When a death occurs in your life, there is nothing that prepares you for it. When it is a senseless death the anger and outrage that you experience is incomprehensible. We at the Trust are extremely sad to report the death of Atlantic. Our four year old male African wild cat was found dead on the 30 June 2008, at the Bushman Rock Release site. There is just so much killing in this country right now and to know that one of your own animals who had been breed and raised in your care, had his chance of freedom but it was cut short by his unnecessary death – makes your heart very heavy indeed. Atlantic was born on 31 December 2004, to Starsky and Hooch. He was from a litter of three males. His two siblings were named Africa and Kenya. Hooch is an amazing mother and this litter, which was her third, was not any different. She approached yet another motherhood experience with complete dedication. Where I am very fortunate is that Hooch and I have developed a bond which allows me to get involved with the feeding and care of her kittens. A litter of three kittens for an African wild cat is large and I did not want Hooch to dry up or reject her kittens due to lack of milk. So from the point of her giving birth, I interact with her, by feeding her twice a day, close to the kittens. This way Hooch knows that I am not a threat to her kittens and for her kittens to become familiar with my voice and smell.
On 11th October 2007, Atlantic was anaesthetized so that we could measured and have blood taken for sampling. He was then relocated to Bushman Rock Estates, where his final release into the wild would take place. Although he settled in well at Bushman Rock, Atlantic remained a shy and reserved cat. So it was decided to send Paris to Bushman Rock as well to give him some companionship and form a breeding pair at the release site. Paris was moved to Bushman Rock Estates mid December 2007 and the pair settled down together.
On 22nd February 2008, Atlantic was collared. He was left in the enclosure for a further two days to make sure he was fully recovered from the effects of the drugs. On Monday 25th February 2008 the gate was opened. Atlantic, in his quiet and enigmatic way decided to stay a few days longer at “Hotel” Bushman Rock before venturing out. But when he finally left the enclosure, everything went very smoothly and the post release tracking was also yielding positive results. Both cats had joined up and were seen together on more than one occasion.
On the morning of Monday 30th June 2008 we received some shocking news. Whilst on patrol that day one of the game scouts at the Bushman Rock Estates Release site had found Atlantic dead on a pathway in the bush. He had been tracked that morning and the signal was traced back to the enclosure area which was considered normal. There were several unusual circumstances surrounding his death: This left us to draw a very nauseating conclusion: was he poisoned? Atlantic’s body was brought to the Wildlife Veterinary Unit the following day (1st July 2008) and Dr. Chris Foggin performed a post mortem, whilst Ellen observed. Atlantic was physically in good condition for a four year old cat who had been released, apart from a mild tapeworm infestation (entirely normal in a wild felid under these circumstances). Through his previous experience, the only conclusion that Dr. Foggin could draw was that this was a case of poisoning. Unfortunately in Zimbabwe we do not have the available equipment or technology to determine exactly what chemical was used. Africa is most certainly not for the meek and mild, or fair at heart. Poaching and poisoning are happening on a daily basis here in Zimbabwe and it is an issue which we have to over come. How? Is the challenge. We can only hope that through further education and awareness we can stop the poisoning. The poaching is pure and simply economics, need I say more.
On behalf of us at the Tikki Hywood Trust and the wildlife in Zimbabwe, we would like to sincerely thank you for your support, concerns and prayers. We all await with baited breath as to what the future will hold for all of us here. No matter what the road, we will continue with the plight of Zimbabwe and the survival of her wildlife. The task is mammoth and seems to be growing on a daily basis with the demand for bush meat. Economics and politics - there are no words. Right now it seems as though Zimbabwe has become an island to the rest of the world, however thanks to the tremendous support which has been shown through our blog, we know that we are not alone and that the support from all of you will be the boat that carries us to land. What this spot - we are here to stay!
It is the eve before elections or should I say re-elections here in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, a country whose soils run red with the blood of so many animals and humans lives wastefully taken. I struggle to understand, the purpose, of all of this blood shed. A week ago, I was told “that nature is forgiving”. Yes she is. Given the right environment and protection – she will burst into life once again. Colours will splash her canvas, and births will litter her land. I sit tonight with a heavy heart and in anticipation as to what might take place after tomorrow. Will it be a fairytale ending or the beginnings of something which none of us here in Zimbabwe have the strength for? There is so much indecision in the air. Hope that God might just turn his light towards us and end this suffering. I have dreams of seeing areas which once had an abundance of wildlife, now having those animals back again. Walking and grazing without fear in harmony with their surroundings. Not running scared. Trees growing skywards, and not just stumps. Rolling lands full of grasses, not charred land burnt to a cinder. A land where your heart jumps with the sound of the fish eagles calling and the bark of an impala. My childhood memories of filled with different scenes taken around this land I call home – Zimbabwe. On this eve, may there be a prayer from each and every one of you who read this. May we pray for the lives lost, for the sadness and despair to end. For those who are guilty of sins to be made accountable for those sins. For hope to return to this land. She is tired and wishes to once again be the mother of hope, love and mercy. Her heart waits to sing once again. I bow my head in prayer and with sadness ask for humanity to once again reign over us. After tonight, may the sadness and fear, be replaced in our hearts with hope and sing with joy. To all of those who pray for our land – I thank you.
On behalf of both myself and all of us who were involved with Nyashe, we would like to sincerely thank you, the readers of our blog, for your amazing concern and kind words toward our very sad story, regarding Nyashe. We can only hope that through this sadness, there will one of these days (hopefully sooner rather than later) be stories of happiness. A huge thank you to you for your support and encouragement towards our plight here in Zimbabwe.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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….
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.
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 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.
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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life is not about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain" Anon.
Humans once belonged to the world, but we've moved away and now we are destroying it. I believe that each of us can do something to make a difference - our every positive thought and action creates a ripple effect. - Lisa Hywood 
