Born Free

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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