Zimbabwe Seven

Category: Past Newsletters | Date: Mar 26 2008 | By: admin

Zimbabwe – our beloved homeland continues to cry in silence. Once again Zimbabwe sits at a crossroads in her history. Our country has had a melt down in every aspect of industry and wildlife has unfortunately not been left unscathed. As the months have passed it has not been without its casualties from the wildlife world. 2007 saw 29 rhinos being poached and leaving behind 4 orphans. For every rhino which is poached – ask yourself “how many smaller less known animals have been poached?” I continue to ask myself when will this all end as I am sure the rest of you here in Zimbabwe have the same question.

The Tikki Hywood Trust has always wanted to maintain itself as an Organisation of HOPE! Right now this is very difficult to do. Yet there is hope! The rains have been fantastic and left the veldt with wonderfully lush green graze. The excessive rains have also made the terrain, very difficult for poachers and there is an abundance of water. These are all positives which will be able to help us rebuild the number of wildlife.

January 2008

Hedgehogs
Over the past three months we have had an amazing response to our request of looking for hedgehogs which are orphaned and or injured. Thanks to an advert in the Bulawayo Morning Mirror we have to date received eleven hedgehogs, but have had five mortalities. Unfortunately, some have come to us in a state of such grievous injury that it is not always possible to save them. One particular old male hedgehog comes to mind – he was named Pig Robinson and stayed with us for a week. When he arrived he had a severe bite wound just behind his left ear which was already maggot infested. We cleaned the wound out as much as possible but the maggots had gone in very deep and kept coming out to the surface on a daily basis. After antibiotics and vitamins we were not able to pull him through.

Currently we have 7 hedgehogs - 3 males and 4 females. All have been named after Beatrix Potter characters, so we have:

Tommy - one of the first to arrive, who also goes by the name “Tommy Toe-biter”, as everything from your toes to food goes into his mouth, just testing!!!
Moley Warp - a younger male, who is growing into a dashing young hedgehog with very dense, closely knit spines and
we have high hopes of him charming the females.

Moley Warp Miss Tiggy

Benjamin - the youngest of the males, is still quite nervous and very prickly.

Miss Tiggy – was 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 will become 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.

In order to co-ordinate the efforts of getting the hedgehogs in a stable condition and then on to the Trust we needed some assistance on the ground in Bulawayo. This is when Ken & Bobbi Goosen agreed to be our hedgehog liaisons for the Bulawayo area and surrounds. Pretty much thrown in the deep end and getting some unusual calls not always relating to hedgehogs, the Goosens have taken on this responsibility whole-heartedly, even taking one little wounded hedgehog to the vet to have injuries attended to! It is only through growing networks of like-minded and caring people such as Ken & Bobbi that we can make a difference to the smaller, forgotten creatures.

What is a very sobering thought is that these little creatures, once so commonly seen in the semi – arid environments of Zimbabwe, are now becoming a rare sight. We truly do not know how many we have left in Zimbabwe, but with the increased use of the hedgehog in traditional medicine the national hedgehog population is declining rapidly. The seven hedgehogs will form a breeding nucleus and we can start re-introducing the offspring in due course.

African wild cat
On Tuesday, 8th January 2008 we received a report from Bushman Rock Management that Paris had released herself from the enclosure. This was not a planned release, however due to a storm which brought with it a strong wind, rather a large tree fell down onto the fence line where Paris and Atlantic’s release enclosure is. It was initially thought that both she and Atlantic had gone off together, but Atlantic, was subsequently found in the enclosure the following morning. Whilst this was unplanned, it did not present too much of a problem that she was out, the only unfortunate thing was that we did not get a chance to collar her. Food was put out for her daily in the hopes of coaxing her back into the enclosure so that we could at least put a collar on. She was not too keen on this idea and remained elusive, yet continued to feed near the enclosure. Finally on 22nd February we realized that re-capturing Paris would not be an option, so we decided to put a tracking collar on Atlantic and release him. He was given a sedative (Dormicum) in a piece of meat early hours of the morning and then using an immobilizing drug (Zoletil), he was poled using a pole syringe. The opportunity to handle him whilst under the influence of the drug makes one realize just how solidly built these African wild cat are. His coat was in magnificent condition as well, not a single parasite to be seen. Once the collar was fitted he was put into a crate to sleep the drugs off. By nightfall of the same day he was let out of the crate and that was when it was noticed that he had a slight limp (from the pole syringe) and this would require some monitoring. By Sunday 24th Atlantic was fit and ready for release.
On Monday 25th the gate to the enclosure was opened. Atlantic, in his quiet and enigmatic way decided to stay a few days longer at “Hotel” Bushman Rock before venturing out. With the release of any animal, it is up to the individual animal to decide as to whether they wish to exit the release enclosure or not. Technically this is referred to as a “soft” release as the animal is given the option to stay or to go. Why do we do this? – it is vital that the animal being released feels comfortable and confident in the new surroundings, so the first thing they do when exiting the enclosure is not to bolt. The hope is to form a new breeding nucleus in the area where they are being. The fact that Paris remained near the enclosure for the seven weeks up to when Atlantic was collared proves this point beyond a doubt.

Civet
January also saw a new beginning for Francis our imported female civet from South Africa. Francis continues to grow in both size and character, becoming a normal boisterous civet. She is not as extroverted as Siam, but in her own way she is dealing with her rocky start to life in a new and loving environment. Wild animals I believe who have been through trauma and ill treatment, take a lot of time to heal. In my experience the recovery period consists of both a regular routine as well as a lot of encouragement from the people who are now interacting with them. Are we winning the battle against Francis’s pacing? I believe we are however it is going to be a long haul and every time there is something that threatens her she automatically reverts back to pacing. An obsessive compulsive is the term used in humans and should be equally used when talking about wild animals with similar behavior patterns. Just like with humans one of the ways in which to treat this is by using tricyclic antidepressant. Francis was put onto Amitriptyline (below is a table showing Francis’s drug dosages).
DATE DETAILS COMMENTS
3/01/08 – 12/01/08 Francis still in nursery pen. Francis has become more stable in this enclosure and it is almost time to move her next to the male civets.
12/01/08 Amitriptyline dose dropped to ¼ tablet Moved Francis in the morning to her new enclosure. She slept in the new house until evening when she was let out.
20/01/08 ½ Rivotril Francis had a bad night, pacing, so we administered a sedative to help her calm down.
21/01/08 Amitriptyline increased to 3/8 tablet We increased the dosage to assist her with adjustment.
13/02/08 Amitriptyline decreased to ¼ tablet, given ½ Rivotril for the night Main drug decreased as she is behaving well.
20/02/08 Skipping one day between drug doses. Improving, so reducing the drug dosage further by missing days.
1/03/08 Skipping two days between drug doses. Reducing drugs further.
10/03/08 Last dose of amitriptyline Francis also walked in an empty serval pen with us for the first time.
11/03/08 Drug free Spent two hours on her own in the empty serval pen.
12/03/08 Drug free Is now putting herself to bed under a bush in the enclosure. Happily climbs into her house herself when we enter in the morning.

On the 12 January, Francis was moved into another enclosure next to the two male civets and at the same time her drug dosage was decreased. She took to the new enclosure with enthusiasm, investigating every smell and giving Badger a casual glance. Badge of course was beside himself with excitement to having a new girl next door. Over the next few days as she got more familiar with her surroundings. Francis did have a few nervous moments where she would get unsettled and slip back into her pacing habit. We believe the adjustment to a different pen may have caused this (although she appeared very settled) so we increased the drugs again to help her settle. This helped her greatly and soon we all got into a routine where she would greet us enthusiastically in the morning when putting her in her house to go to sleep. Definitely the smaller house has made her feel more secure and sometimes in the evening when its time to get up for feeding she will burrow under her duvet like a sleepy teenager! By 10th March Francis had been weaned off all drugs! After months of concern that Francis might never be a normal captive kept civet, we are delighted to see positive results to the contrary. Francis’s next major event will, be meeting one of the boys face to face!

February 2008

This was a very positive month for the Trust as we were able to build a new enclosure at our headquarters. This enclosure will double up as a rotational enclosure for now, until such time as the Bat-eared foxes arrive.

Siam (imported African wild cat from South Africa) being far away from the other wild cats was given first option with the new enclosure. Being 35 m x 60 m Siam was not at all use to so much space! It is a wonderful experience to see an animal who has been so abused and who has spent the best part of his life in a small cage – all of a sudden exploring an environment which has grass instead of cement with real trees and not logs. If a cat could smile I am sure it would be the picture of Siam since arriving in Zimbabwe and becoming part of the Tikki Hywood Trust family.

Serval
February saw Mufasa growing into a teenager which of course means that he has now become rather interested in the female sex. Arwen is four months younger than Mufasa; therefore successful copulation will only be possible towards the middle of this year. Mufasa at least is showing all the characteristics of a male interested in a female. At this point I do not think that he is totally aware of what to do or even why he wants to do the things he is doing. Arwen on the other hand can not understand any of his actions or small talk which and just wishes he would just be ‘normal!’ After three days of Mufasa calling and doing a lot of huffing and puffing, we separated the two servals and have kept them apart until Arwen’s oestrus was completed. Even though Mufasa did have the opportunity to mate with Arwen, he thankfully has remained well natured and calm. Often in our experience, once the male starts being sexually active, he becomes aggressive. Shortly after he starts to become aggressive it is not much longer until he gets the “long distance stare” and the time arrives for him to be released.

The servals that are in the release program at Stonehills in Marula have also been very active! On 17 December 2007, Muffet and Rafiki were released. Muffet having already experienced her freedom, walked out of the enclosure with confidence and without a second look backwards. Rafiki being a shy and much younger serval remained in the enclosure for a few days before he decided to brave the wilds. Rafiki was not quite as adventurous as Muffet and even with placing his food at the entrance to the enclosure he remained inside the enclosure. After a few days his food was placed outside of the enclosure and this encouraged him to start exploring. The month of December is always wet here in Zimbabwe and this made Rafiki’s adjustment a little more challenging. Whilst being released Rafiki proved to be very different to his mother. He has less confidence and was always ravenous when his human caretakers brought him food. This indicated that he was not being very successful at hunting on his own. We also suspect that he was intimidated by a larger male who had been seen in the company of his mother! On the 15th January 2008, Rafiki’s signal was picked up near the neighboring village scheme and this caused some concern. When he was sighted, it was apparent that he had injured – his left back ankle joint which was swollen and which he was favouring. On further inspection, it was suspected that he had been bitten, (possibly the male, who could have been following Muffet) and his condition had deteriorated. Due to this injury, he would not be able to hunt effectively and would most likely lose even more condition so Rafiki was recapture, by being given a sedative in the meat which he ate without a problem and then was simply wrapped up in a canvas sheet, put in a crate and brought back to the release enclosure. Once back in very familiar territory and with food back on tap, Rafiki quickly relaxed and became his normal self. His injured leg also healed very satisfactorily without any need to treat it. Currently Rafiki remains in the release enclosure, but we have decided that releasing him at Marula with another adult male in the area will not be wise. So later on this year he will return to the breeding center and become one of the breeders.

Genet
Munchkin’s babies, Estee & Lauder are growing at a rate of knots. They have grown into incredibly agile and precocious genets, playing on the hanging baskets and wreaking havoc with the vegetation. In addition, it seems perfectly fitting that they should put manure in the ornate water fountain! Dad, Rags looks on sedately nestled in his straw-filled hanging basket and one can just imagine what goes through his mind: “Thank Goodness they are on that side!” Munchkin, ever patient and serene takes it all in her stride. She should be, after all she is the proud initiator of the first successful captive genet breeding program.

Coco & Dior: Two orphan genets, Coco (female) & Dior (male), were abandoned shortly after birth and at first we were not sure of the reasons. After awhile, it was apparent why their natural mother had abandoned them. Dior started to develop eye problems, where they would be closed and crusted up with a brown secretion. Coco, being slightly smaller, started developing lesions on various parts of her body, most noticeably on the last third of her tail and under her front right leg. However, Coco’s condition proved to be far more serious and she developed a bacterial skin infection that covered at least 20% of her body. Even after she was put onto antibiotics to help fight the infection, the bottom third of her tail was not able to recover and the end of her tail died and dropped off. Thankfully the rest of her problems were resolved and today she is a bright and full of nonsense genet. Due to the problems which both genets have been through, we will not breed from either of them and at the right time they will be sterilized and roam freely around the breeding center. It is the Trust’s principle that unless an animal is 100% both genetically and mentally we will not breed from them. Perhaps many would debate whether we should have raised these little orphans? Well only time tells what ails different mammals and we most certainly could not just sit back without helping these little creatures.

Kusanganisa Educational Project
This project continues to be an amazing learning journey for me. Zimbabwe is not a country which encourages anything which is new right now. Just getting through the day each day is very difficult, yet for many of these teachers their stresses of getting through the day are untold. Just this week, I gave one of the teachers a lift into town. On asking her what the reasons for her trip into town was for, her reply was “I can only cash my salary cheque in town.” So just to get cash (which might not be available in the bank) this teacher had to travel 55 kms by any means of transport she could find as she does not have a car, then get her pay cheque and return back to her home, another 55 kms, before night fall. During our trip into town, she remained cheerful and never once complained about the situation in which she found herself. I on the other hand seemed to be angered on her behalf. How on earth could a system let us down to such an extent? If we can not make sure that our own kind are taken care of, then how on earth are we going to find enough time to put into the species which inhabit our planet? After much deliberation I came up with the only way we can help our species as well as all those others which share the earth with us, is by taking small steps - together. This battle is way to large for any one of us to think we can under take it alone.

Through Kusanganisa I find that we, together with the Zimbabwean teachers, the children and all the sponsors involved are making it possible for these small steps to take place. Hope is a very powerful tool which keeps us believing in something positive. Through Kusanganisa the teachers have been inspired that there is a body of people who believe in their abilities, the children continue to be stimulating both mentally and physically through the project.

Even with the excessive rains, the first crop of mealies at Nehanda brought in ZW$ 650 million which have gone towards buying a Grade 7 Environmental Science text book. With the number of students increasing at Nehanda the school has been unable to supply enough text books and there are many students who have to share. With the help of Seed Co we have managed to plant another ½ hectare of sorghum, as well as this crop we have also increased the onion crop for this year as we had such success last year. As Nehanda is on sand veldt we have had to do a little bit of experimenting to see what crop does the best on this type of soil.
On the 20 February 2008, Mr Weterings the Ambassador of the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands, took the morning away from his busy schedule to see just how the financial backing from the Embassy for the Phase 3 part of Kusanganisa was taking place. The school put on an amazing morning of dancing, play acting and singing. Once all the activities were complete the Ambassador was shown around the school and what the school is currently undertaking through the Kusanganisa Educational Program. It was very interesting to learn that it was the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands who built Nehanda.

News in General
Currently here in Zimbabwe our poaching fines are ridiculously low. Over the past eight months, the Tikki Hywood Trust together with National Parks has managed to increase the fines every quarter. For 2008, we have managed to get Parliament to pass a 3000% increase in the national poaching fines. This will continue to be a battle we will pursue, as it is our hope that the poaching fines will be the same as the trophy fees. This way each animal will have a more realistic value.

January also saw the Trust going “mainstream” in the technological world of the internet. Blogging is a fast growing medium of expression on the internet, with people being able to stand on virtual soapboxes and have their say. Although initially it was a socially expressive tool, now with the infinitely expanding reach of the World Wide Web blogging has also become a way to fight ignorance and create awareness for conservation purposes. With this all in mind, the Tikki Hywood Trust has become a member of a purely conservation orientated site called wildlifedirect.org. We have our own blog page, and it is called Zimbabwe Seven. With a much wider and diverse audience, through this blog we can provide insight into the plight of the species we deal with and indeed the plight of Zimbabwean wildlife as a whole.

To all our sponsors and supporters we extend a huge thank you to each and every one of you. A special thanks goes to the following people, whom without we would not be able to continue our plight:-

African Genesis
Buddy Mockford
Croplink
Graham Smith
John Mctaggart
Julian Howard
Mike Palmer
Miriam Bauman
Patricia Glyn
SAVE Australia
The Royal Embassy of the Netherlands
Teresa Siskind

Share This