Born Free

On Monday 9th March we had a chance to visit the release site for primates rescued and rehabilitated by the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.
Kasungu National Park is a 3-hour drive from Lilongwe, and in contrast to the sun and heat that accompanied us on our journey, the preceding days had brought heavy rains to the park, [...]

I must admit, I had been a little apprehensive about the workshop.  By the very nature of the work the sanctuaries do, they need to be managed by strong-willed people who have to deal with the authorities, staff problems, finances, fundraising, suppliers etc before they even start with the animals; a 24-hour day is usually [...]

At the beginning of this month, I spent five days (5th to 10th March) attending a People And Wildlife (PAW) workshop at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi.
The contribution of various participants from different countries, working under different conditions was very informative. They brought much-needed knowledge on various topics such as animal care techniques, community participation [...]

Hot on the heels of Bella’s arrival from Romania and release into her new enclosure, Born Free teams from South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia converged with a sense of anticipation at Malawi’s Lilongwe Airport. Warmly welcomed by staff members from the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, we were taken to the delightful Sanctuary Lodge, the creation [...]

We all held our breath as Bella emerged slowly from her crate, one foot at a time, stepping onto the soft sandy soil.  Standing alongside her crate, on the other side of the fence, was Virginia McKenna and Wildlife Centre supporter Sue Alves.  They had had the honour of opening the crate to give Bella [...]

For Bella, the journey from Romania to Malawi had been a long one, in real terms, and metaphorically. Only two days prior to her arrival at the sun-drenched Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, she had stood on concrete in a snow-covered zoo, deep in the Transylvanian mountains. The contrast could not have been more stark, yet her [...]

March the 3rd, some time around midday is the time everything had to be completed. Months of hard work by Born Free and Lilongwe Wildlife Centre across three countries will come together at exactly that moment. I just had to make sure Bella’s new home was ready here at the Centre in Lilongwe. This was [...]