Zimbabwe Seven

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 27 2008 | By: admin

Dear Readers

Please note that we are having technological problems with up loading photos of our animals onto the Blog. Bear with us and please do not stop reading about our creatures - they need your support!

3 responses so far

Category: Southern African hedgehog | Date: Feb 27 2008 | By: admin

Dear Readers,
Our supporters have been introduced to our serval breeding and release program. In due course we will introduce the African wild cat program to you. But today we would like to talk about a much lesser known species who due to the decline of habitat, being killed by domestic pets as well as being used in traditional medicine, the Southern African hedgehog is in an endangered state. It surprises most people to think that Africa has its very own hedgehog. The African variety is smaller, more compact and can be found in semi-arid regions within Africa. Currently to date, there is no clear population census on hedgehogs in Zimbabwe. Once again, the lesser species have been fairly ignored.
The Tikki Hywood Trust is a rescue centre for this species as well as a breeding and release centre. With the onset of the rainy season here in Zimbabwe the number of orphaned and injured hedgehogs has increased, as people find them in gardens or they are injured by domestic pets or being sold on the side of the roads.
February 2008 has seen the Trust receiving 16 hedgehogs. Unfortunately 9 mortalities have occurred due to the injuries which these hedgehogs have sustained. The remaining 7 seem to be content, healthy and flourishing hedgehogs with individual characters.
The hedgehogs are named after Beatrix Potter characters, so we have:
Tommy - one of the first to arrive, he also goes by the name “Tommy Toe-biter”.
Moley Warp - a younger male who is growing daily, he has grown into a dashing young hedgehog and we have high hopes of him charming the females.
Benjamin - the youngest of the males, is still quite nervous and very prickly.
Miss Tiggy - the first female to arrive, she had a bald spot on her back between her hips which was caused by ringworm. Incidentally, African hedgehogs suffer badly with ringworm and often die from a heavy infection. Thankfully her spines have grown back after treatment with tea tree oil in vaseline for several days. Ring worm causes the hedgehogs to lose all their spines, once this happens the hedgehog becomes bald and is prey for many other animals.
Jemima - this little hedgehog has a bit of a sad story - when she arrived at the Trust she had given birth to a single little hoglet who very sadly had not survived the journey from Bulawayo to Harare. In our experience when a mother hedgehog is disturbed in anyway, the offspring will either or be eaten or abandoned. When babies are born here at the Trust, we do not touch the mother or her young or even the house where she has given birth. For the first week that Jemima was with us, it was touch and go. She would not eat and seemed to be in a very depressed state. She also had severe spine loss on her back, which exposed a large scar - probably an old dog bite. With a lot of tender loving care and encouragement, Jemima is now back on track and picking up weight and has introduced herself to the eligible males.
Puddle & Beatrix - the two youngest females only recently acquired are both less than a year old.

4 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 13 2008 | By: admin

Hi Readers, many thanks once again for your comments re our projects. It is truly inspiring to see so many outside people who continue being interested in what is happening in Zimbabwe.

To try and answer some of the questions posed. We have to date released 16 serval, 7 females and 9 males. Tigger died from being kicked by a zebra. Tilly was killed by rural people. 3 serval are in an area which we have not been able to access, however there have been no reported serval deaths. Muffet is doing well and we are confident that she will soon be mated by a wild serval. Rafiki, Muffet’s son, was released but has returned to the release enclosure. We are currently assessing his situation.

Re surviving in the wild. Our servals go through a long process which is in a release (soft) enclosure in the area where they are to be released. Reason being is that during this time they are exposed to the sights and sounds within the new area. Also it is important for them to adapt to the new prey which occurs in the area. Birds and rodents are encouraged naturally into the enclosures so that the cats can start hunting for themselves. Even at the breeding center we encourage natural hunting instincts.
When the serval are hand raised, they do form a bond with their caretakers. However as they mature this bond is lessened. It must also be noted that even though they have a bond with one human it does not extend to others. The older they get the more independant they become (as they would become in the wild). Having worked with serval for 14 years, I have learnt to read their signs. So when it comes time for the serval to be released - it is 100% up to that individual cat. There is not an age limit as to when to release a serval. However I do feel that the older the cat the better the chances are.
The areas we have chosen have a minimal wild serval population if indeed any. Having said this however in some cases our releasing of a female has invited a wild male into that area - this is a positive step we believe.
I trust that the above has answered your questions. We have posted some brief histories on our serval in the serval category. We hope you enjoy getting to know part of our family.

Thanks Lisa

6 responses so far

Category: Serval | Date: Feb 13 2008 | By: admin

Muffet : Received in April 2000 and released in June 2006 at Stone Hills Sanctuary, Marula.
Tigger: Received in April 2000, littermate to Muffet, released in August 2004 on Cawston Ranch.
Tom Cat: Received as an adult male problematic animal from ostrich farm. Received in 2000 and was soft released on Triandra in 2000.
Bakita: born in March 2000, she was received as an orphan along with her littermate, William. She was released on Triandra in 2001 and later mated with Tom Cat in the wild.

William: born in March 2000 and received as an orphan along with littermate Bakita. These two kittens were raised at the same time as Muffet and Tigger at the Trust.

Cleo: Rescued adult female, came to Trust amidst land issues in mid 2002 via Mukuvisi Woodlands Wildlife park, Harare. For a wild born cat she settled into captivity and had a gentle and loving nature. She produced 5 litters with William, but unfortunately died in September 2006 before she could be released.

Zoey: Received in early 2002 as a year old serval as a donation from another facility, she remained a nervous cat. Unexpectedly she died in May 2002, after having spend a short few months with the Trust. Cause of death is not conclusive.

Tilly: Raised at another wildlife orphanage facility, Tilly came to the Trust as a mature serval. Ideally, she was going to form part of a breeding nucleus at Chedgelow Farm together with Esmeralda and Duke. Esmeralda released herself prematurely, leaving Duke and Tilly in the enclosure together. Duke mated with Tilly, but she subsequently lost all three kittens. It was then decided to bring Tilly back to the Trust and let her breed again to see if she could have another litter successfully. Back at the Trust she bred with Geronimo to produce a litter of 3. One of the babies was extremely small and died shortly after birth. The second survived for ten days and then died, cause unknown. Tilly ate both dead kittens (which is expected) but the third survived and is a happy, healthy female – Arwen. When Arwen was old enough to be weaned Tilly was then relocated to the Mavuradohna release site with Geronimo. They mated once again there but tragically the kittens did not survive. Tilly was released in May 2007 from the enclosure collared and was unfortunately killed in June 2007.

Tilly & Arwen

Gandalf : Obtained from Private Farm in Goromonzi, a chicken farm, in April 2007. The farmer thought a snake killing his chickens, went to dig out ’snake burrow’ and found two male serval kittens approximately one month old. The farmer was going to destroy them but was persuaded to allow them to come to Tikki Hywood Trust. Birth date was then estimated to be sometime in March 2007. They were raised at the Trust until Gandalf was separated from his sibling as he was very aggressive and it was hoped that by separating them they might calm down. Both young serval were then subsequently relocated to Bushman Rock Estates release site for their eventual release.

Bilbo: Sibling to Gandalf, born in March 2007. Bilbo was raised at the Trust until moved to Bushman Rock Estates release site with his brother. It is hoped that Bilbo will mate with Shenzi at the release site before his release.

Bilbo & Gandalf orphans

OFFSPRING BORN THROUGH TRUST BREEDING

Matings of Cleo & William:

1st Litter : Born on 20th August 2002, one female kitten was born and she only lived for 5 days. A post-mortem was performed and it seems the baby died of lack of food.

2nd Litter: Born on 25th January 2003, a male and female. These kittens were hand raised by Lisa as Cleo did not seem to accept them. This is often the case with inexperienced mothers in the wild.
Geronimo: Mated with other females in the program before being collared and taken to a soft release boma in the Mavuradohna wilderness area in November 2006. Was released in early 2007.
Esmeralda: Was never bred to any of the other males in the program as she had an aggressive nature and this is brought into consideration for captive breeding. She was taken to Chedgelow Farm for release but managed to release herself early from the enclosure. She has been sighted on the farm since.

3rd Litter: Born on 7th June 2003 , a female kitten.
Makaviti: Makaviti was Cleo’s second litter and she performed the labour and raising by herself with no difficulties or any of the stress seen with her first litter. Makaviti was always destined to be released as soon as possible. She was released on Cawston Ranch in the Nyamandlovu region in Sep 2004.

4th Litter: Born on 17th December 2003, a single male kitten.
Rumpole : Also raised by his mother Cleo, grew up without any complications and was placed in the release program at Cawston Ranch in September 2004 along with his older sibling Makaviti.

5th Litter: Born on 29th August 2004, 4 kittens, all males!
Oscar: Was a weak kitten at birth and was rejected by his mother Cleo. Lisa continued to hand raise him (whilst Cleo continued to raise the other 3 males herself). Oscar unfortunately died at one month old and post mortem revealed that he had kidney malfunction and water on the brain.
Ed , Scar , Zazu: Cleo raised these three kittens until they were 3 months old and then abandoned them. Lisa then raised them until they were old enough to go into an enclosure by themselves and they were released together on Triandra in May 2005.

Matings of Muffet & William:

1st Litter: Born on 12th august 2003, two kittens, male and female.
Duke: As is the case with a lot of first litters, Muffet had no interest in the kittens and they were subsequently hand-raised by Lisa. Duke was relocated to Chedgelow Farm for release once he was mature and subsequently mated with Tilly who was in the same enclosure. After mating, Duke released himself out of the enclosure on 6th February 2006.
Duchess: This serval was unfortunately born with a condition known as myopathy (inverted eyelashes). From the ages of three weeks until two months old, all the eyelashes that grew had to be plucked out manually by Lisa with tweezers otherwise infection would set in and her eyes would run continuously. Duchess endured the daily distress of plucking out her eyelashes with an amazing amount of tolerance, although it was painful for her and she cried she never fought with or retaliated against Lisa’s ministrations. She was later operated on to solve the problem and it was a success. It was decided to allow her to mate at the Trust to see if her condition was genetically transferable to her offspring. For this reason she was introduced to Sarabi. Unfortunately, something went very wrong and the outcome was that Duchess had broken the radius and ulna of her right front leg.

2nd Litter: Born on 20th November 2003, male and female.
Mungo: He was a very inquisitive, playful, healthy kitten who looked just like his mother. His destiny was always to be released and this was achieved in Sept 2004 at Cawston Ranch.
Jerry: She was very much more distant than her litter mate Mungo and never really seemed to feel the need to interact with humans. She was successfully released in Sep 2004 at Cawston Ranch.

Matings of Tilly & Duke:

1st Litter : Born on 1st November 2004 3 kittens, sex all unkown and none survived the first day.

Matings of Tilly & Geronimo:

1st Litter: Born on 1st June 2006, 3 kittens, 2 unkown sex, 1 female. Only the last female survived.
Arwen: She was the healthiest of the three kittens and was successfully raised by her mother Tilly. Arwen remains with us at the Trust in the hopes of becoming a breeding female but she will be destined for release after producing her first litter.

2nd Litter: Born on 4th February 2007 2 kittens, both only survived till 7th February 2007 and then died. They were eaten by Tilly.

Matings of Muffet & Geronimo:

1st Litter: 1 female kitten born on 30th August 2004.

Nala: She had a very dark undercoat, rather than being golden with black spots she tended toward dark brown with very black spots and stripes. She was a big, shy cat and spent most of her time up trees. Her mother, Muffet, who was very dominant over her, raised her and they had to be separated at eight months as they were fighting all the time. She was then moved to a release enclosure at Stone Hills Sanctuary where she mated with Sarabi and produced three kittens which she abandoned. (They were then hand raised). She was collared and released from the enclosure in June 2006.

2nd Litter: Born on 12th October 2005, one male and one female.

Rafiki: . Like Nala who is also from Muffet and Geronimo, his coat was a dark golden colour with very black spots. Rafiki, was a healthy kitten who never had any problems. He was raised by his mother but became quite tame. Due to lack of a genetically independent female there was no one for Rafiki to breed with so he was always destined to go for an early release.
He and Muffet were released at Stone Hills in June 2006.

Rafiki

Isabella: Isabella was Rafiki’s littermate, she was rejected by her mother and then hand raised by Lisa until she died at five weeks old. The cause of death is uncertain.

Matings of Sarabi and Nala:

1st litter: Born on 15th April 2006. 3 kittens, two males and one female.

Pumba: After giving birth and allowing the kittens to take a little colostrum, Nala abandoned the kittens, as is quite common with first litters. The kittens were then taken away for hand rearing. Unfortunately they were started on a different milk formula than the one developed by the Trust and they were exposed to bacteria which caused them to become very ill. When the gut infection was diagnosed all three kittens were immediately put onto antibiotics, but sadly it was too late for Pumba and he died on 1st May 2006.

Mufasa: Fortunately was stronger than his male sibling and survived the bacterial infection. He has grown into a beautiful cat with a very calm and gentle nature and we hope that he will take on the role of primary breeding male at the Trust. It is hoped that he will produce his first litter with Arwen.

Mufasa

Shenzi: She has grown into a beautiful cat, with a more forceful personality than her brother. She is very intelligent and has been known to be quite stubborn, but since she was disciplined once, has been much more responsive. She is very well collar trained and will walk with any of her carers. Due to a lack of suitable breeding partners currently at the Trust, Shenzi was relocated to a release site Bushman Rock. It is hoped that she will breed with one of the orphan males, Bilbo and produce a litter before she is collared and released.

Shenzi

7 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 08 2008 | By: admin

What is the status of serval in Zimbabwe?
Why did the Tikki Hywood Trust start a serval breeding and release program?

Dear Readers,
These are two questions that we are commonly asked by people who hear about the Trust’s work.
The true status of serval population in Zimbabwe has not been properly documented, but we can confidently state that they now only exist on protected reserves and in National Parks. These are cats that once enjoyed a wide distribution throughout the country and their numbers are now dwindling rapidly. The Trust aims to rectify that situation by breeding and releasing animals back to suitable habitats with post-release monitoring so that we can learn more about these elusive cats. We work closely with Department of National Parks & Wildlife Management in this regard as we also aim to address the misconception that these cats are stock raiders and problem animals as they are often mistaken for leopards or cheetahs.

To answer the second question, this is a brief description on how it all started:

In April 2000 the Tikki Hywood Trust received two orphan servals, their mother had been poached and they were picked up by farm workers in the Shamva area (farming area located near a town). The farm owners then contacted the SPCA, which suggested that they be brought to us. The kittens arrived at our sanctuary at around two days old.

These two kittens, Muffet (female) and Tigger (male) were successfully hand raised by Lisa Hywood with a formula that she developed.

In the same year the Trust also received another two kittens, male and female, and these were raised alongside the first two. Later on a relocated adult male was brought to the Trust to save him from being destroyed as a problem animal. With these five cats, the serval breeding project was born.

Here are some figures of how many serval the Tikki Hywood Trust has dealt with as of January 2008:

Number of serval received by the Trust as of January 2008: 11 (5 females, 6 males)

Number of serval released as of January 2008: 16 (7 females, 9 males)

Number of serval born in the breeding program as of January 2008: 27 ( 9 females, 11 males, 7 unknown)

We have also posted brief histories and matings of all the serval that have passed through the program under the category “Serval”. Please have a look and give us your comments or questions!

All the serval in our program are destined for release unless an animal comes to us either in its last stage of life or severely debilitated and totally unable to fend for itself in the wild. Under no circumstance do we capture from the wild to augment our breeding stock. The welfare of each animal is utmost in our minds through every decision and sometimes they are hard ones. Ultimately, we aim to show these animals the love and respect that they deserve and what better way to express it as to give them freedom!

5 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 01 2008 | By: admin

AFRICAN CIVET AND LARGE-SPOTTED GENET
A common misconception about these animals is that they are often referred to as cats. They are not cats however they are members of the largest and most diverse group of carnivores – viverridae. Their relatives include all members of the mongoose family as well as meerkats.

There are in fact 5 major family groups of carnivores:
1.) Felids (all cats)
2.) Canids (dogs)
3.) Hyenids (hyena family)
4.) Viverriads (genets, civets, mongooses)
5.) Mustelids (otters, weasels, polecats)

Photos of Munchkin female genet (left) and Badger, male civet (right)

(Please see the individual group descriptions in the categories for general information on both these species).

Some common characteristics between these two animals;

* Both have long tails relative to body size
* Both have well-developed perineal glands for scent marking
* Both have rounded ears (bear-like)
* Both have stripes and spots in their coats
* Both have cat-like pupils (vertically-slit)
* Both are nocturnal
* Both can purr!

Now here is where they differ:

GENET
* Have retractile claws
* Are 1/10 the size of the civet
* Have much longer tails relative to overall body length
* Prefer an arboreal habitat
* Are voracious and efficient hunters

CIVET
* Are physically the largest specimens of the viverriad family
* Have non-retractile blunt claws
* Are more opportunistic foragers than active hunters
* Have more blunt features than a genet, with more doglike broad molars

One response so far