Back to Index

Appeal for assistance in animal relocation
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
February 23, 2004

About a month ago, the ZCTF was asked for assistance in a case where there are a number of animals on a property on the outskirts of Harare, which are steadily being slaughtered by war vets/settlers.

In December, there were 13 zebra, 24 impalas, 6 kudu, 7 blesbuck and a number of ostriches. When we were called in to assist, all of the ostriches and kudu had been killed as well as 6 zebra, 17 impala and 3 blesbuck. We found a safe place to put the remaining animals to enable them to breed and build up their numbers again and set about arranging to capture them after first obtaining a permit from National Parks.

The problem we have is that the remaining animals are in a large area which is not fenced because the fencing has been stolen to make snares, in fact one of the zebras has a snare around its leg. Because of the large area, it is very difficult to round up the animals without the use of a helicopter.

At first, we thought we could do the job without a helicopter so we went in for the first time about 3 weeks ago on foot with dart guns and veterinary surgeons and managed to capture 2 zebra. We moved them to the safe place where they have settled down nicely. We tried to capture more but the animals became very wary of us.

We decided to wait a few days and then try again, but we found that the animals had not forgotten us and we couldn't get anywhere near them. We were then advised to go in on horseback so we waited a few more days and then organized 4 horses, dart guns and veterinary surgeons who could also ride. We spent the whole day trying to capture the animals but the grass was very long and the weather was bad. Several darts were fired but they were deflected by the grass and never reached their targets.

We have now decided that it will be cheaper in the long run to hire a helicopter and a boma, and herd all the animals into a truck in one operation. We have managed to find a helicopter and plan to do the job on Wednesday. Thanks to those of you who have donated money to us, we should be able to pay for the helicopter, providing we don't have to use it for longer than 2 hours. The cost of this is USD400 per hour. We also have to pay for the boma which is 1 million Zim Dollars per day, the truck to move the animals and the tranquilizer (M99) which we have already used. We don't yet know the total costs involved but it is quite unlikely that the funds we have will cover everything. In any event, our funds will be depleted after this. If anybody is able to assist with funds, please reply to this email and we will give you details.

We are definitely going ahead with this operation on Wednesday because if we leave it any longer, there won't be any animals left. The fact that we are able to do it at all is entirely due to all the people around the world who have already assisted us with funds and there are no words to express how grateful we are to them.

The operation will be filmed and possibly televised at some stage. We will also take photos and email them to you. Any assistance you can give will be gratefully received.

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP