Zimbabwe Seven

The gusty months of August have arrived, which in Zimbabwe normally means fire month. High winds and hot dusty air carry sparks and flames across the country where adequate protection is not provided, turning our valuable land, black – losing all its value in grazing and browsing. By Zimbabwean Law, we are not allowed to burn fire breaks after the 31 July, as it is considered too dangerous to burn after this date. Thanks to a hugely combined effort, we have managed in a very short period of time to cover a large area of Hwange’s boundary, which will prevent winter fires from ravaging the land.  To undertake a task such as this was at first very intimidating for the Trust, as we have never ventured into this area of the country, and had no knowledge of the magnitude of the undertaking which lay ahead.  Had it not been for the personnel at the Hide, as well as The Friends of Hwange Trust, together with National Parks, we most certainly would not have been able to achieve the successful outcome.

Being Zimbabwe’s largest National Park of 14 600 square km, Hwange is considered our premier wildlife park, home to the big five and boasting a variety of habitat and terrain, from open Serengeti like plains to balancing granite boulders and old camel thorn forests. A good 40 % of the boundary is demarcated by a railway line, which is infinitely useful as a firebreak in itself, provided is it maintained. Due to the very limited amount of time available to burn and bringing into consideration the prevailing fire factors as well as which areas were more important to protect, a working plan was put into action by an enthusiastic and collaborative group of people.

It is important to note that apart from the following foreign donors, SAVE Foundation Australia, Friends Of Hwange – Australia and LT General Sir Richard Swinburn of the United Kingdom, this project was entirely sponsored by concerned Zimbabweans. Our sincere thanks go to all of you, who supported this initiative and hence financially or physically, made it happen. The reason I am mentioning this is that all too often when something happens in a country, to do with her wildlife, the world is ready to take up arms and protest. However, when it comes to solving the problem, the silence that follows a cry for help is deafening. Zimbabwe has been under a very watchful eye of late and I do feel that through what was, potentially a disaster in the making, positive strides have been made to not only correct that, but also to address other very important issues such as fire breaks which are labour intensive and costly to maintain.

Vehicles, sweat and manual labour were the order of the day, with the odd lit match here and there and like to the pioneers of old, the fire break teams cut through the bush creating a protective strip of already burnt veldt that would stop an uncontrolled fire. In many places, the roads also serve as fire breaks and these were re-vamped and ploughed to spec. Please see detailed map below of work done:

As always, commitment to a project of this enormity is what makes it happen. The Tikki Hywood Trust gratefully acknowledges the input and effort from all people and organisations, whom have assisted and participated in making Hwange safer from wild fires this year.

For those of you who have not, yet read the full story of the animals captured in Hwange National Park, who were destined for an overseas zoo, please read our previous blog  dated: July 10^th 2010 at           

www.zimbabwe7.wildlifedirect.org

The very, anticipated morning arrived, 12^th July 2010.  Makwa and Kennedy (the juvenile male and female elephants) were to be moved to their new, if only temporary home – Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust (WHWT) in Victoria Falls.  Both young elephants could not have behaved more perfectly.  Thanks to the skill of Vic Coetzee and his years of experience in wildlife capture and handling, both elephants walked out of the bomas, which had been their home for the past two months, and onto the truck which was to take them to WHWT.  When I learnt, that Vicus had agreed to do the capture and translocation of these two elephants, it most certainly brought a smile to my face.  In 1992 it was the legendary Clem Coetzee, Vicus’s father who taught me about wildlife and what conservation meant.  I was to learn over those three months of moving family herds of elephants out of the drought stricken Ghonerezhou National Park, that people who care can move mountains, or perhaps in this case elephants.  

We were delighted that the two National Park Elephant, handlers who were taking care of Makwa and Kennedy in Hwange, were coming along as well to settle the elephants into their new home. This is hugely, important as the handlers have become the elephants surrogate family, and to minimise the stress and fear of translocation it is vital that they have a familiar face to reassure them.  The trip from Umtshibi in Hwange National Park to WHWT is around 200 kms, so both elephants were given a mild sedative which helped with the journey. 

 When the truck arrived with both Makwa and Kennedy, the resident elephant herd at WHWT, could be heard.  Makwa the female was the first to leave the safety of the truck.  She was escorted to her new stable where there was food, water and browse ready, for her.  Kennedy, the more wary of the two, followed shortly after Makwa.  They were stabled independently but along side each other.  Makwa and Kennedy were captured from two separate herds and so are not related, so in affect the two of them have to adapt to one another as well.  The reason why the two young elephants have to now go through this rehabilitation phase is because the can not be returned to their family herds from which they were taken.  When they were captured, they were going to an overseas zoo, and therefore parent herds were not marked for post-capture monitoring. So this means that their family herds cannot be reliably identified.

The following day both Makwa and Kennedy were taken out of their stables and introduced to the main herd which is to become their new family.  This is still the first step in the rehabilitation of these two elephants, however so far things are looking positive and for the first time in a couple of months both elephants got to walk in amongst the bush, where they should always be.  They are now part of a process where they will be socialising with other elephants of all ages, to develop a more natural herd system.  By these two elephants being introduced to older elephants, they will also be disciplined and taught the social graces of what it is to being an elephant, a wild one that is.

Dear Readers,

Many of you have heard about the saga that has unfolded in the wildlife industry over the past few months, here in Zimbabwe. To briefly encapsulate the story: Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) entered into a business transaction with an overseas zoo.  Zimbabwe was to supply a selection of specimens with which to restock the zoo, in the press this was known as, a “Noah’s Ark” of animals, each species being represented by a minimum of a pair. Whilst it is not uncommon for zoos to occasionally restock their collection from wild caught animals, it has of recent years become a frowned upon practice by many conservation groups and individuals. In fact, it is now supported by research that it is not in the best interest of any animal, to be removed from its natural state to an artificial one, no matter how good the artificial conditions may be. So, when it became public knowledge that this transaction was going to take place, it raised concerns from both local and international organisations alike.

After giving the issue due consideration, the ZPWMA made an executive decision, to cancel the deal and release the captured animals back to wild.

It was at the request of the Director General of ZPWMA, Mr Vitalis Chadenga, that the Tikki Hywood Trust was asked to assist with the release of the animals which had been destined for the overseas zoo.

Before I give an account of what took place I would like to give you two words, with their Oxford English dictionary meanings, and I would like you to give due consideration to those two words, before reading further;

WILD:  living or growing in the natural environment, not inhabited or changed by people – uncontrolled.

 CAPTURED: to take or get by force – take prisoner.

Having had the privilege to work with wild animals, I can honestly say, that there is nothing more disturbing, than witnessing wild animals that have been captured and then placed in a completely unnatural and therefore hostile environment. Time was of the essence and we had to get those animals released, as soon as possible. After being given the mandate by the Director of Parks, to co-ordinate this release, our journey started earlier morning Friday 25^thJune 2010.  Thanks to a very generous Zimbabwean, we were able to have the use of his skills as a pilot, as well as his plane.  Without this hugely charitable action, the work which lay ahead of us would have been so much more gruelling and stressful. However, flying purposefully over the Zimbabwe landscape made me realised that I am immensely proud to be part of what this country has had to offer. Since we had left very early in the morning the sun was rising as we neared Hwange National Park and as we came in to land, there was a herd of wild elephants, mothers with babies by their sides.  For me, seeing this herd was incredibly significant as to what we were about to undertake.

Once, the plane had landed we met up with Gary Cantle of Friends of Hwange Trust, who was our transporter on the ground assisting the release of the animals back to the Park.  We drove straight to Main Camp where we met with the Parks personnel to discuss the next two days operations, and to make sure that we were releasing the animals back into areas where they had been captured so that they had the best chance of meeting up with their respective social groups.  The co-operation from all parties involved was inspiring, and we all seemed to know what was expected of us and worked together to one common goal which was to get these animals out and released back into their wild home!    Once all the meetings and discussion had been completed and assurance was given that all the necessary permitting was in order, we drove to Umtshibi (Capture unit headquarters for National Parks in Hwange).  I am not sure if it was excitement or fear that made me unable to sit still whilst driving through the sand veldt of Hwange National Park en route to the holding area where we were to see the animals.  When we arrived on site at Umtshibi, my heart was beating an erratic and painful rhythm against my ribs, and my hands were sticky and clammy from sweat.  Nothing ever prepares me for seeing animals who are miserable within their environments, but even more soul destroying is seeing the long distance stare, that wild caught animals develop, wondering what on earth happened and how did they end up behind bars!?

As we entered the area there was a heaviness which prevailed – we walked, slowly towards the Samango monkey’s cage. In the corner of the cage huddled together and staring outside we found the three Samango monkeys, who had been captured in the Vumba which is in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.  There was a male, who was a lot bigger than I had expected and two smaller females – one of which had a very sore arm, perhaps even broken. Attached to the back of their cage was another cage with two young warthogs in.  From the scars on their faces it was evident that these two young warthog were terrified, and no sooner had you looked at them, than they started running into the fence and around and around the cage!  Wanting desperately not to heighten the stress for these two animals, we backed away to check on the hyenas who had only been caught within the last two weeks.  Both of these hyenas were young. Mercifully, the hyaena’s clan where still in the area close to the holding bomas, where they had been captured, and we knew this by the fresh spoor which was sighted, around Umtshibi from the previous night. Next were the two rock hyraxes that were together and thankfully had hiding places inside their portable cage.  They would be the first to move as they had to be transported to where other rock hyraxes occur in Hwange.  We could just transport them in the cage that had been their home for the past couple of months, without having to stress them further.

The two elephants were the next to visit. The two little innocent animals had been named after the pans where they were captured, Makwa and Kennedy.  Fortunately both elephants were in good condition thanks to the input of both Varden Safaris, a specialist horseback tour operator based at Umtshibi, and the Parks personnel on the ground.  Taking care of juvenile elephants is no mean feat.  There is a daily requirement of cutting excessive amounts of browse as well as hay and cubes.  Apart from the feeding side of juvenile elephants being in captivity, they also get very bored and stressed and require constant company because they are so young.  Both elephants had bonded with their handlers and you could see a rapport with handler and elephant.  Makwa and Kennedy are bound for Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust (WHWT) based in Victoria Falls to be integrated and rehabilitated with a herd of elephants that are ultimately to be released.  WHWT, had brought one of their handlers who would be working with the Parks handlers to help with the cross over from one group of handlers to the next. National Parks have further aided this transition by allowing their staff to accompany the elephants to WHWT in Victoria Falls, and staying with them until they were adjusted to their new family. WHWT, will be feeding the two elephants at Umtshibi until they can be safely moved to their new home.

It was midday when we loaded the rock hyraxes into the vehicle and off we went to release them where there were other hyraxes in the Park.  It was the first time I had been to Hwange National Park, so if it had not been for Friends of Hwange who knew the Park intimately, we would have struggled to find the suitable environment, rocky outcrops and other hyraxes for these two hyraxes to join up with.  102.6 kms later the vehicle stopped at what must have been the first rocky outcrop we had seen since leaving Umtshibi.  Gary Cantle stated that this was the area where he had seen other hyraxes.  It looked perfect, rocks boulders and still pools of water in the rocks.  Quickly we removed the cage and carried it to the rocks.  Christine Shields (from ZNSPCA) and I each carried one of the hyraxes out within the tube that they had been hiding in for the journey.  Once facing the rocky outcrops the female hyrax (braver of the two) very slowly inched her way out of the tube. In a blur of fur, she was off not looking back running into the bush!  Once the female was out, she straight away ran up into the rocks, jumping from boulder to boulder – she was back in her natural environment and you could see it.  The male on the other hand, did not want any of it, and remain tucked up inside of where he had been hiding for the journey.  I wanted them to stick together, so quickly I moved him in his hiding box of safety to where the female was and kindly helped him out.  Once out into the sunlight and with soil and rock beneath his paws – he seemed to know that this was freedom.  We watch both hyraxes leaping from rock to rock, a feeling of achievement came over all of us as we stood watching them for awhile.  Time was of an essence though so we had to return before dusk in order to release the hyena in the hope that they could met up with their own clans that evening.

 

 

Climbing up onto the top of the crates where the hyenas had been kept was very emotional.  This was a moment when I felt ashamed to be part of the human race.  These two young hyenas had been separated from their families and put into the darkness of these crates, for what was meant to be for their protection until leaving, and for the safety of the staff that were to take care of them.  Due to the myth of how dangerous these animals are, I fear that the conditions they were in were totally unnecessary, especially in light of the fact that no wild animal should be caught for captivity – I hope a lesson was learnt to all mankind involved with this incident and that it will never happen again.  To see the panic of these two animals as we tried to gently move them out from the crates was heart wrenching.  No animal should have their dignity taken from them to the point of total terror, of not being able to move.  Slowly as their eyes adjusted to the light, and they realised that they could leave the crates, one by one they bolted out of the crates running to the furthest point from where us humans stood.  After being released and having joined up, they moved towards the area where the Hyaena spoor had been spotted. Whether it was, scent, sound or sight, somehow they knew that they were back in the zone which had been home before they had been captured.

Warthogs and monkeys would be released the following day, as the sun set on an emotional and physical rollercoaster of events that marked 25^thJune 2010. But, work was not finished as we did have a small problem; the two wooden crates for the monkeys did not seem strong enough after having physically inspected the animals. So mending and strengthen of these crates were paramount, before the next days capture.  A half sedated, confused and terrified monkey loose in a small plane did not appeal to anyone of us who were to be passengers or pilot!   Roger Parry of Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust was to be doing the necessary darting of the monkeys the following day.  Working with primates is not something that many of us get the opportunity to do in Zimbabwe, so we discussed the many options and drug choices which were at our disposal.  Having never done primates, I think both Roger and I, wanted to make sure we approached this correctly as we would not have many chances with the darting and the last thing either one of us wanted to do was resort to netting them and stressing them even further. As the crow flies the Vumba Mountains are approximately, 600 kms from Hwange, so there was also a time factor against us, as we had to make sure we were airborne no later than 10 am the following morning.

The Hide (a well-known tour operator with a concession within Hwange National Park), very kindly put us up for the night together with a warm fire and hot water bottles in our beds!  Over dinner we discussed the day’s events, and there was a feeling of great satisfaction that some of the animals were back in the wild and by the end of the following day another five would be home!  That night, as I went to bed my thoughts, however, were solely on the Samango monkeys, this would be their last night in captivity, the last night in an environment which is so alien to each one of them.  Why do we as man, believe that it is our right to decide the fate of what is to become of so many of these animals?

At 4.30 am we awoke to get to the bomas, which were at least 40 minutes away.  A cup of hot tea and we were off.  It was dark and very, very cold.  The warthogs were the first to be released this morning.  I could not watch them being put into the crate for transport, after having seen them yesterday and their fear when we just looked at them. I could not face the terror with humans chasing them into the crate, but I knew this was the quickest and least “stressful” method.  Roger and the Parks capture team managed to get the petrified animals into the crates, whilst I silently willed them to know that this would be the last act of terror visited on them by humans.  I accompanied the Parks rangers to the site where we had decided to release the two warthogs.  As the colour of the sunrise started to touch the horizon, the door to the crate of the warthogs was lifted and both warthogs were like bullets leaving the chamber of a gun.  They were not hanging around, they knew that what lay outside of the crate was home!

With regards to the monkeys capture, we decided to follow the system that Parks had been doing over the past couple of months.  The male, due to his dominance over the females, would be crated to be fed, so that the two females got some food before him.  Whilst in the management crate it would be easy to pole syringe him, and then dart the two females in the main cage. Such sound planning, but how we waited! The monkeys knew something was up, and with the movement of animals yesterday and the addition of so many people today, they were wary.  We waiting until 7.30 am for the male to get into the management crate as was habit, but realising that this was not going to happen, Roger Parry together with Esta Van der Meer (a researcher based in Hwange), agreed that darting all the monkeys was necessary.  Both Roger and Esta had nerves of steel and before long the male was down and Roger was about to dart the first female who had the injured arm.  A few minutes later, we got the thumbs up from Roger, a signal that Esta and I could go in and get to work on the first monkey.  I have not had any experience with monkeys, and in fact have always been rather nervous of them. However sedated and lying there helplessly on the blanket were two of these monkeys and it was immediately apparent that Hwange bushveldt was not their natural habitat. Just a simple comparison, Hwange National Park is approximately 1080 meters above sea-level, whilst the Vumba, mountains, where the monkeys came from is approximately 1900 meters above sea level! After reading about them in guide books, nothing compared to the up close and personal inspection of the Samangos, their coats were thick with a rainbow of colours, perfect for blending into the canopies of the Vumba forests.  Due to using ketamine, the drug used to knock them down, we had to put eye drops into the monkey’s eyes so that they did not dry out.  As I drop the eye drops, into, the male’s eyes, I saw these two eyes looking up at me and blink once and then again, as if he knew it was to help him.  The first female to be darted was the one with the injured arm, which had been infected due to a bite.  We lanced the wound and irrigated it; thankfully her arm was not broken!  After, a penicillin and a vitamin B complex injection to help with the infection, she was placed into the crate that would take her to the Vumba.  The male was given the largest of the crates and the most secure.  The second female was a little more difficult to dart, however Roger managed to get her and before 8.45 am all three monkeys were in their independent crates and we were once again in the vehicle and moving toward the airport and then on to the city of Mutare, the nearest airport to the Vumba botanical gardens.  After our goodbyes were said, we loaded the crates into the plane and set off for a three and half hour flight to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

The flight went very well with all the monkeys, none of them panicked and all remained calm throughout the journey.  Just after 1 pm the plane came into landing, where we were to be met by Ian Campbell-Morrison, from Leopard Rock Hotel, together with the Warden of the Vumba Botanical Gardens, who would be accompanying us to the site where these three Samango monkeys had originally been captured from.  Once the crates had been loaded into the vehicle we jumped in, and began the final leg of this journey.  Half way up into the mountains of the Vumba you could feel that the air was different with the damp scent of forest, the terrain heavily dense with mountain acacias.  I took the blanket off the crates so that the monkeys could smell where we were going.  Quietly, the male Samango started looking out of the crate and sniffing the air. Did he know that he was home?  We travelled higher up into the mountains and then past the sign saying we had arrived at the Vumba Botanical Gardens.  Everything happened so quickly, we moved the crates to the area where we were going to release the three monkeys.  I thought we would have to wait awhile for them to get their bearing before releasing them.  There was no need, the tree canopies, suddenly became alive, we looked up and there was the troop of wild Samangos, a welcoming committee second to none.  Without delay – we opened up the crates, the male first then the two females.  Home! Each one of those monkeys knew they were home!  They ran towards where the wild Samango, troop were.  Silence was all that could be heard, and perhaps the odd thump of our hearts beating!  We stood there, watching the forest dwellers melting into the forest – this was the perfect ending for these three monkeys.

To achieve the results with any wildlife rescue, such as this, it would not have been possible, with out the involvement of multiple organisations both local and international.  We at the Tikki Hywood Trust would like to thank the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, and in particular Mr Vitalis Chadenga, for understanding the moral stand point of how important it is that wild animals should remain in the wild.  In no particular order, we sincerely thank and acknowledge the following local and international organisations, without whom this rescue would not have become a reality.

www.bornfree.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESTA VAN DER MEER

 

www.elephantvoices.org

www.friendsofhwange.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.theleopardrockhotel.com

 

SEBOA TRUST – Mr. Darren Lança

www.vardensafaris.com

www.vawz.co.zw

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.wildhorizontrust.org

 

www.zctf.net  or  www.zctf.mweb.co.zw

 

www.zimparks.com

Dear Readers,

Please take a moment to view the following links with regards to a deal that was to take place with Zimbabwean wildlife,

http://allafrica.com/stories/201006180808.html

And then this report:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201006230012.html

In light of these events, we would like to offer the following brief statement:

The Tikki Hywood Trust together with ZNSPCA, Friends Of Hwange Trust and with the assistance of Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, have just returned from a very successful release of the wild animals who were en route to an overseas zoo. We will be writing an account on what took place at a later stage, however so that there is no confusion I am by point form explaining what took place and what was released.

1. The rock hyrax were release first and within the Hwange National Park where other rock hyrax occur

2. The Hyaena were released directly from the holding boma,  reasons for this was

a.) they were juveniles

b.) the parents have been calling for them at the bomas

c.) we wanted to minimize stress without using drugs

The following day we released

1.  The warthogs which were crated and moved to a water pan where other warthogs occur

2.  The three Samango monkeys were darted by Roger Parry of Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust and flown to the Botanical Gardens in the Vumba where they were captured from.

Remaining animals are;

1. The two elephants, who will be moved this coming week to Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust,

2. The giraffe and zebra are moving  to a game farm within Zimbabwe

Should anyone have further questions please contact me. We will however be putting together a comprehensive report on what took place. Once again we would like to thank everyone on the ground who made this operation run so smoothly with no injuries to any of the animals.

GALADRIEL – THE SNARED SERVAL KITTEN

The call came in saying; “Lisa we have a serval or civet who has been caught in a snare, will you take it?”  “We think that the leg which has been in the snare might have to be amputated, but otherwise it looks healthy!”  Gee – I thought what a way to start life, minus a leg!?

“Of course”, is always the answer to such a request. Moments Ellen and I found ourselves in the car and driving off to collect yet another terrified creature, who has had to be a part of this land displacement and endure the terror of being trapped in a snare for I don’t know how long, and then roughly handled by man and being separated from their natural environment and family – in the hopes of saving its life.  Their heartache is immeasurable.

We met up with the Bruk-Jackson’s who had been given the kitten by a security guard on the farm where they live. The security guard, had found the kitten in the snare in the middle of a maize field, in Darwindale.  When we reached the Bruk-Jackson’s car we found, there in a small Lobels Biscuits cardboard box, huddled in the far corner a hissing ball of spotted orange fluff.  On first sight, the little ball of fluff was a serval kitten certainly no more the 6 – 8 weeks old.  She was perfect, except for the front left leg which was swollen three sizes bigger than her other legs, but thankfully no broken skin or open wound.  Quickly we transferred her out of the box and moved her into one of the crates we had brought with in preparation to receive her.  The next step was to get a vet to have a once over to make sure that her leg was not broken, and to make sure we could do all we could to alleviate her pain. I had called Dr Margie Peacock of the Wildlife Veterinary Unit on my way out to collect her, explaining the situation and preparing ourselves for the worst case scenario with a leg wound.   Thankfully, surgery could be avoided and everything with her leg checked out to be ok and did not have to be amputated, as was originally suspected!  It was swollen of course, but time would heel this wound.  It was the wounds that were not physical that we had to now focus on.

This little spotted kitten knew she was not a human, and that her sibling and mother was missing and that she definitely had a lot more fur than either Ellen and or I did.  Her little voice kept crying out, calling for her family all through the first night.  Every time I went towards her she backed away – hissing and slapping the ground with all her might.  It was going to be a long haul.  Having endured this ordeal being trapped in a snare over what could possibly have been at least 24 hours or so, she had become extremely dehydrated.  So now we had to get fluid into her. The tried and tested Tikki Hywood Trust milk formula was mixed up, and using a syringe very slowly, I tried to get as much of this formula into her as I possibly could.  She was not interested and just wanted to move as far away from human contact as possible.  You feel so totally helpless, wanting to take her pain away and promise her that everything is going to be ok, yet the lack of understanding between man and creature makes it impossible.  Time will be the only way that we can develop a trust as well as a bond, between us and hopefully she will be able to accept her new home and that we are friends as apposed to foe.

We will keep you up dated with Galadriel’s progress.

How Galadriel got her name:

For those of you who do not know, “Galadriel” is a character name from the Tolkien trilogy – “The Lord of the Rings”. When we receive orphans or breed babies, we choose a theme for the names, and so far we have ‘serval’ characters named after Tolkien characters.

“Galadriel” has a meaning – “maiden crowned with radiant garland” and we feel this is extremely fitting for this little princess of the bush!

Inspector George Mafuna from ZNSPCA

BIKITA APRIL  2010

 

Early on Thursday 29 May 2010, I found myself standing in front of Chief’s Marozva house waiting to collect his two dogs that were going to be sterilized.  When I turned around to go towards my car to collect a rope, which hopefully would assist with catching one of the two dogs, I froze in my tracks as there before me was a sight to make anyone smile! Lucy, the chief’s cat, who had found her way into my car, and was lying feeding, her two kittens on my front seat.  I quickly asked the Chief if we could sterilize Lucy to stop anymore kittens – he agreed, so I just closed my door.  Crates, collars and leads are something that just about all the animals we were to encounter on this trip had no understanding of.  To think that here was a rural cat who had probably never travelled in a car, Lucy and her kittens were amazing and apart from exploring every aspect of the cab, they remained calm and totally at ease.  Each time I come down to Bikita for a sterilization project I am exposed to so many different angles of life.  Never really thinking that I was too blinkered, I realise that not only have I been protected from the harsh realities of life, but I am also very naive in knowing what takes place out there and all around me.  This is a different world, with different principles and morals, tempered by the harsh realities which are faced daily by man and animal together.  

                       

 This is our second sterilization project in Bikita, which started on Wednesday 28 May 2010.  Whenever, I do a project of this nature, I am faced with many different emotions; fear, anger, frustration and sadness. On this trip these emotions were still there, but there was something new for me to see; empathy and respect for one of man’s best friends.  I felt the attitude of the people has vastly improved from my first visit. 

We also had a lot of returning patients (from our last program in October 2009), puppies were now adults and looking ok!  Sadly there had also been a few deaths of the dogs we saw last year.  However this was to be expected as the average adult survival age of a rural dog is between 3 – 5 years!  With each of these trips though, there is always a moment that burns into your heart and you remember it for a long time afterwards.  For me, this moment came when an elderly grandmother arrived with two dogs. A bitch, who was aged around, 2 – 3 years of age and a puppy that must have been around six months old.  Both dogs seemed to be in good condition, (bearing in mind that we were in rural Africa).  On later inspection this was not to be the case.  When dogs arrive at the clinic we get a written report on where the dog is from, age etc and then a certain procedures are followed out on each and every dog such as deworming, rabies vaccination, dipping and then if they are to be sterilized they go for the pre med.  This bitch had arrived with a very deep cut on her forehead and I felt that it needed to be irrigated and cleaned then packed with an antibiotic ointment.  Systematically I carried out each procedure required, once completed I was about to move onto the next dog, when this Ami quickly said “look please help her she has a problem”.  Rolling her over onto her side, my eyes connected with the most horrendous growth of some sort.  I had not before seen something such as this, so I quickly went to call Blessing.  This sight was not uncommon for Blessing, sadly and he told me what I was looking at.  It was as a result of an S.T.D. which develops into a very aggressive growing cancer.  This bitch had no more than six months left and they were going to be a very painful six months, to say the least.  Blessing very carefully told her owner the sad truth.  I asked Blessing to offer the option of euthanasia.  Neither, Blessing or myself thought even for a moment that that would be an option that this lady would take.  Thankfully, she stated that she wanted to do what was best for her dog and she did not want her dog to suffer.  As sad as it is to put an animal to sleep, it also shows responsibility and empathy to our fellow mammals.

Each patient seemed to bring with him or her, their own separate story of survival here in Bikita.  Even though the main aim of this Bikita sterilization is the long term protection, for the wildlife areas which border Bikita, the Chiredzi River Conservancy as well as the Save Valley Conservancy, you can not help feeling attached to these domestic animals.  You get an understanding that their survival instincts are so strong that they too just want to eat, be it meat on a plate or meat in the form of a rodent and or a wild animal.  Life is not easy no matter what mammal you are, in these wild parts of poverty stricken Africa.

Our second program here in Bikita, was to be for the next three days. Two of those days were to be at the clinic and the third was a mobile clinic using the back of a Toyota Land cruiser.  Being the end of school holidays we were a little apprehensive that our patients may not arrive en mass.  But remembering my fears from last year I knew that it would be short lived.  Our first patient happened to be a chicken which was no more than a few days old.  Talk about all creatures Great and Small!!!  Seeing two boxes one with chickens and one with rabbits and no dogs once the clinic was open on the Thursday morning, was worrying to say the least!  It was not long before we had our first two dogs arrive.  Both of these dogs were to be castrated. That was a very positive start to our clinic. 

As education is so vital for the survival and respect of animals we took Inspector George Mafunda from the ZNSPCA down to Bikita with us so that he could run workshops outside of the clinic on how to look after domestic animals as well as livestock.  This proved to be a booming success particularly with the children who were kept entertained through out the day.  You must remember that any of dogs who are operated on, the owner has to wait the whole day before being able to take the dog home with them. So it is a long day and there is no better way to entertain these children than with facts about animals, colouring books and crayons and colourful posters, introducing these children to the wonders of the bush and all animals.  With both visual and practical hands on education, it would only add to the quality of life that these animals could receive. 

 At the end of the first day we had castrated 7 dogs –last year everyone was very reluctant to have their dogs castrated and we only manage to castrate 4.  Breeding and selling dogs seemed to be the order of the day last year which I found terrifying, as with each litter of puppies what was the prognosis of their survival going to be?  This trip we found that people needed security and did not want their dogs to wander, hence I believe the requirement for castration has increased.  We also found that last year, most dog owners were very concerned that when you spay a bitch it was permanent.  Due to these concerns, we have researched what the possibilities are, of offering something else to the rural dog owner. 

One of the options we came across, and which is already being used in Zimbabwe in urban veterinary practices is the human contraceptive drug Depo Provera ® (Medroxyprogesterone acetate).  We have been debating the pros and cons of this drug over the past five months, as there are many different opinions on its use. But due to what is happening on the ground, we felt that we needed to be able to offer an alternative to spaying that would give the dog a breather in between litters and for the younger bitches allow them to grow up a little before they fall pregnant.  This is a human form of contraception which has been used throughout the world, and is now being used as a form of contraception and chemical sterilization in many animals.  We did not think that the owners of these dogs would be too keen to go with Depo Provera ® however I am delighted to say that they were.  The pros with this treatment, is that it is non-invasive, there is no recovery time and the dogs seem to put on condition once on it.  It is also a lot easier for us to administer no matter where we happen to be, where as spaying a bitch requires a vast amount of equipment as well as drugs, but there are concerns when spaying a bitch due to a lot of these dogs lack of condition, that they may not recover fully from such a big operation. We are also award that due to going into Bikita every five months we are able to monitor our furry patients.  Every owner / dog gets a card which we fill in and keep so that we can start developing records.  Having the bitches on Depo Provera ® we are able to re administer the drug every five months as well as look at the condition of the bitch and see if there are any problems resulting by being on this drug. 

In conclusion to this our second trip to Bikita, I can truly say that I am delighted to have seen such a positive improvement in the mentality of the rural people towards their animals.  Even though life has by no means improved in fact this is going to be an incredibly difficult year as there is no harvest due to the drought or lack of rain in Bikita,  but yet there has been an increase in awareness towards the dogs and empathy is slowly entering into the lives of these animals and people.

 

It is a very hard-hearted person indeed who sees the plight of these desperate animals and is not moved to help. Thankfully, through all the turmoil that our country experiences, it seems the harder it gets, the more people are willing to help! If it were not for the support, contributions, assistance and general good will of the following organizations and people, the Bikita sterilization project for April 2010 would not have occurred. The Tikki Hywood Trust would like to acknowledge and express our deepest gratitude to the sponsors and those people who assisted personally in the Bikita project:

• BIKITA MINERALS P/L – Mr. Nigel Mcphail, for providing members of mine staff to complete clerical work, for providing accommodation for volunteers, for providing a premises to conduct the clinic as well as providing fuel to conduct a mobile clinic.
• Dr Biko Gadaga (Voluntary Veterinary Surgeon) – who willingly gave of his time and knowledge to help the domestic animals of Bikita, for the second time. 
• Dr Blessing Mutangira (Voluntary Veterinary Surgeon) – a resident of Bikita, whose care and dedication to the Bikita animals and people is never-ending.
• Dr Petros Luefi (Veterinary Surgeon) & staff at Borrowdale Lane Vet Surgery – his fantastic support, advice and knowledge when it came to sourcing equipment and materials required to undertake such a project.
• Graniteside Chemicals – Another huge sponsor of the Bikita project, without whose help we could not have assisted the animals of Bikita. Mr. Shah Snr and Jnr have generously donated veterinary products, needles and syringes as well as other consumables which made this project a success. Furthermore they have shown a vested interesting in improving the lives of all domestic animals of the Bikita district and we thank them for their support.
• Inspector George Maufunda (ZNSPCA) for representing the ZNSPCA and collaborating with the Tikki Hywood Trust. Together we could educate the people of Bikita and give them insight into creating a better environment for themselves and their animals.
• KDB Holdings – without the generous donation from Mr. Dieter Balzer and his company, this second program at Bikita would have been extremely difficult to run effectively. In fact KDB Holdings, through the donation of surgical equipment and disposables, as well as numerous medications, has made it possible for us to broaden our scope with the Bikita project and ensure that we can return again to continue with the work there.
• N. Tselentis P/L – For donation of material for surgical drapes, mutton cloth and cotton wool for the operations.
• National Foods – For the donation of animal food, which was much appreciated, by the animals that came to the clinic. 
• The People of Bikita who took part in this project and were prepared to come from far and wide, to make sure that their animals had treatment.
• Tim and Tiffany Holden – for voluntary assistance in all aspects of the project.

 

To Inspire!

Means to invoke some form of emotion, be a good one or bad one, either way you are moved to feel.  Living is about feeling!  In Zimbabwe we are pushed to the limits where I fear that sometimes we wish we could no longer feel.  When this happens, I force myself to take note of those “moments” in life, like the smell of rain falling against the dry ground, the impala lambs pronking in the long grass – delighted with being alive.   The cries of the fish eagle and the early morning call of the wood dove, all of these “moments” make me realise that I am alive and I am home.  Zimbabwe over the past six months has yet again been on another rocky road.  We keep, believing that we will find the silver lining; well I look into the future with apprehension that after the past ten years we are just going to have to know that this is home and the reasons why it is home and why we are all still here and not going anywhere.  Where else on earth could we be given the opportunities which we are exposed to here?  This is something I ask myself daily, as having lived in Europe for seven years – I was very aware that over there, it is all about what piece of paper you have. In extreme contrast here, it is about strength of character and determination.  Perhaps for these reasons we persevere and live in the hope that things will improve, however I do think it is more a question of learning to adapt to the situation. 

 Adaptation is something that everything, including our wildlife, will have to learn to do if they are to survive.  The poaching has most certainly not improved – maybe it has decreased some what, due to the rains and denseness of the bush.  Or perhaps the wildlife is just not there any longer as the numbers have been poached out of all recognition.  Here at the Trust we have had a very interesting time over the past six months.  Our main aim currently is to work with the relevant departments to amend and develop further laws which are to protect Zimbabwe’s wildlife both in the wild and in captivity.   Our Department of Parks and Wildlife Management Authorities are aware that these issues need to be addressed and have asked the Trust to work with them to try and bring our laws up to date.  You might be saying to yourself why waste your time as Zimbabwe has no law and order.  You would be correct in one sense, however if we are to move forward with protecting our wildlife, we firstly need to protect our environment as without the environment, there is no where for the animals.  In a court of law, our heritage which is both the environment and wildlife need to be given rights, as without those rights we have nothing to fight for.  Back at the centre however, we have certainly had our hands full over the past six months. Here follows the animal news from the centre:

 We have three young antelope orphans; Bramble and Blue Bell the steenbok and then Willow our leggy impala.  All three are doing very well, and have now learnt about solid food and which fruits they enjoy eating the most. We are delighted when the Swales family of Darwindale area (Bramble’s original family) are in town and they come and see Bramble.  It is truly amazing to see how much he enjoys the interaction with the Swales family and how he remembers them, particularly the two children. 

 

Civet

Francis continues to test us in the department of civet behaviour!!!  Just when we think we have cracked the formula for Francis, something happens in her brain and she behaves completely contrary to what we want her to do.  What we have come to understand, is that civet are very routine minded and should there be any alteration to that routine, then the civet seem to panic.  Due to the abuse that Francis endured at the beginning of her life, I fear that as soon as she feels she is not in control of her situation – she starts looking for a way out and that ends up making her pace.  Thankfully, as soon as Francis see either myself or Ellen, she calms down and allows us to pick her up and carry her off to her bed, where she will remain for the rest of the day until we wake her up in the late afternoon, in time for her day to start!  With Rafiki’s relocation to Bushman Rock Estates release site, we decided to move Francis into a larger enclosure.   Initially, even though it was a bit daunting for us humans, as we wondered whether the bigger space would intimidate our already nervous civet. We could not have been more wrong – in fact by her third day in the enclosure Francis had found a comfortable spot out of sight in the ivy and promptly put herself to bed. She adapted very well to the new enclosure, and proved to be a first class pest remover – taking great relish in eating all the rose beetles off the roses.  However, it was not always plain sailing from this point on, she has had moments when she exhibits her same neurotic tendencies and occasions when we still have to “put her to bed”. But overall, it has been a good move for Francis and the next step is to introduce her to one of the male civets either Badger or Assisi. 

African Wild Cat

 

2009 was a very sad year for the African wild cat.  We had to say goodbye to Asia and Siam.  I had hand raised Asia from the point that she came into this world and to have to see her leave it – was indeed a very sad day.  To say I had developed a strong bond with Asia is most certainly an under statement.  She was the wise soul whom I could talk to about all the wows that came my way – somehow she seemed to understand them as well as have the answers to them. On 13^th June 2009, Asia suffered from what we believe to be a heart attack and death was instant, so thankfully suffering was minimal.  Siam, who was imported from South Africa at the same time as Francis, was a truly amazing character.  Even through the cell that he had to endure for more years than we will ever know, the minute he arrived at the Trust, his heart was lifted and he remained a happy and contented animal right up to the day he had to be humanely euthanized.  On arriving in Zimbabwe we noticed the Siam did not have the strength to spray when urinating.  At first we thought he was too weak to be able to do that.  But later on we saw that he had blood in his urine.  After antibiotics and a visit from the vet, we realised that he would always have a weak bladder and it was just something we had to monitor and address when there appeared to be a problem.  On 7^th December 2009, we could see the Siam was not his normal self at all, so we put him on another course of antibiotics.  After the first twenty four hours of being on antibiotics under normal circumstances he would improve, but this time Siam did not. He had also had lost his appetite, which was not at all normal for him.  Dr Margie Peacock came round to see Siam to see if she had any other ideas as to how to help Siam. It was decided was that we needed to operate on Siam to see what was going on inside.  My gut feeling about this was not good and I felt that this was perhaps the end of the line for Siam.  I did not want him to suffer in any way and so discussed with Margie that if we did find anything during the operation we would do what was best and kindest for Siam.  The day of the operation, 10^th December 2009, was very sad indeed.  Siam was a perfect patient, he took the dormicum and after twenty or so minutes was drowsy enough for us to put him in the basket and take him to the surgery.  At the surgery he was shaved and washed ready for the operation.  No sooner had Margie opened Siam she could feel that the bladder was not the right size.  On looking at the bladder it was four times the size a normal bladder should be and had become a mass of calcified tissue, a sure indication of cancer. Basically, the bladder was no longer functioning as a “balloon” as such, it could not expand and contract, and therefore Siam was constantly urinating very small amounts. There was definitely no way around this malignancy and instead of letting him suffer, we had to let him go.

Serval : Shenzi and Rafiki

In mid January 2009, a totally unplanned incident took place, two of the four resident servals at Bushman Rock Estates, got out of their enclosure.  Shenzi (female) and Rafiki (male) were paired up in November 2009 after Rafiki returned to the Trust from another release site, Marula, where he was not settling down to wild life. After a stint on his own at the Trust, it was apparent that Rafiki required other serval company and thus the decision was made to move him to Bushman Rock where he would have the company of three other serval, the brothers, Bilbo & Gandalf and Shenzi. It was a very good move for Rafiki, as his shy and retiring nature seemed to match Shenzi’s aloofness. Both, Shenzi and Rafiki were implanted so that they could not breed.  After a week of getting to know one another from two separate enclosures, the inter-leading gate was opened and the pair, were given the opportunity to meet unfettered. Shenzi immediately employed her climbing skills and decided to examine the newcomer from a lofty viewpoint. Rafiki, ever the gentleman, stayed politely at the bottom of the tree for some time! And so the friendship was born………After two and half months of a blossoming relationship, the two have decided to test their bond in the wild and we are very happy to report that despite the unplanned manner in which this release took place, it has been incredibly successful. The pair return to the enclosure nearly every night to eat (food is still left for them in the enclosure) and are seen regularly on the property.  This is a testament to two happy, well-adjusted cats and for us this is immeasurable success, as Rafiki hated being in the wild at Marula and Shenzi was just born to be wild.  The brothers Bilbo & Gandalf will remain in the enclosures as Bushman Rock is too small for there to be three males roaming around freely.

Nutkin

On 27 January 2010, we had a visitor.  We got an unexpected visit from one of our meat sponsors, Graham and his fiancée Jo. Instead of bringing meat however, they had a furry bundle of another kind – a 62g tree squirrel, simply called…… Squirrel.  Jo had been hand raising the little girl until she weaned herself off milk, but unfortunately they had cats at home which would make keeping the squirrel difficult, not to mention heart-breaking if anything were to happen. So Squirrel “Nutkin” joined the extended family at Greenhills. On arrival Nutkin was quite happy to go to any hand, so long as that included stroking and tickling! She now resides in the Nursery room, where she has her very own squirrel box, complete with water drinker and shiny food dish attached, a zoo of stuffed toys to play with and a veritable condominium of drawers all with blankets in, which she tests with great relish.  She lives for her Vaseline lid top of cerelac each and every morning.  No sooner have you walked into her room with the lid of cerelac but the chatter starts and her two hands are out stretched for that food!  Nothing can be discussed before she has devoured the contents entirely.

Hasha

With the onset of persistent rains, it proved to be very depressing for our aging aardwolf, Hasha. It is often believed that winter takes it toll on the old, but the constant wet and damp has equally a debilitating effect. Even with constant warm bean bags and two meals a day of yoghurt and cerelac, this did not help her state of health.  Due to her age, Hasha had started doing less and less and sleeping more and more.  Very quietly on the 3 February 2010,  Hasha went to sleep for the last time in her house, hot beanbag and tartan rug at her side, closing her eyes to the soggy world and dreaming, I am sure, of a hot dry one where she could lie in the sun.

This year started with saying goodbye to some very special friends and welcoming new ones into our lives.  We are confident that 2010 will see new developments in the welfare of animals here in Zimbabwe and will endeavour to make sure that the Tikki Hywood Trust raises its voice for those who have none.

This is the headline that glares at me from my email inbox today. After a spine-chilling moment, staring uncomprehendingly at these words – I clicked the link and read further, with increasing horror. This is what I found……

On the 24^th February 2010, a Seaworld Trainer, Dawn Brancheau, died from “multiple traumatic injuries and drowning” after a killer whale pulled her under water by her long pony tail near the theme park’s Shamu Stadium.

Apparently, after giving a pre-show explanation, Dawn (a veteran trainer at the sea park) kneeled down with Tilikum in a shallow portion of the management tank and gave him an affectionate pat on the head. Then as she got up to leave or move away, he grabbed her and performed what humans perceive as a callous and unthinkable act.

Immediately my heart was caught up in my throat, there had to be more to this story, there always are extenuating circumstances. After some internet research, this was the information which came to light:

Tilikum, a 30 year old, 5 and a half ton, male orca is the supersized “star” of a killer whale show held daily at Seaworld – Orlando. Also the only resident male, and nearly twice the size of his female companions, he is the prize “stud” of the pod, having fathered at least 13 calves at Seaworld alone. But Tilikum has a dark history – he has been linked to two other human deaths before this one. The first incident occurred in 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific, in British Columbia, when he and two other female orcas dragged a female trainer repeatedly underwater after she accidentally fell in, and drowned her. Shortly afterwards, in 1992, Tilikum was sold to Seaworld Orlando as a breeding stud. In 1999, the half naked body of a 27 year old man was found draped across Tilikum’s back. He was a member of the public who had apparently sneaked passed the security and stayed in the theme park after it had closed. According to the post mortem report however, it was established that the man died of hypothermia and drowning, although he also sustained minor scrapes and bruises. And so the latest in this string of tragedies, is the seemingly unprovoked “attack” on his beloved trainer.

Always in these emotionally charged and violent acts, the wild animal is labelled and branded as rogue/killer/man-eater. They are treated as criminals, locked up and isolated or worse still, executed on the spot. They are not afforded the civility of a trial by their peers, they are offered no defence, simply sentenced and condemned without appeal.

With Orcas, there is some information that bears a lot of consideration:

Killer whales or Orcas, as they are known, live in highly complex social units.

Their social interaction has been likened to a culture amongst different pods from different areas.

Resident pods have been known maintain territories of up to 1300 kms.

An orca may travel up to 160 km in a day.

Tilikum’s reality – he has been captive for most of his life, having been caught as a baby of roughly 2 – 3 years old. Poached from his family (Orca mothers and offspring stay together throughout their life) he has not been able to ‘learn’ the social graces of a wild orca, especially when it comes to mating and pod social interaction. Although he is perfectly capable of producing offspring, he is simply a breeding machine, who because of his size and apparently aggressive nature has to be held in isolation from the other orcas from time to time. In addition, he is a 5400kg active mammal, capable of speed of up to 50km/h and diving to depths of 100m. He is maintained in a 7 million gallon (26,5 million litre) tank, which if you pictured a square container holding this amount of water, would measure 30 m x 30 x 30m. Tilikum measures 22,5 feet long (6,8 meters).

His fate now uncertain, for the time being he will remain at Seaworld, but probably isolated and not allowed to interact with humans or other orcas.

Once again at the hand of man, there are beautiful wild animals that are going to have to face potential death.  I have to ask myself; is this right that we take these animals out of their natural habitat and ask them to perform or live a life which is not one that they would naturally choose for themselves.  Yes we need to educate the next generation, to why and how important these magnificent creatures are that we share our planet with, but is the best way to do this in captivity?  We as “human” need to find away, that does not compromise these wild mammals sanity.  Perhaps the question is, can we take a wild beast the size of an elephant or an orca whale, expect them to live in a home the size of a bath tub….., and for there not to be a tragedy in the making?   Zoo’s and Aquariums have a place to educate people about wildlife.  But surely these animals which are destined to live their days in a zoo, should have firstly been born in that environment and not taken from the wild removed from their family. Is performing with a wild animal the route to go?  I believe it not too be, making a wild animal perform is not a natural behaviour for many of these animals, so why do we act surprise when one of them hurts or worst still kills a human trainer.  The flip side to zoo’s is the commercialism aspect, animals who die in zoo’s have to be replace for these exhibits, these demands then create “breeders” whose interests are not the animals they are breeding but the money these animals fetch at the end of the day.  If they can not breed them in captivity then they are hunted and or poached out of the wild.  Such is the case of both Keiko (the whale actor from the movie Free Willy) and Tilikum, both taken from their wild families.  Human greed never seems to be sated.  Tilikum’s purchase price from Sealand of the Pacific in Canada was US$ 1.5 million to Seaworld of Orlando.  He has since bred 13 calves, and these can sell on average from around US$350 000.00 per calf – so do your calculations.  Having earned millions for Seaworld from breeding and performing, surely Tilikum deserves the right to be returned from whence he came. He has paid the price and earned more than one single animal should have to for his freedom.

For seventeen years I have watched and admired wildlife, I have seen their intelligence their natural instinct and their willingness to please the human handler.  It is not just mans best friend “the dog” that has this built in desire to please.  But one thing which is most certainly different between man’s best friend and our wild creatures has to be instinct. I feel that respecting this instinct is the key to trying to keep wild animals in captivity.  We have only touched on how this works with our mammal brethren. What makes a mammal wild? How is it that a first time mother just knows how to take care of their young and will fight to the death for that baby? Instinct – is that thing that just clicks in  and becomes as simple as breathing for all mammals, but most importantly for wildlife be they in captivity or in their natural environment.

In Zimbabwe  over this past year, three wild animals in a ‘captive’ environment, have had to be destroyed after they killed a human being. And these incidences continue worldwide, where ever wild animals are kept captive. And now there is Tilikum! Unfortunately these deaths will not by any means be the last.

Jean Michel Cousteau on the killer whale incident at Seaworld, when interviewed by the Santa Barbara Independent:

What is your perception of what happened at SeaWorld? What, in your opinion, caused the incident?

When you take a wild cetacean (a whale or dolphin) and put it in a tank, its acoustic system is suddenly screwed up. Its sonar reverberates off of the concrete in its tank and, little by little, the animal becomes totally silenced. It’s like a person being blindfolded in a jail cell. The orcas are not used to borders or barriers, and that probably makes them very uncomfortable. Some of them don’t accept captivity and die, but others do and live like they are in prison.

Let’s pretend you’re a prisoner and a guy brings food every day to your cell. Pretend he is a very nice guy who talks to you, is gentle, and so on. One day, though, when you’ve had it, you’re going to punch him because there is no one else to punch. We as humans can’t totally control ourselves — sometimes we just lose it. It’s the same with orcas. We have to respect the fact that they have personalities and emotions. Who knows, maybe that whale is very sorry.

My question is;  “is it the fault of the animal, when actually all they were doing was being wild, acting on their instincts.  Whose “fault” were those deaths?  Was it a human error?  I believe on all three accounts here in Zimbabwe, it to have been a human error – and the saddest of all was that on all three accounts the animal was destroyed.  For now they are considered dangerous as they have killed a human and therefore ‘might’ do it again, they are dangerous.  A wild animal is always dangerous be it in captivity or in the wild, in fact personally I believe that a wild animal can become much more dangerous in captivity, through frustration, not being understood, not being able to communicate to their own kind and most importantly because a lot of the time they can not act as wild animals.  If a whale, who can swim up to 160 km per day in the wild, is then put into a tank which is barely big enough for him to turn around in, do we as humans have the right to be surprised when they act out and kill someone?

NOTE THAT IS IT A TIKKI HYWOOD TRUST POLICY NEVER TO REMOVE ANY ANIMAL FROM THE WILD.  ALL ANIMALS WHO ARE IN THE CARE OF THE TIKKI HYWOOD TRUST, HAVE EITHER BEEN ORPHANED AT A VERY YOUNG AGE AND CANNOT FEND FOR THEMSELVES, OR ARE ANIMALS WHO HAVE BEEN FOUND IN OTHER ZOO’S AND/OR SANCTUARIES WHERE THEY WERE LIVING IN ABUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS.

The aardwolf is an incredible shy and secretive animal. Being a sub–species, and the smallest member of the hyena family, the Aardwolf is often unfairly labelled as a stock thief and scavenger and was heavily persecuted in Southern Africa in the early 1900’s. However, we now know them to be quite harmless to domestic livestock and mostly insectivorous. But there is still very little known about these animals and it is rare that you will see an aardwolf when out on a safari. So to be privileged enough to have rescued four from Namibia in 1999 during one of their droughts, I can only feel extremely lucky. Hasha was imported from Tsaobis Leopard Nature Park, Karibib, Namibia, along with three other Aardwolves (Nzebe, Vudzi & Rurimi), to form two mating pairs. These four aardwolves were already adult, estimated to have been born in 1992.

I got to hear about these aardwolves nearly dying due to the severe, four year drought in Namibia. Straight away, I contacted Tsaobis and asked what their plan was for the aardwolves. Tsaobis Leopard Park could not keep them and it was not an option to return them to the wild. So, it was agreed that we would go up to Namibia and collect the four aardwolves and bring them back to Zimbabwe, to form the initial stock of an Aardwolf project. This in itself became an adventure. However, I was soon to realise that as with almost anything to do with wildlife, things are not what they seem at first and nothing runs to any sort of plan!

Out of all four Aardwolf, I realized very early on that Hasha had the most sensitive of natures. She very quietly just got on with life. Hasha has been a part of the Tikki Hywood Trust family for the past 11 years. She has experienced the highs and lows of Zimbabwe and remained a constant through out it all. Never giving us trouble and apart from the odd cold, has never been sick, but it seemed in the later two years that Hasha was feeling her age. At the grand old age of 18, she has passed on.  Hasha will be sorely missed and remembered with great fondness.

Dear Readers,

At last there is something positive to report from Zimbabwe.  This has to be the most encouraging, exciting news of 2010 so far and the year is only beginning……..

Those of you who have followed our blogs, you will be aware that we are working hand in hand with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority with regards to increasing the poaching fines here in Zimbabwe, which up until recently have been totally unrealistic.

To recap for our new readers:

The fines for poaching wild animals, from the smallest to the largest and most endangered, have not been keeping up with inflation and the economic tailspin that our country is in. As a result, poachers both seasoned and novice, have had a free-for-all with killing animals illegally, as the fines were so pathetic that they were literally pocket change. Coupled with an almost 90% unemployment rate and soaring costs of living, the wildlife has become another source of illegal commodity trading with no concern to life!   From rhino horn, various animal hides, ivory and not forgetting the meat, are all being traded.

After much dialogue with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Authorities, our persistence and insistence paid off.  Firstly the fines had to be quoted in a strong currency, preferable the US$. However, the wheels of legislation turn rather slowly when it came to this and by the time the fines had been converted to a stable currency, they were again of a negligible amount and therefore did not act as a deterrent.

So once again, after it was back to Parks to convince the powers at B that we needed to increase the fines. Three months later we managed to implement the new fines which stand today. A lot of these values were based on live animal hunting values; however in the case of endangered and specially protected animals we increased the severity of the fine.

Below is an example of the fines and their realistic values before the adjustments:

2008	2009	2010
Fine for poaching a Black Rhino : ZWD 4’000’000.00(4 Million Zimbabwe Dollars)	Early 2009 before the currency change, the fine for poaching a black rhino was commuted to ZWD 3 Billion.	The fine for poaching a black rhino remains at USD 120’000.00
For comparison, the cost of a loaf of bread during mid-2008 :1 loaf bread = $ 83 million ZWD 1 litre milk = $ 66 million ZWD	For comparison, the cost of 1 kg of bananas was ZWD 660 Million, which means the fine was worth 4,5kg of bananas.	This value is now a realistic deterrent, however we now have pressurised the legal system to adhere to the new policy of “No Bail” for offenders who poach endangered animals.
We submitted a recommendation that the fine for poaching a black rhino be increased to $ 7’200 Trillion, equivalent to USD 60’000.00 at that time.	By February 2009, the United States Dollar was in circulation legally and so the fines were converted to this currency. On the basis of trophy hunting values, the fines were again re-assessed and the fine for poaching a black rhino was pegged at USD 120’000.00. However, at this point, poachers were still allowed out on bail, so many who were caught were let out on bail and absconded.	January 2010 – the first proper conviction and sentence based on the new legislation!

There is nothing more satisfying than to see diligence paying off – and this is such a case with the sentencing of the rhino poacher.

See this link for the full story:

http://ecoworldly.com/2010/01/15/zimbabwe-rhino-poacher-sentenced-to-17-years-turning-point-at-last/calf-poached-num1-m/

On behalf of the Tikki Hywood Trust, we would like to thank and heartily congratulate all members of staff, from the Police department, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Authorities,  as well all the private individuals who were involved in the capture and sentencing of this offender. We salute magistrate, Mr. Walter Chikwanha presiding in this case, for being the first person to implement these new regulations effectively.  Let’s hope that this is the first major step in restoring some law and order to the courts of Zimbabwe.