Zimbabwe Seven

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

Dear Readers,

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

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

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