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Third
rhino milk delivery
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
March 11, 2008
Tatenda, Carla
and Lisa Marie's milk supplies were replenished last week thanks
to a donation of another 150kg of skimmed milk powder from the Clover
Milk Company in South Africa and 100kg from www.safaritalk.net
member, Bugs van Heerden of South Africa. Linda Honegger very kindly
came to our rescue once again with the Clover donation by arranging
transport and paying for the documentation for the milk to be imported
into Zimbabwe. The ZCTF paid the import duty of 726 million Zimbabwe
dollars. In addition to his donation of milk powder, Bugs also paid
for the transportation of the milk to Zimbabwe as well as the import
duty. We are very grateful to the Clover Milk Company, Bugs van
Heerden and Linda Honegger for going to so much expense and trouble
to help feed Zimbabwe's orphaned rhinos. Thanks also to Silvana
Olivo of Italy who donated a box full of teats and Lorraine Graham
of Australia who donated bottles and teats. We would like to also
express our appreciation to Barbara Bowman, Brian Gaisford and Helen
& John Buckle for their donations of money. There are a lot
of hidden expenses involved in delivering the milk such as fuel,
duty, clearing costs etc. and it is thanks to these donors that
we are able to do it. We were also able to buy 10 bottles of horse
fly repellant which cost ZWD400 million.
Tatenda
Bugs van Heerden's donation of milk arrived in Harare on Saturday
the 8th March and we went to Imire to deliver it the following day.
When we arrived at the Travers' house, there was no sign of Tatenda
as he was out in the bush browsing.
We went out onto the front verandah where we met the newest edition
to the Travers family - a tiny little week old hyena. Nobody is
sure why but male hyenas sometimes eat their babies. One of the
Imire hyenas gave birth to 2 babies and the father ate one of them
so the Travers decided to rescue the surviving one before the father
went back for seconds. My grand daughter, Kylie was delighted to
meet the baby. The Imire African game guide, Morris, asked John
Travers what the little hyena's name was and John replied "Well,
we haven't thought of a name yet but we can call him Morris if you
like." Morris didn't seem to know whether to take this as a
compliment or not but I have a feeling the name might stick.
We hadn't been there
very long when Tatenda graced us with his presence. He suddenly
appeared in the doorway leading from the lounge to the front verandah
after having first walked through Judy's house to get there. We
were amazed at how much he has grown since he's been drinking the
Clover milk.
Tatenda's best friend
since birth, the little warthog Hogwash, is no longer such a "little"
warthog. I never thought I would ever think of a warthog as a particularly
attractive animal, but Hogwash is a magnificent specimen. He was
lying on the couch on the verandah when we arrived and he still
sleeps in Judy's bedroom at night but his nose is a little bit out
of joint now that "Morris" has arrived on the scene.
Judy had a very
frightening experience with Tatenda recently. He was in the kitchen
with her while she was preparing the dinner. She was peeling a pumpkin
and unbeknown to her, Tatenda had eaten some of the pumpkin peels.
He suddenly started coughing and at first, Judy thought nothing
of it but she became concerned when the coughing grew more violent.
Then without warning, he started charging around the kitchen and
Judy realized he was choking. She finally suceeded in shoving her
hand down his throat to dislodge the pumpkin peel. This was no mean
feat because Tatenda is not small any more - he probably weighs
in excess of 250 pounds and it is one thing to shove your hand down
a black rhino's throat, but quite another to do it whilst he is
charging you. I say "Judy for President".
Pumpkin peels notwithstanding, Tatenda has very expensive taste
in food. Much to Judy's chagrin, he has acquired a taste for her
lovely palm trees.
Carla
and Lisa Marie
The Clover Milk arrived in Bulawayo on Thursday 6th March. Carla
and Lisa Marie's supplies were running very low so I drove to Bulawayo
to collect it the same day and then went straight through to Buffalo
Range to deliver 125kg to Janey Style who is doing such a great
job with the 2 rhino. Since the last time I was there, Janey has
increased the size of the enclosure holding the rhino so when I
arrived, Carla and Lisa Marie were nowhere to be seen as they now
have a much bigger area of natural bush to wander around in. It
is not easy to find them because they are very good at hiding in
the thick bush. I had no intention of driving such a long way without
seeing them so I walked through the bush calling them.
I walked for a few hundred metres before I heard a rustling sound
and they came out to greet me. I was lucky enough this time to be
able to watch them being fed.
As usual, they were very
interested in their milk donation. We donated 10 bottles of horse
fly repellant to them because the horse flies deliver a painful
bite and draw spots of blood all over their bodies. Lisa Marie is
still not able to put all her weight on her leg that she almost
lost due to a wire snare. It was a terrible wound and will take
a long time to heal properly.
Carla and Lisa Marie
seem to be soul mates and do everything together. I don't believe
they would survive if they were split up. Even though they are wild
animals, they seem to know that they owe their lives to Janey Style.
Thank you so much to
all the wonderful people who are helping us to feed these magnificent
endangered animals. We would never be able to do it without you.
Visit the ZCTF
fact
sheet
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