Born Free

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

One response so far

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.

No responses yet

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

No responses yet