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 the complete story about these kittens and information about the Tikki Hywood Trust can be found at http://www.wildlifedirect.org/ by going to the blog called 'Zimbabwe Seven'.
Back in February I wrote about Vanessa Buxton, an amazing person doing extraordinary things to raise money for rhino in Namibia. Keep scrolling down to read of her adventure... and maybe next year you might join her!!
Namibia is home to around a third of Africa's black rhino and Save the Rhino Trust has been instrumental in the recovery of what is Africa’s last truly wild population. Damaraland is not a National Park; there are no fences separating wildlife and people, and yet here wildlife is flourishing.
The Rhino Cycle Namibia provides an opportunity to experience these achievements first-hand and to help contribute to SRT’s continued success.
In her own words......
The 3rd year required that extra challenge! I brainstormed with Fairy Love over what eccentricity might be appropriate.. …and emerged from my tent Day 1 …to shock the Namibians
Pink Fairy…The most INAPPROPRIATE outfit surely for the African Desert!! Hardly camouflage!
Rain had come to the Desert and clad the red rock as a glorious savannah But the winter was tragically late. No wind this year, but instead of cool winter, we struggled in temperatures up to 45° ..we wilted & struggled.
One Euphoric dawn, herds of Zebra drawn by the pasture, were racing us. The ground vibrating with the thunder of their hooves as they galloped alongside. We could almost reach out and touch them – the drama as they swung across our path.
Euphoric moments were tempered by tough reality: The deep challenge to overcome the frailty of the body. Hitting that brick wall of exhaustion – physically a mangled wreck in the dust.
Yet with the power of determination, the mind finds a resilience to continue. It was these days, when the 10 would arrive broken in pieces, yet euphorically shout “This is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life”
Emerging triumphant, having gone through near collapse produces something extraordinary.
Fairies and Friends Raise 22,000 Pounds
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This is the immense gift that Africa gives back to the cyclist. A richer reward in experience than money can buy. As Ian put it: “The Desert Cycle has simply raised my expectations of Life.”!!
We raised about £22,000 for conservation, honouring a beautiful land.
With me were:- Jane Shaw, Ian Wyness, Charlie Noel Buxton, Lucy Noel Buxton Felica Webb, Andrew Prentice, James Dobree (Fairy 2), Anne-Marie Boston and Steve Pettifer.
Next year in May we’ll be off again in case you’re tempted. It seems I’m obliged to keep up with this cycle thing! I’ve decided No to a new car, keep the old banger & invest in a serious bike!
August 28th – 10th Sept, Peter Michael, Erika Pilkington & I will walk the entire length of the skeleton coast. There’s one place left in case anyone is interested!
The Tikki Hywood Trust has reported that Frodo is now in the final stage of being released. On the 12 April 2008, Frodo was sedated, for what they 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.
Information about the Tikki Hywood Trust can be found at http://www.wildlifedirect.org/ by going to the blog called 'Zimbabwe Seven'.
Trackers in the Bubiana area of Zimbabwe found a black rhino cow with a snare wound Easter Saturday and the bonus was seeing her month old female calf. The snare was removed and the wound treated while trackers held the calf. The cow is named Umlali because she lives along the Umlali River. This is believed to be her third calf - previous calf was born October 2005 so this is a very healthy intercalving interval of less than two and a half years.
Many thanks to the wonderful people dedicated to the protection and care of these animals.
After the mother came to, the calf ran off then the mother moved off in the same direction as the calf's calling and smell led her to her calf. It is amazing to watch them find each other - what they communicate through smell is remarkable.
Injured Serval Soon to be Released
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March 20, 2008
'FRODO'S' STORY OF HOPE
Last October Lisa Hywood from the Tikki Hywood Trust (THT) in Harare rescued a young serval that had been hit by a car and had a badly broken humerus. Vets Lisa Marabini and Keith Dutlow operated and pinned the leg but ‘Frodo’ suffered major complications. He was operated on twice more before the bone fragments were successfully pieced together with a metal plate and screws. Lisa and Ellen Connolly at the THT provided excellent care for him and in December he was moved to an enclosure at the vets’ house.
Lisa’s Update
‘Frodo’ has been an amazing serval and he continues to gain strength and condition on his journey towards being released. Thankfully that date is near approaching! This next month will be the final leg towards ‘Frodo’ being released. ‘Frodo’ has undergone his last operation and it was decided to leave the plate in his leg. His wounds have healed well and he will be released next Saturday 12 April. Over the past three months we have seen ‘Frodo’ develop to almost full maturity particularly noticeable in his facial features. Even though his body has undergone severe changes due to his injuries, ‘Frodo’ has grown in body condition and character.
From an enrichment point of view, ‘Frodo’s confinement in his current enclosure has been difficult for him. As you may or may not be aware, this is one of the areas in which the Trust specialises - the enrichment of wild animals in captivity. Due to his injuries we could not run the risk of hurting ‘Frodo’ further if he took fright and reinjured his leg. Interacting with ‘Frodo’, a wild serval, cannot be done in the same way as with a captive born serval. Due to the constant administration of drugs, ‘Frodo’ developed a hatred of humans – which of course is no surprise. Any interaction with ‘Frodo’ has had to be very gentle. We stimulated him through changing his environment by bringing in logs, grass bedding from our other serval, water baths with lots of toys and hiding his food around the enclosure on a daily basis. Being in such a confined enclosure, I am sure that ‘Frodo’ is more than ready for release.
The next step is not just to release ‘Frodo’ directly into the wild. It will be a soft release whereby the animal goes into a large enclosure first. His will be 40 m x 50 m, placed near a man made watering point in the Save Valley Conservancy. ‘Frodo’ will remain in this enclosure long enough for us to see that his leg is working well and he is able to hunt and fend for himself. He will be able to get used to new sights and sounds, which will be very different from where he has been since his birth. Once we are satisfied that ‘Frodo’ can hunt and fend for himself he will then be released. The gate will be opened and ‘Frodo’ will continue to be fed by the enclosure. This way he will know that he can always return to the enclosure for food.
‘Frodo’ has touched the hearts of many people since his ordeal started. We have watched him fight for survival and it will be a great day when we are able to give ‘Frodo’ back his freedom. Thanks must go to all who continue to support ‘Frodo’ both financially and physically. If it were not for such like-minded people each animal with which we are involved would not be able to find its way to freedom.
Tikki Hywood Trust Wins Education Award
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March 15, 2008
The Tikki Hywood Trust (THT), Zimbabwe, together with Werribee Open Range Zoo(Victoria) was awarded the ‘Best Education Program for 2008’ at Taronga Zoo Sydney on 14 March. The ARAZPA (Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria) awards celebrate excellence in the core areas of zoo and aquarium activity. The judging panel comprised zoo experts from New Zealand and Australia. Education programs are judged on their ability to promote awareness of conservation issues, show innovation, and measure success. This is the highest and best award that any zoo related program can win.
In 2006 the 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 from Werribee Open Range Zoo travelled to Zimbabwe to assess the feasibility of establishing an education program within Zimbabwe that could be linked to education programs run by the zoo. In February 2007 ‘Conservation Connections’ was launched when two educators, Rachel Lowry and Katie Pahlow, returned to Zimbabwe to establish the in-situ component of the three-tiered Conservation Connections program titled ‘Kusanganisa’. SAVE FOUNDATIONpaid for their flights and will again do so this year when the educators will return. There will be more updates about this program coming soon.
LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE THIS YEAR? Then join in this off road cycling adventure through the desert in Damaraland, Namibia, to raise funds for the desert-adapted black rhino. You'll have the ride of your lifetime! http://www.savetherhino.org/eTargetSRINM/site/913/default.aspx
View images above of last year's cycle ride through Damaraland. Click on the screen to enlarge the images and read the captions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qysGmci5s This links to a short film of the cycle. It was the day they did most of it on the road, so not very representative – but nice. It’s a little blurred if you run the film on full screen size, so it’s best to run it in the small size.
A big thank you to Vanessa Buxton (see story below) and her friends for the images.
Late last year a friend of mine met Vanessa Buxton in a restaurant in Zambia and introduced us via email. She is committed to fundraising for Save the Rhino Trust Namibia and has organised the two cycle rides through the desert in Namibia. There were three girls in 2006 and 30 riders in 2007.
She is also organizing Desert Cycle 2008 and is wondering if any Australians would like to join her. When I was in London in early February it was a great chance to meet this very energetic and inspirational lady.
In her own words: I know just what you mean about falling in love with Africa and those rhinos! It's just what happened to me! I’m attaching here two pics of the desert rhino. You can see how stark the landscape is in this classic rhino shot that Mike Hearn took. (See picture below this article) The second is a pic I took of Diana with her nearly mature calf on the first walking safari I lead in 2005. Look at her front horn! There are some amazing horn sizes in Namibia! I’ve known Diana since 1995. Since taking this pic, I saw her with another tiny baby calf this last April, 2007. I even have a film clip of her taken way back in 1996!
In 2005 Save the Rhino Trustlost its two foremost soldiers. Not only, Mike Hearn aged 32, in a tragic surfing accident, but also, Blythe Loutit to cancer, who founded SRT in 1982. It was a tough blow and to support their work I initiated the cycle ride as a fundraiser. Blythe's husband, Rudi, who had just retired after 35 years as a game ranger/warden in the Ministry of Environment in the Skeleton Coast, now runs SRT very efficiently with his wealth of knowledge. However, finding all the funding required is still a tricky up hill struggle.
Save the Rhino Trust Namibiaprotect the rhinos through a series of teams of ‘trackers’. These are essentially community people who cover a specific area tracking and monitoring the rhinos, identifying and photographing them. This information is then fed into a database for research purposes to discover information vital to management ie size of home range and breeding patterns. The constant presence of the tracking teams on the ground is the poaching deterrent. The rhino range is vast: 20,000 km2 . It is very wild and inaccessible – huge rocky landscape. A huge area at the centre is completely inaccessible to vehicles. The tracking teams cover the ground by camels which carry the essential provisions and water.
These rhinos are particularly special as they are a distinct subspecies of the black rhino, the desert-adapted Rhino (Diceros Bicornis Bicornis). They exist entirely outside a national park or protected area on land communally owned by the Damara, Herrero and Himba Tribes. The desert environment through which they roam is so harsh that even with the help of SRT they are increasing at a very low rate. Over a 10 yr period, 2.7% (some years its better but it entirely depends on the rain fall so one has to look at the longer term).
The first two cycle trips were in memory of Mike Hearn who worked tirelessly in the wilds of the desert for 12 years and who was a personal friend. Namibia is the most stunning place and there is no better way of seeing it that by bicycle but its pretty tough!
I absolutely love this photograph and am so grateful to Mike Hearn for capturing this moment. What an amazing animal to survive in such harsh environment.
Thanks to all those involved with Save the Rhino Trust Namibiaand Round River Conservation Studiesin Namibia for assisting these desert-adapted black rhino. These rhinos are particularly special as they are a distinct subspecies of the black rhino, the desert- adapted Rhino (Diceros Bicornis Bicornis). They exist entirely outside a national park or protected area on land communally owned by the Damara, Herrero and Himba Tribes. The desert environment through which they roam is so harsh that some areas are inaccessible by vehicle and are monitored by camel teams.
Rhinos just love rolling in the mud and due to the unsually high rainfall in Zimbabwe during December there was plenty of mud around. What you see are the the remains of a termite mound which when Carla isn't rolling in it, she is eating it. The call of the Woodland Kingfisheris the musical accompaniment with backing from the Cape Turtle Dovewhich sounds like it's saying 'work harder, work harder'.
Cannes was buzzing with about 10,000 music industry and technology professionals (and ME) from 90 countries attending the annual MIDEM, a music festival/tradeshow. What a pleasure it was to be in this beautiful French Rivieracity to do business. People from the recording, publishing, live, digital, mobile and branding sectors were there to do deals, network, learn and check out new talent. AND so was I.
Lin Barrie lives at Senuko which is part of the Save (pronounced sar vay) Valley Conservancy in eastern Zimbabwe. The conservancy is dedicated to the protection of animals such as the Black Rhino and the African Hunting Dog, also known as the Wild Dog and the Painted Dog.
For the past 10 years Lin had worked with and studied these highly fascinating and socially complex African Wild Dogs, Lycaon pictus, which are breeding and thriving in the conservancy.
Lin works only from nature, directly creating large works of oil on canvas or oil on handmade paper from her own field sketches. Abstract movement and colour are paramount in her work, whether the subjects are the Wild Dogs, other animals or landscapes.
She has had successful exhibitions in Zimbabwe, South Africa, UK and USA.
Wild Dogs 'Deliberation' 130 cm x 100 cm and Wild Dogs 'Where to from here' 152 cm x by 74 cm. These paintings available at Senuko and prices are about 3000 US dollars each. For more information contact Lin at linb@senuko.com
Black rhino 130 cm x 200 cm, White rhino (one with the wide mouth) 130 cm x 200 cm. These paintings are available at Senuko and prices are about 3000 US dollars each. Contact Lin at linb@senuko.com
Black Rhino Orphans are Friends
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An update on the two orhan rhino calves in Zimbabwe.
Carla and Lisa Maria are both out and roaming around. As Lisa Maria's leg is healing quickly she has been let out of her small enclosure. Since putting them together, Carla's whole personality has changed - she is now very quiet and wants no attention. Lisa Maria has such a gentle nature. They stick to each other like glue - HAVE to eat from the same bush, sleep just about on top of each other, have mud baths together, but still want the hugs and kisses after their evening feeds.
How different Carla looks now to when she first arrived - see post dated November 10, 2007.
Black Rhinos Breeding Successfully
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January 3, 2008
It's always a great day when a black rhino is born. In 1972 there were about 65,000 in Africa, today little more than 3,000.
Ulemule is a very successful breeder and I am told her name reflects her attractiveness - like Huba-Huba! Her daughter in this photo is Serina. Ulemule is about to give birth again - usually a month or so before birth the cow will look a bit light in weight over the top and looking at her now she is big in the belly but boney on top. Stay tuned......
Ulemule's older daughter, six year old Sinikwe, had her first calf about October 2007 and it was first sighted by the monitors on 3 January, the day both these photos were taken. Not a great view of the new calf as new mother Sinikwe was very protective.
If a cow gives birth at six years it is a good indication that the breeding population is healthy. In overstocked populations cows may not produce their first calf until they are 8-10 years old. Gestation for a black rhino is 15 months and 16 months for a white rhino. In healthy breeding herds the average time between calves is two and a half years although some breeding cows can reproduce again in 26 months.
Thanks to everyone involved with rhinos at Bubiana in the south east Lowveld of Zimbabwe for this information. Your assistance is much appreciated. To learn more visit http://www.rhino-sadc.org/
Orphaned Genets Growing Quickly
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December 31, 2007
When I first saw these orphaned genets in late November, see post below dated 29 November, one would fit in my hand. They seemed so tiny and now a month later they are fit and healthy and have all but trebled in size since arriving at the Tikki Hywood Trustin Harare two months ago.
This is due to the wonderful care provided by Lisa and Ellen. 'Dior' is the extrovert on Ellen's hand and the shy one, 'Coco' is hiding behind.
I heard Bryce Courtney, the author of 'The Power of One' speak about the 'big sky' in Africa, well here is the 'big moon'. After a relaxing sunset, this rising moon was so enormous as it peeped above the trees I couldn't stop staring at it. The immense beauty of mother nature and the stillness of the moment was so peaceful.
The Chilojo cliffs in Gonarezhou National Parkare breathtakingly beautiful. With several lodges in the area, they are easily accessible and you must camp beside the river. For information on Senuko, Mahenye and Chilo lodges email ilala@zol.co.zw
Imagine relaxing on the bank of this river with good friends, good wine and watching the rays of sunlight dance upon the cliffs at day's end.
Injured Rhino Calf Doing Well
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December 20, 2007
This year old rhino calf, Lisa Maria, has a snare wound to one of her back legs. The wire snare was removed mid November and since then the wound has been treated daily and is healing nicely. Caring for her during December is an experience I will always treasure. Many thanks to the Save Foundation of Australia for funding her care and also to everyone directly involved with her care.
