and termites) I believe that the walking stimulates their digestive juices, enabling them to eat. Pangolins have incredible mouths & stomachs. The mouth does not open with jaws but it is tubular, through which a long tongue protrudes. The stomach is highly muscular, much like a bird’s gizzard, which enables the pangolin to grind up the insect bodies of the ants and termites that it eats.

All the Danckwerts’ and their staff have been truly amazing with these girls. Being such an intensive animal, each pangolin requires two handlers, so as they can be walked daily. These two have been giving everything a pangolin could wish for in captivity; a secure and artificially heated den complete with their own duvets, dedicated handlers who walk with them for hours each day and the love and attention lavished on them by Roxy and family. The Trust would like to extend a huge thank you to the Danckwerts family and all at Chedgelow Farm, for their support and dedication towards the future survival of this very important species – the Cape Pangolin.

OTHER ANIMALS

Even though the Trust’s focus is mainly on wild animals there have been a few domestic ones that have found their way into our lives. Frank, who is short for Frankenstein, is a chicken. Yes a chicken, which has spent the best part of his life contributing to ostrich research by having to give his blood daily. When I met Frank at the Wildlife Veterinary Unit, it has to be said I was rather shocked. I then asked Chris Foggin whether it would be possible for Frank to retire at Greenhills and live out his days that once he had reached an age where he could no longer be bled,. Being a man of his word, Chris let me know when that time had arrived for Frank to be retired and so he came home. What a chicken he has subsequently been. It has to be said Frank rules this roost.

On the 24th September 2008 – Frank was to get a true friend in the form of a young Boran bull calf who we named Tutelo. With the shortage of livestock feed and the continuous burning which takes place in Zimbabwe around this time of year, there have been many cows that have given birth but have not been able to feed their young. Tutelo was one of these such victims. Having never raised a domestic mombe (this is the Shona word for “cow”) it was to be yet another learning curve. Tutelo found himself in a wooden box right by my bedroom. Being a lot larger than the animals I am use to raising it was decided that he could not be litter trained at such an early age and that therefore the bed was out! One has to have some standards! Tutelo and Frank became inseparable and great friends, when the time came for Tutelo to move outside due to his weight and not being able to lift him into his night box, he and Frank would keep each other company outside in the new paddock which was erected for him. To date, Frank is still at Greenhills running the roost and Tutelo has gone to learn how to become a young bull.

And then came Barbatis! Late one evening on the 14th October Ellen found a young fledgling black-eyed bulbul lying on the floor outside. As it was dark there was no way of trying to find the parents, we kept him warm over night so that is how Barbatis came to into our lives. Pycnonotis Barbatis is the zoological name for these common garden birds but by no means was Barbatis common. Sharing anything from poached egg to macaroni, he was one of the happiest little (non-blue) birds we have ever met.

From the photo you can see that Kimba is growing! She has settled into her little family herd like she had always belonged there. She still definitely has only one tusk and it seems that this is how she is to be. This is one little success story that is a constant source of encouragement for all of us.

KUSANGANISA

2008, has been a very trying time for all involved in Kusanganisa here in Zimbabwe. At this stage, morale from teachers, children and parents are incredible low. No sooner, had we survived the election period and were about to take a breath, when the Government teachers started striking due to the ridiculously low salaries which they were given. These teachers could not even afford to go into town to cash their pay cheques and then get home again because the transport charges would be more than their salaries! So, after a lot of soul searching and looking at options, we realised that only way to keep the teachers motivated and teaching, was to subsidise them. It is with great pride and relief that I can report that during the country-wide teacher strikes, the teachers at the Kusanganisa schools stuck to their jobs and they all tried to maintain normality within their respective schools. With the year end exams, we were worried that not all the grade seven children would be able to write them due to excessive costs and the lack of exam papers being issued to the schools. Once the exams were finished, parents decided that there was not much reason for the children to attend school anymore with the country in its current situation and this has put a serious damper on our phase three projects. Without the children, the phase three projects like the cropping and the livestock programs have no real purpose, as it is the school children who are supposed to learn from them.
Perhaps with hindsight, we would have seen that we were overly ambitious with the Tobacco crop project at Nehanda School this year. High on the success of our onion crop, we first discussed the option of tobacco with the teachers and the parents, and there was much excitement as it is a commercially viable crop with good return. We were also going to have a constant source of advice and management of the crop through the Mashonaland Tobacco Company who were to assisting with the tobacco crop. After getting off to a slightly late start on the 4th November, the ridging and pre-fertilizing was done. It was at this critical stage of the crop that the Grade 7 children stopped coming to school. So without the children, the tobacco crop would not have enough labour to make sure the tobacco seeds would reach the critical 6 weeks stage without the weeds attacking them and killing them. After careful consideration and discussions with both the teachers of Nehanda and Chris Sheppard of Mashonaland Tobacco, we have decide to pull the tobacco crop for this coming season and focus on the next season.

There is nothing more bitter in the mouth that the prospect of failure, and I must admit that I have taken this collapse of the project rather personally. I was, wanting the horse to gallop towards the finish line so to speak, when actually the horse had a broken leg! The teachers of Nehanda School were way out of their depth with this project as none of them had any tobacco-growing experience. Added to this, the lack of support from the children, who themselves are only listening to their parents who are also suffering from the depression that Zimbabwe is in. To recover from the completely demoralizing aspect of the failed crop, we rallied together and put an incentivizing program for the teachers to grow their own maize at the school. This is at least a crop that they all know very well and better still – a food source for the hard months ahead. We will then have to concentrate on just surviving this coming year and making sure that the teachers are totally focused and introducing the importance of our environment, now more than ever, because our future generations need to know how to co-exist with their environment and not destroy it! There is no back up plan when it comes to Africa and the Government protecting the interests of her people. The people need to become self-sufficient and not always relying on someone else.

SPONSORS

As always, we cannot express enough gratitude to all the people who make it possible for us to do what we do here at the Trust. Without the help and support that you give us, our work would be extremely difficult and in many instances impossible. We hope that you feel as much a part of progress of the work with the Tikki Hywood Trust as we feel that you are.

African Genesis
Bevis & Anna Smyth
Buddy Mockford
Bushman Rock Estates
Chishakwe Ranch
Cipla – Dr Craig Mincher & Michelle Louw
Country Animal Clinic - Karin Wilson
Croplink
Danckwert’s Family & Chedgelow Farm
Drakemed Supplies – Albert Nortje
Friend Foundation
Graham Smith
Gunther Kerschbaumer – Gunther Kerschbaumer
Hermanus Vet Hospital - Michelle Lawrance & Lindsay
Irvine’s Chickens
Julian Howard
Karl van Laeren
Koala Park Abattoir
Kyron Laboratories – Candice Lamb
Louise Erhet
Mashonaland Tobacco Company
N. Tselentis (PVT) Ltd.
Paul & Kim Wolfe
Pegasus Homeopathic - Ian Wheeler
Richard Rennie Gallery & Framing Centre
Save Foundation Australia
South African Flower & Gem Essences – Janet Unite-Penny
Spar Ballantyne (Meyer Rick)
Stone Hill Sanctuary
The Donkey Trust – Ian Redmond
Tim Paulet
Willowmead Junction

3 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 15 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers,

We at the Tikki Hywood Trust are delighted to anounce the arrival of our three baby bat-eared foxes.  They were born on the 11 October 2008, at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in South Africa.  Ed Hern (Owner of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve), knew that the Tikki Hywood Trust had been looking for orphaned Bat-eared foxes for the past seven years!  The mother of these babies rejected them and Ed had to take them away for their survival.

You can only imagine how delighted I was to receive the information about the baby foxes.  After all the permits, both CITES export and import permits, as well as the veterinary permits obtained, I went and collected the babies.  At first glance I was amazed at just how tiny they were.  Three faces peered up at me from inside their box, wondering who on earth was this new person now trying to feed them. The first fed was a disaster, thankfully the following feds improved and by 2 am the following morning we were all ready and packed for the long drive back to Zimbabwe.  The three babies who had already been named Khalahari, Sahara and Aryan, were settled into a basket and every four hours were allowed out of their basket and fed.  For such a long road trip 21 hours plus an hour at the South African/Zimbabwean border, all pups travelled very well with out any hiccups along the way.

Today all pups have put on more than three times their weight and are growing daily.  We are delighted to be able to report a positive story for once from this part of the world.  Each day throws us different challenges here in Zimbabwe, however as soon as you see these innocent faces of the foxes, your heart melts and you realise why it is just so important to continue saving our wildlife, our heritage.

4 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 18 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers

This post is not for the meek and mild.  As a follow up on the wounded bull elephant who was shot in the CRC, this was his unfortunate fate.  I have been working in conservation for the past 15 years and there is nothing that will ever prepare me for this barbaric practice of shooting or poaching wildlife.  Nothing, can change what has taken place, and there is nothing that can heal these wounds that Zimbabwe is currently experiencing.  These two majestic elephants who were in the prime of their lives - have been taken by mans greed and lack of ability to see into the future and save something today for tomorrow.

When I was growing up, I heard people talking about the next generation and what they will not get to see in their life time.  Well it has not even taken a generation to destroy the wildlife as it once was in Zimbabwe.   Areas, where I use to roam and enjoy the wonders of the wild are now being cleared for agricultural purposes.  Wildlife that use to graze within meters of a vehicle are now running for cover the minute there is any human presence and sadly the variety of game that used to be seen on any one trip has now gone.

The hardest thing of all to come to terms with, is that this massacre is being allowed to continue.  Without law and order in Zimbabwe, it will be near impossible to try and stop the poaching.  I fear that Zimbabwe is a ship in full sail, but alas she has got no rudder!

5 responses so far