Born Free

Category: Born Free, Born Free Kenya | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: bornfree

A growing number of Born Free’s projects place the community at the very heart of the project.  Many of these projects stem from Born Free’s Global Friends programme which has identified schools and communities located near Born Free’s wildlife projects, and provided yearly support for infrastructure and resources.  Global Friends works closely with the local schools to encourage further community support of our wildlife projects, address local issues (e.g. access to clean water, tackling human-wildlife conflicts) and create a positive learning environment for children by providing uniforms, stationery and infrastructures. The programme also provides training opportunities to members of the school staff and increase local employment through use of local materials. Currently there are six Global friends schools in Kenya.

Our Visit
Last month, Born Free Kenya team together with a group of its supporters from the UK visited the Global Friends Schools in the Amboseli catchment area. The supporters were on their routine tour of Kenya and they brought various educational toys and learning material, which were distributed to the school children.  In total they visited four schools: Ol moti, Lenkisem, Amboseli and Enkongu Narok where they were ushered with breathtaking traditional maasai dances and poems.  

As we drove through the dry bushes and on dusty roads to each of the schools, there was something unusually notable in all the areas. Most of the manyattas were deserted, there were few people on the way and countless carcasses of livestock scattered all over. This was quite visible in the Ol moti area. Unlike our previous visits, there were no community members in the school, around the boreholes and in manyattas. The number of children in school had dropped from 280 to about 200. 

All these changes have been attributed to the prolonged drought that has engulfed the entire Kajiado south. For the second year running the district has registered a ‘zero’ harvest making people rely on minimal relief food. Farms have turned into open dry fields full of dust. Livestock keeping is no longer a viable option as the community have lost most of their livestock. We were told that a bull that used to cost Ksh 20,000 now fetches as little as Ksh 1000.
 
Most of the community members have moved in search of green pastures and water. Some have moved together with their children as far as Tsavo and Kitengela areas-about 200 kilometres away. This has resulted to reduced enrolment especially at boarding schools.
Ol moti school, which was primarily revived to help less fortunate children whose parents are traditionally nomadic, continues to survive by defying the harsh condition in the area. Even with only 300kg of food left for the entire term, the head teacher Mr. Koringo was still opportunistic and hopeful that situation will go back to normal. He also believes that changing his school registration to a low cost boarding school will be finalized in time to start benefiting from the Home-grown school-feeding programme.

The District Education Board (D.E.B) has already appealed to the government to supplement food to primary schools in the district. The D.E.B chairman who is the District Commissioner (DC) of Loitokitok district said that only boarding secondary schools were on the government-feeding programme.

The DC is concerned with the current harsh situation and has vowed to help hasten the appeal to ensure all primary schools also benefit from the current secondary schools feeding programme.

And as an emergency measure the DC donated about 450kg of maize to Ol moti school to keep them going. This was in addition to about 900kg of food pledged by the BFF supporters and a significant amount of food provided by Born Free Foundation itself. 

Born Free has also been providing for the wildlife affected by this drought, including the hippos in Mzima Springs which have been suffering terribly.

As we left the Amboseli region, we were left contemplating on how soon the rains will come back to rescue the situation.

If you would like to donate to Born Free Kenya and the work they do, please dontate in the BF Kenya section to the right of this blog.

Thank you for reading,

Manoa, Born Free Kenya

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Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: bornfree

A huge thank you to both Brenton H and Anna C who made donations recently!!As I always say, your support and donations are so appreciated - our projects could simply not work without either.So, just for you Brenton H and Anna C, please find a lovely image below of Menelik the cheetah in his temporary enclosure in Ethiopia.The time is growing ever closer that Menelik will be re-homed in a large enclosure in the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre 30km from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  We will be bringing you an update on the Centre progress very soon!!Many thanks again on behalf of Born Free Foundation (and Menelik the cheetah)!

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Category: Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jun 23 2009 | By: bornfree

Yet again, I apologise for the delay between Blogs. I wish I could do more than 20 things at once….

The rains have started here in Ethiopia. These are only short downpours, not the daily torrential downpour we can expect later this month and for the next two or so months. However, once or twice a week the skies darken, the prayer calls from the churches and mosques are drowned first by rumbling thunder and then the noise of rain on corrugated tin roofs.

Born Free Foundation Ethiopia (BFFE) was recently asked to care for an elderly eagle owl called Cody. The owl is thought to be over 30 years old and was originally looked after by an Italian Doctor and his wife who lived in Addis for many years and had a menagerie in their compound. Legend has it they had an orphaned hyena along with several monkeys and Cody. When the Doctor left Addis, the owl was taken in by the Italian Embassy and then by an Italian Diplomat. When his posting in Addis Ababa ended, the owl was cared for by an American veterinarian and his wife. They, in turn, have now completed their posting in Addis, so BFFE were asked to look after the owl and its aviary until such time that it can be re-housed at the new Wildlife Centre where it can live out the rest of its life.

In 2006, the American veterinarian skilfully removed a tumour from the owl’s wing, but the necessary partial amputation of one wing means Cody does not fly well.

On Monday, 18 May 2009, Cody was brought to the BFFE compound where he was kept in an old aviary while his own aviary in the American couples’ compound was carefully numbered and then dismantled. The old aviary was then renovated and reassembled in the BFFE compound.

On Tuesday 16 June, Cody was moved to his renovated home.

Cody eats between a quarter and a half of chicken each day. The quarter of chicken is given to him with bones and feathers attached. Cody is so habituated to humans he makes an affectionate crooning noise whenever anyone approaches his aviary. He also loves to be stroked on his forehead, above his large and ever-watchful eyes.

Cody’s aviary is in the middle of the temporary enclosure for the three giant tortoises that are being cared for by BFFE until they, too, can be moved to the new Wildlife Rescue Centre. We have positioned several wooden poles (one wrapped in rope) inside the aviary in addition to the metal spans so the owl can always find a place to perch either in the shade or in a breeze or sheltered from the wind depending on the weather. Cody has already selected his favourite of the poles that give him the best view of the tortoises. In true owl fashion his head swivels dramatically around whenever a tortoise moves around the aviary.

Caring for all the rescued animals at Born Free Foundation Ethiopia costs money, so we would be very grateful for your support. Every donation helps, for example Cody costs £2 per day to feed and the lions £10 per day each.

Good progress with the site for the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre by the way. News in my next Blog…

Tags: Born Free, Eagle owl, ethiopia, raptor, wildlife rescue

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Category: EWCP | Date: Jun 19 2009 | By: bornfree

It’s 2am on the Sanetti Plateau. And it’s cold. Very cold. There’s no wind, no sound at all in fact. With the sleeping bag pulled over my head it’s only through a small crack that I can see the light from the full moon filtering through the tent fabric. Then suddenly the silence is shattered by a slightly out-of-breath cry: “Wolf!” Ibrahim, our vet assistant, has just checked the traps and has run back to report that we’ve caught a wolf! There is an immediate flurry of activity in the surrounding tents. Beanies and gloves are hastily pulled on, vet supplies are checked, someone grabs a large blanket, and we’re off. In the moonlight it’s easy to find our way over the deserted landscape, towards the trap where our Ethiopian wolf awaits.

As we near the trap site, we hang back while Ibrahim and Alo spread the blanket between them and make their way towards the wolf. Suddenly they break into a run, and in a flash have thrown the blanket over the surprised wolf and are holding it on the ground. As soon as it is covered, the wolf relaxes, and the rest of us rush in to assist with the vaccinations.

It’s an adult male, he’s in good health and probably weighs about 17kg. From his size, coat colour and teeth wear, Claudio reckons he’s the dominant male of the pack. Leta quickly gives him two doses of rabies vaccine, one on each hindquarter, and attaches a blue tag to his left ear for identification purposes.

His legs are checked for any trap injuries, and within five minutes he’s ready to be released. Alo loosens his hold on the wolf’s body and as soon as we remove the cloth covering his eyes, he’s off into the night, turning only once to look back at us before running off. All in a night’s work.

That was wolf number four from Nyala pack – only one more to catch and we can move on to the next pack.Over the past two weeks the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP) team has been camped at over 4,000m above sea level on the Sanetti plateau, running a vaccination campaign to prevent a rabies outbreak from spreading through the wolf population. EWCP wolf monitors first noticed something was wrong when they returned from a trip to the West Morebawa population – 11 wolf carcasses were found and samples sent to laboratories returned positive results for rabies. The EWCP team, based in the Bale Mountains, was given permission by the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority to vaccinate 50 wolves in the Sanetti population against rabies, with the aim of isolating the outbreak and stopping its spread. We sprung into action and managed to successfully vaccinate a total of 48 wolves in 9 packs, making sure that at least one female in each pack was vaccinated. For now, the threat of rabies seems to have been contained, but for how long? Interventions like these are a costly exercise, requiring a hefty investment in terms of both finances and EWCP resources. And it only takes one rabid dog to come into contact with one Ethiopian wolf for the disease to spread like wildfire. Left unchecked, a rabies outbreak could have devastating effects on a species that numbers less than 450 animals in the world today.

The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme has to tackle emergency rabies outbreaks like this as soon as it can and therefore funds are vital in order to purchase vaccinations.  Any funds you would are able to offer will be very well spent protecting the Ethiopian wolf from extinction.

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Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Jun 09 2009 | By: bornfree

At the Wildlife Centre we get very excited about rescuing and releasing animals that come through the centre, but it is also important to highlight our animals that have been with us for awhile – they want to be heard as well!Meet our resident python, Henry.  He is a non venomous African rock python, and about eight years old.  This type of python is one of the largest snakes in the world and is mainly found in Sub-Saharan Africa.  These pythons can grow up to six meters in length; our Henry is four meters.

We are unsure of Henry’s start in life as he came to the Wildlife Centre from the old Nature Sanctuary, who did not know how long he had been there or how he came to arrive there.  When our planned move to the Wildlife Centre was brought forward, we received a call to say that the python at the Nature Sanctuary had escaped!

A team was dispatched from the Centre and after a couple of hours searching we found him curled up underneath one of the old containers just twenty meters from his old cage.  Henry came to us with an injured jaw, which he had done by striking the wire mesh of his cage.  His jaw has continued to bother him and affected his eating.  Michelle Burt, RVT, recently performed an exam and mouth cleaning on Henry and noted that his jaw was improving.  However, Henry is continuing not to feed at the moment.  His animal carers are suggesting that Henry might like a little change in his diet, so they are looking into different food options for Henry.

Unfortunately Henry will never be returned to the wild because he has developed a lack of fear of humans after so many years in captivity, but with your donations to the Centre, we can ensure Henry will live safe and sound for the rest of his life.

Tags: Lilongwe, Python

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Category: Born Free | Date: May 29 2009 | By: bornfree

Thank you so much to Clare S for her donation - every donation counts and is so very appreciated.Now the Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue Centre land is secured, we hope to have some more blogs from there and the other projects very soon!All the best from Born Free and the projects we work with!

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Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: May 15 2009 | By: bornfree

We wanted to update you on a blog posting dated 14th of April written by our Operations and Development Manager, Lee Stewart.

In his blog Lee detailed the long 2 year process of rescuing the animals from the “zoo” at the mission, and at the beginning of the month the first two animals - a blue monkey and a yellow baboon - were rescued from the mission and taken back to the Wildlife Centre.

We are happy to report that both Maggie (blue monkey) and Aide (yellow baboon) are doing well and are still currently in our quarantine section.  Right now the ladies are enjoying their temporary new home as well as excellent care from their carer, Michael.  Michael said that they like to eat a mixture of soft fruits.

Our vet did a health check on both of them today, and under anaesthetic we found that Maggie had a few bad teeth, which would explain why she hadn’t been eating so well and then only soft fruits. The vet removed the bad teeth and she is now on medication to help with the gum infection. He is sure she will be in good form in no time now that the teeth have been removed. Aide is still a bit overweight, but once she is in her large enclosure, she will be moving around a lot more and will lose the excess weight.

Right now the release of Mua and Aide into their enclosures is scheduled for the end of May.  We will make sure to update you again on how the transfers go.  It will be a very happy day for everyone at the Centre to see these two animals released into the relative wild of their enclosure after being held in small cages for so long. 

We would also like to say hello to Gaby and Ramina from Academia Cotopaxi in Ecuador.  Their 1st grade class is interested in learning more about the animals at the centre and could possibly help to raise money to adopt an animal at the Centre. 
 

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Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: May 11 2009 | By: bornfree

Another giant step for the Born Free Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre in Ethiopia!

They say, ‘all good things come to those who wait’, but a bit of hard work and plain stubbornness does help…

After almost two years of negotiations and a mountain of red tape, the land for the Born Free Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre has officially been given to Born Free Foundation Ethiopia. At last the design and construction of the Centre can begin!

For new visitors to this Blog (and to refresh the memories of everyone else) the history to date is as follows:

December 2006:  A Consultative Meeting on Captive Wild Animals in Ethiopia held in The Agricultural Research Institute in Addis Ababa. The meeting sponsored by United States Agency for International Aid (USAID), Ethiopian Wildlife Association, Wildlife Conservation Department, African Parks (Ethiopia) PLC, the Regional Environmental Office for East Africa at the US Department of State in Ethiopia and the Italian Development Cooperation.

At the time of the meeting, there were two cheetah and two lions in private or Embassy compounds in Addis, 18 lions in the Addis Zoo from which reports had emerged stating cubs were being poisoned, and several other lions, primates, antelope and birds in other locations around the country. Many of these wild animals were being kept in very poor conditions.

The recommendation of the Meeting was that a new wildlife rescue, conservation and education Centre be created in partnership with the Ethiopian Wildlife Department.

The Centre would provide larger and improved enclosures for existing captive wild animals and include expert veterinary care and facilities to care for captive wildlife as well as new orphaned or injured wildlife. Selected areas of the Centre would be open to the public which would offer centre-based and outreach environmental educational programmes to raise awareness of conservation and animal welfare issues.

2007:  During 2007, Born Free Foundation HQ representatives made several trips to Ethiopia to ensure the progress of the Centre, including meeting with His Excellency Girma Wolde Giorgis President of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia who pledged his full support to Born Free Foundation and agreed to provide temporary enclosures for two captive lion cubs in the Presidential Palace grounds. 

Born Free Foundation accepted the invitation of the Ethiopian Wildlife Department to create the Centre.  President Girma helped Born Free to identify the 77ha (191 acre) site just 23 km to the west of Addis that had been previously used by a Government Ministry for many years. The complicated and lengthy land title transfer commences. The process takes a year and a half!! 

August 2007:  James Young appointed by Born Free Foundation as Country Representative and Project Director to assess and finalise the Centre site, project manage construction and establish Born Free Foundation Ethiopia in partnership with Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority.

2007-2008 Centre project proposal finalised and approved by Federal Government. Born Free Foundation Ethiopia registered as a non-profit organisation with a Memorandum of Understanding signed with Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority. Board of Directors elected, office rented, bank account set up, etc.

April 3, 2009 The skill and commitment of the Office of the President negotiates a final land agreement acceptable to both Federal and Regional Government. The land agreement grants the land to Born Free Foundation Ethiopia for an indefinite period in order to establish a wildlife rescue, conservation and education centre. The agreement is signed by Born Free Foundation Ethiopia and Land and Environmental Protection Bureau of the Oromiya Regional Government in the presence of His Excellency President Girma Wolde Giorgis.

April 22, 2009 Representatives from the two towns on either side if the Centre site (Holeta and Menegesha) meet with representatives from Born Free Ethiopia to formally demarcate the boundary of the site as the official handing over of the land.
The Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre can now be designed and constructed. Soon Born Free Foundation will be able provide improved conditions for captive or orphaned wildlife in Ethiopia.
 
Boundary Demarcation (April 22)
The boundary demarcation on Wednesday was a story in itself. I started out at 8am with Tilahun, who we employ to care for the cheetah, Sheba, in the Presidential Palace. Tilahun had whittled a stack of Eucalyptus stakes.

On our way out of Addis we collected the GIS expert from the Regional Government of Oromiya, Land and Environmental Protection Office. Next collection was Bereket the Born Free Construction Supervisor.

For the past two years, until the land title was finally agreed, Born Free Foundation has been renting a car from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP).  Unfortunately, since this had to be returned to the EWCP in early 2009, I have been renting a Toyota Corolla! Today was an example of how I have worked the car. Laden with passengers and a trunk full of stakes, sledge hammer, machete, yellow paint and water bottles the rear shock absorbers barely kept the body of the car off the chassis.

The centre of Addis is always crowded with a mass of traffic (most vehicles spewing out clouds of exhaust fumes) and a multitude of people. However, once through the centre it only takes 25 minutes to drive to the site on a new road constructed with the assistance of the Chinese Government. We drove two kilometres past the site to the small town of Holeta. This is the headquarters for the local administration where we met with the Administrator and discussed the staff he had delegated to help with the demarcation. Since Holeta administration had no vehicle available, for the next two hours I then shuttled back and forward to the site dropping off Holeta representatives from Human Resources, Security, Land Bureau and local guards.

Finally, at 11am our party of 12 was ready and we set off in the blazing sun. To their credit all the Government representatives helped carry the stakes, paint, water and tools.

Each boundary point was identified and a stake driven into the ground or at some points an ‘X’ painted onto an old tree stump or rock. Each marker was then recorded with a GPS waypoint. The site boundary has no path and in places is steep with thick undergrowth that had to be cleared.

One of the main advantages of the selected site is that it has been used by a Government Ministry for many years, so there is no complication for land use rights. During the demarcation process, two of the four farmers who use small areas of land bordering the site for crops or grazing, joined the group and asked the Government staff questions in the local Oromifa dialect. The Government staff explained the Wildlife Centre project and boundary. In two places the local farmers had started to cultivate land within the site boundary. The farmers apologised and were delighted to learn the Centre would not be a flower farm. Flower farming is one of the new agricultural favourites in Ethiopia with rows of polytunnels springing up to the west and south of Addis Ababa to be within easy reach of the airport and the European markets. Although flower farming provides much needed employment, the farmers told us that they take too much water and often bring in labour from outside the community. The farmers were pleased to learn that the Wildlife Centre would look to employ the local community where possible as well as utilising their goods and services. The Centre will have a café that will buy local vegetables and bread.

The site boundary is 5.7 kilometres long (3.5 miles) and the demarcation took 4 ½ hours. I suspect carrying stakes up and down in the midday sun at 2,500 metres (7,500 feet) was rather more exercise than most of the Government representatives had taken in a while!

If you think you can help or would like more information please contact Andrina Murrell at andrina@bornfree.org.uk.

If you would like to donate to the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation & Education Centre, please visit http://www.bornfree.org.uk/shop/acatalog/New_Year_Appeal.html

For more on the Centre and Born Free Foundation, please visit www.bornfree.org.uk

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Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: May 08 2009 | By: bornfree

Hi, my name is Rebecca Heath from Chester, England. I was a volunteer at the Widlife Centre for 2 months from March to May of this year. The time went by so quickly, it only feels like 2 minutes since I arrived!!

Most of my work time was spent at the quarantine area, helping to feed and clean the animals there until they could be moved to the larger enclosures. I especially loved bottle feeding the baby vervet monkeys. They are so mischievous, always trying to steal each others milk, so it was not an easy task, but it was very entertaining!!

I was also lucky to be around when the Wildlife Centre rescued a female baboon and a blue monkey during their deal with Mua Mission, at the end of March. It was very rewarding to see them settled in at the Centre in nice big enclosures after being kept in such small cages for so long. Ada, the baboon, was very overweight when she arrived because she didn’t have room to get any exercise and has since lost nearly 3kgs since being here, so hopefully soon she will b fit and healthy and ready to join the other baboons in the large enclosure.

One of my favourite moments, and possibly the most exciting as well, being on of those once in a lifetime moments for me, was when the leopard, Kambuku, was given a health check. Kambuku is normally very shy and likes to keep himself to himself in his enclosure, so it was a real treat for me to see him up close and to actually touch his fur!! Oh I forgot to say, he had been darted and aneasthetised so that the vets could do his health check!!

I gained many amazing memories and lots of good friends while being a volunteer at the Centre and really enjoyed my time there. I also got to see some of Malawi, which is an amazing country, especially the lake. I would recommend it to anyone!!

That’s me in the brown top in the photos. These are the other volunteers and animal carers at the Centre. Photo thanks to my friend Tina.

For more information about volunteering visit http://www.lilongwewildlife.org/volunteer.html

Tags: Lilongwe, Malawi, rescue

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Category: Born Free | Date: May 08 2009 | By: bornfree

Born Free and the projects we support would like to thank Bishop O for the kind donation of $50!!!

Thank you, your help is so appreciated and goes a long way to helping the projects in this blog keep wildlife in the wild!

Keep checking back for some exciting news about the Born Free Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre!!!

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