Zimbabwe Seven

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 21 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

This story is one of true sadness. On Wednesday 18 June 2008, I received an urgent call from The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, saying that yet another white rhino mother had been poached and had left a young orphan calf behind. Instantly Dr Astrid Huelin and I collected all the drugs and necessary equipment to address the possible situation we would encounter once we were on site.

With a multitude of emotions, such as anger, anxiety, sadness as well as a glimmer of perhaps hope that just maybe we could do something for this little innocent who now lying dying beside his dead mother.

It was an hour’s drive to where the mother and baby were being kept. From the reports the baby’s situation was not good. He was motionless and the parks officials did not think he would make it due to the severe injuries. But there was nothing to prepare me when I arrived on the scene and saw this helpless, motionless freezing little body. There lay this perfect body covered in blood. When kneeling down, I could feel that this little baby’s body was ice cold – but there was a slight pulse. We filled hot water bottles; cover the body with blankets and a space blanket in the hopes of bringing up his temperature. One of the biggest problems with orphan animals is shock and hypothermia. A baby will die due to hypothermia.

Gently rubbed his body, talking to him softly all the time in the hopes of bring him some support and comfort. His face was covered with blood! On the front of his face there were four axe marks, which zigzagged across his face. Two of these cuts were at least an inch deep. He had lost a fair amount of blood due to these injuries. We administered a drip to increase the fluids and in the hopes of giving him energy to fight. He was injected with a pain killer. This little body was not warming up!!!!

“Please help anyone!” this cannot be allowed to happen – he has done nothing he is innocent!! – kept going through my mind. If only I could wave a magic wand and take all his suffering away. What man continues to do for his own greed is something I will not ever understand – when you see this helpless creature fighting for his life or in this case this little baby wishing to join his mother, your heart can only but break!

The Parks scouts were with us and they too were angered by what had taken place in their park the night before. One saving grace is that the poachers – all four of them were apprehended and are now in jail awaiting the charge of poaching one of not only Zimbabwe’s rarest animal but the world’s!!! Mr Elson Gwanyanya, the head Warden, helped us to get the baby who had now been named Nyasha by the Parks scouts, into our vehicle so that we could get him the care he needed. Nyasha in Shona means hope, peace and mercy. This little baby boy rhino could not have been more aptly named.

After trying to stabilize Nyasha we got the necessary approval to take him to where we would try and raise him if he were going to survive. Imire, it was decided was the most appropriate place to take him. Imire is a game park and sanctuary to wildlife and some of Zimbabwe’s remaining black rhino. It is owned by John and Judy Travers. Late last year four of their rhinos were poached or rather slaughtered, leaving behind Tatenda yet another male orphan calf.

Another 1 ½ hour road trip lay ahead of us. The heater was on full ball to try and get Nyasha’s body temperature up. He was now onto his second drip which was feeding into him via a vein in his ear. Nyasha and I shared a warm moment when I called him as if I were another rhino and his ear moved. This was hope and that is all any of us needed. The wounds keep bleeding, but at this point they seemed clean and I had put antiseptic ointment into them which was all I could do. How can I watch this baby lying in front of me, in pain, terrified and on the verge of meeting his Maker! This is all wrong. Wrong so wrong!

As part of the human race my heart cries for all of us. What lay before me was only a picture of perfection, defaced by the hands of man. Yet now in the hopes of saving him, there was only so much we could do – was that going to be enough? After an hour on the road, we had a blow out! Astrid drove us to safety and there we all sat, just for a moment. Then, it was action stations and Astrid, Star and Gabrielle (Gabrielle and Star are vets wanting to learn more about wildlife) jump out to quickly change the tyre. The car was left on so that the heater remained on to keep Nyasha comfortable.

“What – no jack?”

It was getting dark and we were on the side of the road in Zimbabwe ten days before the elections. Let me tell you it was not the most comfortable feeling that I had ever felt before. Astrid literally jumped into the road to stop the first car! Visions of a critically wounded rhino together with a wounded vet did pass through my mind. But thankfully two cars stopped to help us and there was only complete and utter concern on everyone’s face and minds as soon as they had heard our plight and situation. 30 minutes later we were off. Silence fell on the vehicle, I am sure we all were in our different ways praying for this baby’s survival.

We had contacted Imire before leaving Harare, to warn them that we were coming with an injured rhino. On arriving at Imire, we could see that they had worked most of the afternoon erecting a manger where Nyasha was to go. Due to his critically low body temperature, there was no way he could stay outside – it would kill him. We arranged a mattress with duvets and blankets in front of the fire in the sitting room. Then four people carried Nyasha from the vehicle to inside, to be by the fire. Once he had settled we explained what we had administered to Nyasha and what would be required over the next 48 hours. As he was only a month old, we decided to try and feed him milk. You must realise however that Nyasha was so weak that to do this was not going to be easy. With Judy holding the bottle of milk, another person holding his head and with me trying to massage his throat gently, to make him swallow. After about 10 minutes, he had drunk 100 mls. Exhausted - we let him sleep. Talking softly and rubbing his little body in the hopes that he would start to warm up.

This is what Nyasha faced in order to recover from his injuries;

He had a head trauma and more than likely the axe had reached his skull if not his brain. With any head injury there is a possibility that his brain would swell.

He had lost a lot of blood.

His body temperature was critically low.

Due to the wounds, which were made with a dirty axe this would create an infection which he did not have the strength to fight without antibiotics.

These are only the physical injuries. I ask you readers, for a minute to stop and think to yourselves how you would feel as a month old, innocent creature with no knowledge of pain or suffering and in one foul blow your mother is murdered in front of you! You are hacked at with an axe when trying to help your mother? There is no scale of measurement for this kind of trauma and this is something which will not help Nyasha’s recovery.

At 10 pm that night, I handed Nyasha’s fate over to Judy. With a heavy heart, I left Nyasha. Before leaving I whispered my sincere sorrows for his pain and asked for his forgiveness for what my kind had done to both him and his mother. But there is no forgiveness! This could be the last time that I was to see this battered and broken soul. If he was to go I could only wish and pray that it be quick.

Nyasha died on 19 June 2008, at 4.15 am. Peace at last, reunited with his mother!

Many tears have been shed over this injustice. Many angry words spoken over this merciless killing – murder! Yet no amount of tears shed or words spoken will bring this baby back to this world where he was first born. There is no action that can be taken which will ease the pain with which that baby died. I ask myself if there is anything which can be done, so that these murders were not wasted? No - is the answer. For these rhinos who have been murdered in Zimbabwe, there will never been enough justice done to account for their loss. Animals continue to be murdered, struggled to death in snares, rotting carcasses! To die without dignity is a sin and it is our sin. And yes I am sad, and I am angry, my heart is heavy with no end in sight as no matter which way I turn there are no more answers.

In memory of Nyasha;

“Do you hear the people sing?

Singing the song of angry men

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

- Les Miserables

- Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

The poachers remain in jail and bail has been denied. This is the first case of poaching where bail has been denied. We will keep you posted to the outcome of the poachers!

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Category: Serval | Date: Jun 11 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

Dear Readers,

It is a month since Arwen gave birth to Evenstar and Quickbeam. In a country where chaos reigns it is amazing to see this precious gift to the world in the form of two perfect little furry bundles. It never ceases to amaze me just how much there is to learn, each animal who enters my world has so much to teach me. Evenstar and Quickbeam are no different. Incidentally, these two new additions to our family are named after Tolkien characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy – as is their mother. Evenstar was named first (the first to appear!) and then Quickbeam.

For a first time mother, Arwen has been brilliant. She is very relaxed showing no signs of aggression toward me when approaching her kittens. This is unusual, as normally with the serval, if the mother decides to raise her babies on her own she becomes very protective over her kittens and does not allow their human caretaker anywhere close to the kittens. She has cleaned and fed her kittens diligently since their birth. The first litter is always a difficult litter for both the human caretakers as well as the natural mother. Many first time litters are abandoned or do not survive due to the mothers inexperience. Even though Arwen is only two years old, which is still young for a serval, she has been an incredible mum. Because of this I have left the kittens with her in the hope that together the three of us can adjust to a different way of raising the kittens. The natural mother is always the best option, as there is no substitute for mother’s milk. However being in captivity it is also important that we as the caretakers can manage the animals so as to monitor things such as parasite control, de worming and weighing. If the kittens grow up not being happy in our company it makes life in captivity both difficult for us as well as them. Our aim here at the Trust is to always minimalize all forms of stress. We do not believe that ‘knocking down’ an animal every time you have to treat him or her is very good for the animal. So we aim for each animal to be content in this environment, to alleviate any stress. Even when an animal has been hand raised, there normally comes a time when this animals natural instincts kick in and they want to be returned to the wild. In my experience the average time when an animal develops this natural urge is shortly after mating – this is even more apparent with the males. Each night when it comes time to feed Arwen, we move her into a neighbouring enclosure, ( our enclosures are interlinked in such a way that we can rotate the animals with ease) she then starts to eat her daily dinner whilst I go into her enclosure to be with the kittens. I spend a minimum of 20 minutes with the kittens where I talk to them and start to introduce myself to them so that they are not scared of me and will adjusted to being handled and interacted with. The feeling is quite remarkable, when sitting in amongst the foliage with these two furry bundles and they wobble unsteadily up to me, unafraid and typically cat-curious! It has been phenomenal how accepting Arwen is of the whole situation. Whilst eating her evening meal she is relaxed and her youth betrays her in playful exploration of the new smells and the odd floating rubber duck in the pond. This is all a totally new concept to me as under normal circumstances the mother serval would not be so trusting. When she is re-united with her babies, Arwen spends a lot of time smelling my smell near them, and they then get a thorough bathing! I hope that we can continue on this vein and that Evenstar and Quickbeam will come to see me as the second mother, or at the very least a devoted member of the family.

The Tikki Hywood Trust would like to thank all our Blog readers, as well as Wildlife Direct, who have been so understanding and supportive of our current situation here in Zimbabwe. Each day brings with it a new, and interesting challenges. When the economic climate faces total decline, you realise just how cheap life becomes. The carnage continues in both the human and wildlife world here in Zimbabwe. The strength of the Zimbabwe person has been amazing.

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 05 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

Due to the current situation here in Zimbabwe, wildlife continues to be under threat. Each and everyday brings with it another tale of unrest and lawlessness. On 15 May 08, Kimba Melu an orphan female elephant had to be moved from the Mavuradohna release site (one of the release sites for the Tikki Hywood Trust animals) because her life was threatened. Right now I am sure you are wondering what the Tikki Hywood Trust’s involvement is in one of the world’s largest mammals? In 2006 the Tikki Hywood Trust was alerted to Kimba’s story, and this is how it started….

On 25 December 2006, Kimba together with another orphaned male elephant were confiscated from a family who had been acting as the elephants’ foster parents since the babies were orphaned in the drought. Without any notice or warning the elephants were collected and taken away to a holding pen in the north of Zimbabwe. When we got to the Nymanechi Game Park, we were confronted with some very distressing news. The day after the two elephants had arrived; they had broken out of their pen and escaped into the bush. Both of these babies were still on bottles, so were very dependant on substitute milk. After four days the scouts found the carcass of the smallest male elephant that obviously had been attacked by a pack of rural dogs. Kimba remained in the bush for another week before the scouts managed, with a net to catch her and bring her back to a wire pen which from the stories had been used to house a wild leopard. On arriving my heart broke in two. There was this tiny baby, pacing up and down the line of the fence and then when she had stopped moving back and forth on her front to hind leg. Her physical condition was horrendous; her spine was at least 4 inches protruding from her back. The look in her eyes was one of fear and pleading not to once again be left on her own. Immediately I called National Parks and informed them of the situation, my initial concern was that this young elephant would not survive due to the incorrect milk formula and the fact that what she should be drinking was not available. National Parks agreed that this situation was not good and that until we could organise a permit for her we were able to take care of her. The next vital step was to get permission from the main Headquarters of National Parks to move this desperate little animal into a more stable situation where she could be properly cared for.
Lucky for us and Kimba, Geoff Hoddy was in Zimbabwe as part of SAVE Australia committee, it was thanks to his sincere love of Zimbabwe and her wildlife that when we told Geoff about Kimba, he pledged to help her no matter what it took. With the knowledge of the support from Geoff, we arrived at Parks to see how we could improve Kimba’s future. To my astonishment, Kimba had now become a victim of a price war! This orphan baby was now about money and how much as an adult she could fetch as part of an elephant back safari. Outraged, I argued that this was a conservation issue and not about money. Thankfully, those at Parks could see just how important it was to save Kimba and do what was right by her. At this point I had to ask myself why so much of this world is just about money and only money. To take the innocence of a wild orphan animal and then exploit it - surely this is a sin?
Thanks to National Parks, it was decided that Kimba would be given the chance of being returned to the wild and would never be part of any safari out fit. Being an elephant, this adventure of going back into the wild would be very lengthy. Kimba went to the north of Harare to learn to be an elephant and start her life once again with a new family - James and Janine Varden. Then with all that was happening in the Mavuradohna Mountains our concerns came back. Kimba’s chances of being returned safely back into the wild - started to diminish due to the increase in poaching and mining in the area, even though this area is part of a National Park. After further discussion with Parks, it was agreed that we would move her once again down to Chiredzi, where there were two adult elephants who had been orphaned in the 1992 - 93 drought of Zimbabwe. Theresa Warth has been doing amazing work with orphan elephants, and by moving Kimba to Theresa she would be able to interact with adult elephants. Being social mammals it is very important for elephants to bond with one another. Then fairly unexpected on the 14 May 08, ‘youths’ arrived at the farm where Kimba had been growing up on. The ‘youth’s demanded that they needed meat and that Kimba would do. After much pledging and negotiations’ the youth agreed that if a sable and bush pig were shot they would spare Kimba. Urgently Kimba was put into a horse box with a convoy of SPCA, James & Janine Varden and a National Parks scout and driven into Harare, where she over nighted in a horse sable, before the long trek to the Lowveld the following day. At five o’clock on the morning of 16th May 08 the convoy continued on to what hopefully will be the last move via vehicles for Kimba. At this point in time we can not promise that this will be Kimba’s last move. But what we can continue to do is make sure that these animals that are now in the care of man, is that man continues to make sure that they are returned to the wild safely. Together hopefully we can preserve enough of Zimbabwe’s wild heritage so that these elephants have a natural home where they can roam.

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 19 2008 | By: zimbabwe7

Photo above : Arwen showing off very pregnant tummy!

The Tikki Hywood Trust is delighted to introduce our two newest arrivals. Evenstar and Quickbeam who were born on Saturday 10 May 2008. The glowing parents, mother Arwen and father Mufasa are very proud indeed, as are we.

 Arwen about to pop…….

This is the first litter for both serval. As Arwen is only 23 months old (she was born in June 2006) we were rather concerned that she would reject her first litter. Thankfully she has jumped at the opportunity of being a “paws on” mother. Evenstar arrived first at approximately 9:00 pm on Saturday evening, and then several hours later, Quickbeam was born. Both kittens are calm and suckling well from Arwen. Arwen is currently separated from Mufasa for the safety of the kittens (approximately three weeks to a month before the babies are due we remove the male. Even though the babies are Mufasa’s, serval males are very aggressive towards the young and more often than not will kill the young), in the wild the female will separate herself from the male and the raise the babies alone. Serval adults only remain together for mating.

The reason we felt that this would be a good pairing - Mufasa is a gentle cat, with a calm nature. His coat is much darker than Arwen’s and physically he is slightly shorter and a lot stockier than Arwen. Geronimo, whose is Arwen’s father, was a very tall serval with the most amazing characteristics, Tilly, Arwen’s mother, was orphaned and during her time in captivity was very loving until she started breeding - where she became very defensive and aggressive towards anyone who entered her enclosure. These are all important traits for an animal who is ultimately going to be released.

Each day we sit with Arwen talking gently to her so that she can realize that we do not want to hurt her babies and for us to monitor the kittens’ development. A week after the kittens were born their eyes opened, even though have not got total sight as yet. They are still deaf, but as soon as they start hearing it is very important that they learn to trust us, so that we are able to manage them in captivity.

We will keep you up dated as to how the kittens start developing and growing up.

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Category: Serval | Date: Apr 23 2008 | By: admin

The Tikki Hywood Trust is delighted to report that Frodo is now in the final stage of being released. On the 12 April 2008, Frodo was sedated, for what we hope will be the last time in his life and fitted with a radio collar. Once he was crated, Frodo travelled to the Matendere Ranch which is situated in the SAVÉ Valley in the Southeast Lowveld of Zimbabwe.

For all of us this was a very happy day. As Frodo has not only been incredibly patient and brave but has survived an ordeal second to none on his road to recovery. Over the years I have come to realise that sometimes an animal enters your life, and you are the one who has to learn a tremendous lesson. Frodo, I believe has been one such lesson for me. Since his accident we have seen an awe-inspiring will to over come all the difficult obstacles which he was presented with. Frodo’s recovery is not only about him overcoming a broken limb, but how Frodo taught us to be better at the undertaking of returning animals back to the wild.

The mentality of a wild animal is one which still has so much misunderstanding I believe. Only to often we as humans, are arrogant enough to assume that we know what is best for an animal. The question is: “do we”? With 14 years of working with wild animals, I can quite honestly say that for me, each animal is different and with that comes a unique character. So to generalize is not possible, but with a guideline of how difficult it is to survive in the wild as a wild animal we have to make sure we have given each animal destined for release the best possible opportunity. With Frodo, even though his injuries are against his release into the wild, the fact that he came from the wild is an enormous bonus. This young serval had survived, if not well he had made it to at least 6 months of age on his own.

For any wild animal to come from an environment of no rules and unlimited space, then to a crate and complete and utter capture – must in itself be nothing short of complete mental anguish. Yet Frodo, who entered our lives from the wild and remained in a crate for 23 days, began to feed from our hands with the use of tweezers, drink milk (which contained his daily antibiotics and sedatives) from a bowl. He allowed us to spray wound spray on his bare and exposed hind leg wounds. During this all I asked myself, “what innocence allows an animal to trust us to such an extent? What must be going through Frodo’s mind whilst we went through the daily routine of dressing his wounds, feeding him and moving him from one crate to another so that we could clean?” I have no answers, only admiration for this animal.

In conclusion to Frodo and his final release, we at the Trust have gained a tremendous amount of experience. As with any animal the emotive side, is huge and affects each and every one of us differently. It has to be said that there have been many a moment when I wondered whether we were doing the right thing by Frodo. Operation after operation, close confinement, trauma and then again more trauma! My heart has on so many occasions gone out to Frodo. Were we really doing what was right for Frodo or rather what we felt was right for us? This is a hard and strong question but one which we at the Trust have to ask on so many occasions. After much deliberation it was decided that with Frodo we would stop at nothing except to do everything in our capabilities to return him to the wild as a healthy animal. For me Frodo has been a great patient and teacher. There is a remarkable difference between a captive born animal and a wild animal brought into captivity. There is an extreme potential for stress to be caused and one thing our experience with Frodo’s has confirmed, is that no wild animal should ever be taken out of its natural environment for any reason what so ever!!! The stress is far too much; at this point we do not know what the long term physiological results will be to Frodo. However by collaring him we will be able to monitor his progress back into the wild. It is vital to collect the data on Frodo once he has been released to see how he can fend for himself as well as to see how he is able to interact with other serval and the other wild animals in the area where we have released him. Has Frodo been a success? From a surgical point of view – yes, from being released it is too soon for us to know. What I do know is that right now Frodo is more content than he has been for the past six months. He is in a wild enclosure, with the sounds of the wild surrounding him both day and night, natural prey such as guinea fowl and doves for supper and more importantly, space. For now my heart rests a littler easier for Frodo than it has done in the last six months.

With any project, great efforts are made by many people. What each person brings to a wild animals, return to the wild is immense. Frodo’s return has been made possible due to the support of so many of you. The Tikki Hywood Trust would like to sincerely thank you all and the following people and organisations, without whom Frodo would not have made it this far.

Note the photo below showing Frodo’s leg all healed.

This is Frodo’s leg after the final operation.

Frodo’s return to the wild has been a joint venture with the AWARE Trust. The Tikki Hywood Trust would like to thank Dr Keith Dutlow and Dr Lisa Marabini of the AWARE Trust for their hard work and persistence towards the long road to recovery of Frodo over the past six months. Dr Keith Dutlow and Dr Lisa Marabini of the AWARE Trust performed surgery on Frodo, and covered his surgical expenses. The AWARE Trust also paid for the majority of the medical treatment of Frodo, and constructed a convalescing enclosure for him.

Beit Trust
Brilley Nicholson
Chris Foggin
Croplink
Department of National Parks & Wildlife Management
Geoff and Kim Hoody
Irvines Chickens
Judy and Leon du Plessis
Mim Bauman
Paule and Kim Wolf
Save Australia

Note to Readers,

Thank you all for reading about Frodo. For those who might be further interested, we can email  you a spreadsheet detailing major events and operations.

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

Dear Readers,

Something very exciting is happing for us at the Trust - Lisa is currently in the southern part of the country preparing a very special young serval for release. You may or may not recall a young male serval we talked about in a past newsletter  (Dec 07) who was hit by a car. Frodo has undergone several major surgeries in an effort to fix a broken leg. He is finally in good enough shape to move to a soft release enclosure. He was immobilized and collared on 12th April 2008 and as I write is being settled into his new tempory home. Lisa will give a full report when she gets back, so please keep your fingers crossed for Frodo that it all goes well.

In the meantime, we have mentioned a number of times how we have had difficulty  uploading photos. However, we have managed to get some up. We hope these images will amuse and inspire you all, they came with a lot of perservence and sweat and patience…….

Send us your comments - we are always encouraged when we hear from you all.

This is Fuzzy Peg - sweet little teacup hedgehog!

This is Asia, ”supermodel” African wild cat whom we hope will bond soon with Siam, the red African wild cat male.

This is the handsome boy himself - Siam, red African wild cat.

This is Atlantic, African wild cat male being collared by Lisa.

Atlantic in recovery after having a collar fitted.

This is Mr. Pigling Bland, male hedgehog enjoying a bit of sun.

Bilbo - young male serval at release site Bushman Rock Estates.

Coco (left - female) & Dior (right - male) orphaned genets.

Moley Warp - male hedgehog on a stroll in the garden.

Rafiki, the handsome half king serval male.

Arwen - young female serval.

Starsky - top breeding male African wild cat at the Trust.

Rascal the pensive - young male large-spotted genet.

Francis - African civet female in her house.

Phiri - baby Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest male (See Dec 07 newsletter).

Finally - little cutie after a meal…… Baby Southern African hedgehog.

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Apr 05 2008 | By: admin

March 2008 will be burnt into the minds and hearts of many Zimbabwean’s all around the world. Once again Zimbabwe and her people sit in the abeyance whilst history is made. We sit in fear and anticipation, awaiting an outcome, which can be one of two things; to be given the ability of dreaming once again and rebuilding our country or being forced into making plans, jumping hurdles with no end in sight. Should it be the latter, those of us who are committed to this country and her wildlife, will once again face many obstacles in the hope of trying to conserve and preserve the wildlife which remains.

The unfortunate reality of Zimbabwe is that her once proud people have now been forced into seeking help and assistance from further a field. Without the outside world’s interest in Zimbabwe, there would be many more people and wildlife suffering at the merciless hands of the current situation. We at the Tikki Hywood Trust are just one of many organisations who are now not able to source funding locally due to the economic pressures facing local industry. Thanks to the many people such as yourselves, we hope to be able to continue our plight towards Zimbabwe’s endangered wildlife.

Since the Trust’s inception, our priority has, and will always be, the welfare of the animals who we come in contact with. Reality is; record breaking hyperinflation, 80% or more unemployment, non-availability of basic food stuff, in the face of all of this and with the daily struggle to keep afloat, the last thing on most people’s mind is supporting a wildlife NGO’s. However due to the wonder of modern technology we still have a voice which can be heard in the international arena and this is thanks to Wildlife Direct.

With this in mind, we hope to draw you, the reader, closer to the nature of our work. Even more so, we wish to give you an upfront and personal insight into each and every animal who not only make up part of our family but who go onto helping their species to survive!

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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

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Category: Serval | Date: Mar 25 2008 | By: admin

Rafiki’s story:

Sire: Geronimo
Dam: Muffet (4th Litter)
Sex: Male
Origin: Born at THT
Date of Birth: 12th October 2005
Littermate: none.
Other Siblings: Nala

Rafiki is from Muffet’s fourth litter with Geronimo. Like Nala who is also from Muffet and Geronimo, his coat was a dark golden colour with very black spots. As he has matured, we have discovered that his markings qualify him as a half king serval, meaning that he has more strips than spots.

Rafiki, was a healthy kitten that reached adulthood without any medical problems. He was raised by his mother and despite this became quite tame (usually the opposite is true when they are raised by their mothers). Due to lack of a genetically independent female, there was no one for Rafiki to breed with so he was always destined for an early release.

If we can recap for you from Muffet’s story….

On the 14 June 2006, Muffet was darted and collared and Rafiki was also immobilized but not collared, so that they would go together. Both cats travelled well and when we arrived at Stone Hills it was dark, fairly cold and raining. The cats remained in their crates and inside the car for the night, as I was concerned about their body temperature dropping too low, after being drugged (one of the side affects of using drugs is that the animal is not able to regulate his or her temperature). In the morning we took both cats to their new enclosure. This is where they would remain to be introduced to the new sights and sounds of the area until the rains come in November. Being confident as Muffet is, she came out of her crate quickly and started to investigate her new surroundings. Rafiki was still under the influence of the drugs and remained in his crate until later that day. Muffet however was delighted with her new surroundings, started eating and moving around the enclosure instantly. Muffet continued to show her self-assured nature whilst in the enclosure whereas Rafiki remained quiet yet curious. At the time that they were moved, he was only eight months old – an awkward teenager not sure of himself, but not totally dependent on his mother.

Muffet was released on 10 December 2006, whilst Rafiki remained behind. The reason we did this was because Muffet was in oestrus and we did not want Rafiki covering her. We also thought that with Rafiki still in the enclosure it might make Muffet remain in the area, and this is exactly what happened. During her first sojourn in the wild, Muffet would occasionally come back to check on her son.

Rafiki continued to take in the environment with wide-eyed interest. He was comfortable in the release enclosure and the occasional pile of feathers showed that he at least was practising hunting. He stayed in the release enclosure from 14th June 2006 to 17th December 2007, another eighteen months. As of the month of release, Dec 2007, Rafiki has matured into a stunning 2 year old serval.

On the day of the release, Muffet having done this once before strode out oozing confidence, almost knowing every stone and bush in the immediate area. Rafiki on the other hand must have watched his mother walk away a second time with confusion and trepidation. After a couple of days with the gate wide open and Rafiki still not venturing out, he was encouraged to take his food outside the gate. This seems to have given him the little bit of courage he needed to start exploring the surroundings.

Rafiki was released in December, which is generally in the height of the rainy season in Zimbabwe. As a result, his first introduction to the wild was a wet one. When he was tracked and food offered to him, he always ate it ravenously which indicated that he may not have been hunting successfully. He then moved to a neighbouring area and there was concern that there would be interaction between him and local people and their livestock. There were also occasions where he looked hounded or frightened, and we presumed that he was possibly being intimidated by the larger male who had been seen with Muffet.

Khanye’s report on Rafiki: (Scout at Stonehills Release Site)
10th January –
Rafiki could not be located, nor for the next four days. On the 15th January at
07:20 hrs his signal was picked from Dibe Hill coming from north Matanje area. Mr. Aylward, Mabena and myself went towards there. We finally saw him coming to us but he was outside the boundary fence. He was terribly thin, hungry and powerless. He had a swollen and limping left back leg. He looked desperate for food. Two dormicum tablets were wrapped in two separate pieces of meat, which he took in much hurry and he waited hoping as always
that I had come with more. The tablets were supposed to work within 30 minutes but nothing happened for almost an hour. He had come in through the fence at a place I had spilled
some blood. He dug where the blood had sunk. The piece of meat that we had put in the cage to trap him did not work, as he quickly took the meat and got out. We decided that time was being wasted and covered him with a big green tarp. He did not put much effort in trying to escape and we put him into his cage. When we got home, an hour and a half had passed since he had taken the tabs. But he was still wide-awake. We gave him two more pieces of meat and left him alone in his enclosure. I came back to check on him two hours later to find him (looking dead) asleep two meters from where we had left him. The tablets had only just started working. I came back two hours later with his 400 g of food and he was nowhere near
where I had left him. I tried to call but he did not come, so I left the food by his usual table. The next morning I found he had eaten it. At 4 pm he met me by the boma entrance asking for food – we gave him 400 g again. The next day he met me by the entrance at 4 pm waiting for food as he did on all the following days.

Note - we released Muffet on 14th December, and Rafiki left the cage (was induced out with food) on the evening of 17th December.

On the 15th January 2008, Rafiki’s signal was picked up near the neighbouring village scheme. This was cause for concern, as his presence would not be welcomed. On investigation he was found – miserable, hungry and worst of all, limping! His left back leg appeared to have a bite mark, it was swollen just above the hock joint.

There was no questioning that Rafiki had to be recaptured and brought in for treatment. Sedative tablets were crushed in two pieces of meat and given to him – which he wolfed down. Obviously now with an injured leg hunting was not even an option. However, he was not going to make it too easy, the sedative was working but he was still wary. Eventually, in his wobbly state he was unceremoniously wrapped in a piece of canvas and brought back to the release enclosure.

What is Rafiki’s outcome now that he has been recaptured and returned to the release enclosure? Well we have two choices. The first being to try and re-release him in the same area, or to bring him back to the breeding centre where he will breed and later when we feel he is more mature and confident try and release him at another release site. We have chosen the second choice, as Rafiki needs to build up his confidence before being release again. What this experience has shown me is that, each animal perhaps is not that eager to return to the wild as I might have first thought. Like with children, each wild animal which we are involved with, portrays different characteristics. It is our responsibility to assess these traits and then act accordingly to each animal as an individual. It is hoped that Rafiki will return to the breeding centre shortly after the elections (March 2007).

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Category: Kusanganisa Educational Program | Date: Mar 18 2008 | By: admin

KUSANGANISA – NEWS FLASH!!!

The Tikki Hywood Trust together Werribee Open Range Zoo on Friday 14 2008, were awarded the “Best Education Program for 2008”. The award was announced at a gala dinner in Taronga Zoo Sydney. The panel that judged the ARAZPA, comprised of zoo experts from New Zealand and Australia. The ARAZPA, is the highest and best award that any zoo related program can win.

The below is an excerpt from Rachel Lowry of Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Date Program commenced operation:
In May 2006, Lisa Hywood (Founder of the Tikki Hywood Trust) approached Werribee Open Range Zoo requesting assistance with the development of an education program to be based within rural Zimbabwe. The Tikki Hywood Trust (THT) hoped to establish a conservation education program that would promote sustainable behaviours within local communities situated alongside THT animal release sites. In September 2006 Rachel Lowry traveled to Zimbabwe to assess the feasibility of establishing an education program within Zimbabwe that could be linked to education programs run by Werribee Open Range Zoo. In February 2007 ‘Conservation Connections’ was launched as two Werribee Open Range Zoo educators, Rachel Lowry and Katie Pahlow returned to Zimbabwe to establish the in-situ component of the three-tiered Conservation Connections program titled ‘Kusanganisa’.

Conservation Connections is a three-tiered conservation education program developed by Werribee Open Range Zoo. Australian students first participate in An African Experience, where they connect with Africa’s magnificent wildlife and learn about issues devastating these species. Students wanting to take action against the bush-meat crisis and poaching then participate in the Ungana Project, developing wildlife education resources to be utilised in conservation education in Africa. In 2007, Conservation Connections inspired more than 780 Australian school students to take action for African wildlife. As a result, Werribee Open Range Zoo distributed 360 kilograms of wildlife education resources to Zimbabwe for Kusanganisa. These resources are used to enhance the capacity of Kusanganisa, the conservation education program facilated by the Tikki Hywood Trust.

On behalf of the Tikki Hywood Trust we would like to thank both Rachel’s and Katie’s tremendous support and belief in our Kusanganisa Project here in Zimbabwe. Their patience and determination to help Kusanganisa develop into what it currently is today has been tireless. When I first met Rachel in 2005, whilst I was in fundraising in Australia, I was drawn to her no nonsense approach toward conservation education. Rachel, Katie and I have been privileged to be apart of such a worthwhile project which is making a difference to both teachers and children alike here in Zimbabwe. With so much going against us here in Zimbabwe it is positive to know that Kusanganisa continues and the children are constantly reminded just how important both wildlife and their environment are to their own survival. For this project to continue here in Zimbabwe, it would not be possible with out the financial support of The Royal Embassy of the Netherlands. Together with the Embassy we have been able to introduce the Phase 3 into the schools. It is a huge peace of mind for us at the Tikki Hywood Trust to know that this project will continue to go from strength to strength due to people such as the Werribee Open Range Zoo and the Royal Embassy of The Netherlands.

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