Born Free

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

It has been far too long since I last updated the Blog site, apologies.

I hardly dare say that it looks as if at last we are reaching a resolution regarding the final land issues that were hampering progress.

To say it has been a trying few months is something of an understatement! Without boring readers too much, during all the negotiations that led up to the signing of the land agreement back in April 2009, at no time was there any mention that some farmers had land claims on any of our site. The Ministry of National Defence that had made the initial agreement to hand back the land to the Regional State of Oromiya had no knowledge of these land claims, nor did the Oromiya Land Bureau. It may simply be a case of the local land administration issuing farming certificates without the knowledge of the main regional office.

There were two practical options. One option would be for us to begin an expensive and time consuming law case. If the courts found in our favour we would gain the whole site and definitely lose the support of some of the local farmers. The second option was to find alternative land on which the farmers could graze their cattle.

Our international patron, His Excellency, President Girma Wolde Giorgis agreed to speak with the Honourable Takele Uma, Mayor of Holeta, and the Municipality of Holeta  subsequently indentified some common land to give away. In order to make up the shortfall, Born Free Foundation has agreed to let go four of our  original 77 hectares.

On Monday 9 November, Bereket and I met the Mayor and Holeta GIS expert and we staked out the new boundary to the site. The land we have given away is a twice-cropped Eucalyptus plantation. I have made sure that the boundary is set 4 metres into the plantation so our boundary fence will be screened by vegetation.

Tomorrow, Bereket will employ a team of local labourers (some will be the same farmers who have just been given land) and start the construction of a fenced area in the centre of the site. This fence will surround the shipping container we have already purchased in order to provide a secure area for the tools and materials needed for the next phases of construction. The last time we attempted to build the secure area fence, some farmers claiming compensation appeared and threatened Bereket  and myself. I immediately cancelled all construction work until the compensation issue was resolved. The farmers have said they are very happy with their new land and have said they will now support the project fully. Tomorrow is the test. I will keep you posted.

On a lighter note, I enclose two photos of the site security guard team that has been guarding the site to prevent unlawful tree-felling throughout the land compensation negotiations. All credit to Mayor Feyissa, our head of security, who has trained an excellent team of 15 guards with the result that no trees have been felled during the past two months. The security team are all from the local community showing a direct benefit from the Wildlife Centre. They are a brave team as they carry only sticks when the majority of local farmers (and timber thieves) have Kalashnikov AK47 semi-automatic rifles or other ex-military weapons.

With eager anticipation, the team took turns to be measured by a local tailor and last week I issued each man with his field uniform. (In case anyone wants the details, each man has been given two shirts, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of socks, one pair of boots, one rain cape, one cap, and one light jacket. I am searching for some thick jackets as the nights are very cold at this time of year.)

So, here’s a photo of the team before and after they nipped behind the bushes and returned in their uniforms. Quite a transformation even though not all the boots fitted first time around.

More news soon, and please do remember we need your sponsorship for the animals, for the construction and even the uniforms.

James

Tags: Born Free, ethiopia

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Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: bornfree

Working in Ethiopia continues to be a massive challenge. Although the site was officially gifted to Born Free Foundation by the Region of Oromiya to create a Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre, it now appears there are still some legal issues to resolve. I have stopped all work until the Federal and Regional Government departments give us the final green light to continue the infrastructure development.

However, as I have mentioned in earlier Blogs, Born Free Foundation Ethiopia is now the primary wildlife rescue organisation in the country, and the Rescue and Care Programme started back in 2007.

In future Blogs I will keep you up to date with the animals in my care. To date these are:

The Dolo Lion

The ‘Italian lions’ (now sporting magnificent manes)

Sheba the cheetah

Menelik the cheetah (growing fast, with the most charming temperament. Long may that last!)

Cody the eagle owl

In many gardens in Addis Ababa, there are giant tortoises. Most of the Embassy compounds and the Presidential Palace have several. It is reported that these tortoises can live for over a hundred years, so many of the larger tortoises will have lived through the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie (the King of Rastafaris) and Mengistu.

For those of you who are gardeners, giant tortoises make slugs and aphids very small fry. As I have discovered, giant tortoises are not a gardener’s friend! If they don’t eat the plants (and they can reach a surprisingly long way with their necks at full stretch) they only need to drag their considerable weight across a flower bed and in minutes the herbaceous border looks like a Panzer tank has run over it.
Perhaps there has been a sudden interest in gardening over the past year, as the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority has received several requests (including from a Government Minister) to rescue tortoises from Addis gardens. Born Free Foundation has agreed to look after some until they can live on the 77 hectare Wildlife site.

As for the lions, cheetah and eagle owl, we have created a temporary enclosure for the tortoises and built a palatial shelter (well-deserved, having lived through the reign of a king). The tortoises can escape the hail and torrential rain of the wet season, and will be able to find relief from the heat of the sun in the dry season.

One of the smaller tortoise shares Menelik’s temporary enclosure. Aesop should really have written his famous fable about a tortoise and a cheetah as the comparison of speed is far more marked than a tortoise and a hare.

At first, Menelik was rather curious about the slow moving creature, but the tortoise now rules the enclosure. When Menelik catnaps in the sun (like all cats, it’s one of his favourite past times) if the tortoise approaches, Menelik sighs loudly and moves off to find peace in another part of the enclosure.

More news soon.
James

4 responses so far

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 28 2009 | By: bornfree

The rains are well and truly here. Most days, there are torrential downpours with incredible lightning and thunder. However, in between the rainy days the sun reappears. The combination of rain and sun causes every plant to grow rapidly. Ethiopians call this time of year their summer and traditionally this is when the countries food crops grow. Sadly, although we have the normal rains in Addis Ababa, I hear that other parts of the country still have not had any rain which does not bode well for this year’s harvest.

Although several members of the local community are still trying to chop trees on the site, the Major and his security team are doing an excellent job not just of preventing further damage to the trees, and also of building a relationship with the community.

We have promised the community they will see direct and indirect benefits from the Wildlife Centre and employing security guards from the local community was an important first step. Next week, we are contracting local labour to build a ‘secure area’ in the centre of the site. I have purchased a used shipping container as the easiest way to have a lockable store for equipment and materials (including materials like cement that need to be kept dry). We will now create a 200 metre fenced area around the shipping container. This will enable us to store the 3,800 fence posts and wire, sand and cement needed to build the perimeter fence. The secure area will be the interim headquarters with a site tent, water tanks and a guard on duty 24 hrs a day, seven days a week.

For those of you who have read the previous Blogs, you have an idea of how difficult it can be to do the simplest things in Ethiopia, so you will not be surprised to hear there have been a few set backs….

We have just purchased a used 4 x 4 Toyota Land Cruiser pick up that will be invaluable in transporting materials, tools and labour as we construct the perimeter fence. Once the fence is completed, the Toyota will be used for general maintenance and as a feed truck. Although I had had a mechanical check before buying the pick up, on my way back from the first drive to the site, the brakes failed completely just as I was approaching one of the busiest roundabouts in Addis at rush hour. Some rapid use of gears and handbrake and a prayer or two saw me safely through the traffic and straight to the garage.

Since the construction of the secure area is a priority, and with the pick up out of action, I commissioned an Izuzu truck to collect fence materials, cement and tools to be stored in the shipping container in preparation for the ‘secure area’ fence construction. We warned the truck driver that the track up to the centre of the site is waterlogged and very, very muddy, but he said he could easily drive up to the shipping container. The truck got stuck after 20 metres.

Anyone who has lived and worked in Africa knows just how capable humans can be in this situation! The security guard team and local farmers all helped. Within 30 minutes the valuable chain link wire, cement, empty oil drums and tools were all unloaded, iron bars used to support the heavy rolls of chain link fence and a procession had started to transport everything to the shipping container.

Meanwhile, back at the office compound the rains had caused the walls of the septic tank (that also are the foundation walls of the staff rooms) to collapse. A local builder took on the task of rebuilding the walls. A very smelly and unpleasant job. Although I have a permit to keep Menelik in the office compound, I have been very careful to keep him a secret so as not to have a mass of inquisitive people trying to get into the compound, disturbing office work and Menelik. In order to protect the Menelik secret, we needed to stop the builders from knowing we had a cheetah in the compound. We could not keep Menelik locked in his shed for a week, so we fixed tarpaulin around the cheetah enclosure (much to Menelik’s excitement). I told the builders that we have a very fierce dog, so not to disturb the tarpaulin. It took eight days for the builders to dig out the old septic tank walls and then rebuild them. Little did they know a cheetah was just a few meters away!

More news in a week or so, when hopefully we will have completed the secure area fencing and can get started on the main perimeter fence.

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Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Jul 13 2009 | By: bornfree

Good news and bad.

I have had several meetings with the local community (one with the Mayor of Holeta in attendance) to explain the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre project and how local communities will benefit from labour contracts, business and job opportunities. The local farmers, despite initially being wary of the project, are now very supportive, so I hope over the coming months we can build a strong working neighbourly relationship with our neighbours.

However, news spreads fast. As I had feared, the minute the story got out that the Ministry of National Defence (MOND) had given up the site, a number of AK47-weilding wood cutters and looters have been ‘entrepreneurial’ with our site. Steel reinforcing bars have been chiselled out of some of the ruined buildings and spirited away by moonlight. Far worse, over 100 trees have been felled and branches lopped off some of the old acacia. Although we had been told that the MOND guards would continue to guard the site until we had recruited our own security team, if any MOND guards were still employed, they must have been elsewhere.

The last two weeks have been exhausting with a desperate drive to recruit a security team while every night more trees vanished. To see a new stump where once stood a beautiful old tree has to be one of the most disheartening sights, especially as I have battled for two years to get the land and one of the main reasons for selecting the site was the wonderful mature trees providing natural shade for the future enclosures.

The Holeta administration have been fantastic in recommending suitable applicants for the security team and we now have an enthusiastic and able security team under the management of the charming and efficient ex-army Major Feyisa. The Major is trying to find out who felled the trees as it was obviously a commercial initiative with the timber taken for sale in Addis Ababa. The thieves took quite a risk since Ethiopian law is very strict in order to protect the last areas of woodland and forest in the country. If caught stealing timber thieves can expect a 15 year prison sentence. I was pleased to hear that the local community are not responsible.

Major Feyisa will manage a team of 15 that will split into shifts to patrol the site 24 hours, every day of the week. We have drafted the byelaws for the site and already the security team have successfully prevented some timber thieves.

Bereket (on the left of picture) discussing draft site bye-laws with the Major (pictured holding the blue folder) and the first security team recruits © BFF /JY

The job requires firm, but diplomatic negotiating skills since our security team carry sticks and the timber thieves have AK-47 semi-automatic rifles, chain saws and axes. (One of the major threats to wildlife in Ethiopia is the profusion of firearms acquired during past times of civil strife. Many pastoralists and farmers carry AK-47 rifles and the ease of killing wildlife for meat or for sport has decimated wildlife populations in almost all of the protected areas of land in Ethiopia.) Born Free Foundation Ethiopia will try to secure the land without the use of guns, but we may have to arm the guards who work the night shift.

It is very hard to guard the site when there is no perimeter fence, and in a truly Catch-22 situation, I have been unable to deliver the poles and wire to build the perimeter fence until we had security in place. As soon as we have a full security team and shifts covering all 24 hours a day, we can start the construction of the perimeter fence.

The photo shows some of the security team at an early briefing meeting. I am now equipping everyone with uniforms, and the Major will be training the team, so I hope you will notice a big change when I photograph the team in a week or so!

Although, support for the animals in our care is vital and popular, do please consider supporting operational items such as our Security team. Sponsoring a Major and his security team may not be as heart-warming as sponsoring a cheetah cub, but without security we will have no trees on our site.

The annual budget for our Security Team is UK£ 15,000. Please help if you can.

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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: 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: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Dec 24 2008 | By: bornfree

From all at Born Free Foundation and the projects which we support, we would like to wish you all the best for the holidays and for the New Year!! 

A special thank you goes out to Nadia K who has made her second donation, this time of $75 - your continued support is so appreciated and you can be assured that this will significantly benefit the projects in the coming year.  Thank you and merry Christmas!!!!!!

2009 is the 25th anniverary of the Born Free Foundation and we have a very special appeal with regards to the Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre which is featured on this blog - we are hoping to raise the much needed funds to support the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority and provide resecue, rehabilitation and lifetime care facilities to a number of animals including Sheba and Menelik the cheetahs, the Italian lions and of course the Dolo lion. 

Please visit http://www.bornfree.org.uk/give/new-year-appeal/ and donate any funds you can, this is a massive project for Born Free and one we feel can significantly improve the lives of many individual animals as well as the conservation of species in Ethiopia.  Many thanks.

Thank you too all who read the blog and to all those who have donated to the projects in 2008 - we are looking forward to a very active New Year as Born Free and all the projects featured on Wildlife Direct continue to keep wildlife in the wild!!!!!

Many thanks to you all,

Andrina and the team at the Born Free Foundation

Tags: ethiopia, lions, thank you

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Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Dec 15 2008 | By: bornfree

Thanks for all the comments and donations following the previous Blogs.

Apologies for the lengthy delay since the last Blog. Ethiopia may be seven years behind the rest of the world (this year it is 2001) so maybe that explains why I always seem to be catching up and need a few more hours in each day.

As usual with this project, I have both good and not-so-good news to report. The good news is after a year of negotiations and meetings, the land for the new Wildlife Centre has officially been transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Office of the President of Ethiopia and from the President’s Office to Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA). This really is quite a milestone and I am immensely grateful to His Excellency President Girma, his son, and the team at the President’s Office for all their support this past year. I am now finalising a Land Management Agreement with EWCA, but since they have already signed a Project Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding for the new Centre project, this is more of a formality.

The not-so-good news is that the Ministry of Defence have asked for a hefty compensation for the living trees on the site, so back I go to the negotiating table! It has taken more patience than I knew I possessed to get this far, I now need to find a little more!

Meanwhile, the land boundary demarcation stones have been prepared, so as soon as I can get the compensation figure reduced or waived, we can get started with the boundary demarcation and perimeter fencing. When we actually get started on the construction I think my whoop of joy and relief will be heard around the planet!

Enough of red tape. This Blog is to share the story of Menelik, the cheetah cub that I am now caring for.

The cub was found by a development worker in a dusty town on the edge of a north east desert of Ethiopia. The cub was tied by a string at the back of a shop.

The staff at the shop said it was a tiger, but most Ethiopian’s think Tiger is the English word for cheetah. The cub was very small, clearly malnourished and so covered in dust that the dust combined with the furry shoulder mantle that all cheetah cubs have made the cub look as though it did have stripes! The development worker begged the shop assistant to let her take the cub to a vet in Addis. The shop assistant refused and alternately patted and then kicked the cub. The development worker took a digital photo and tried to convince as many people as possible in the town that the animal needed medical care. A few people humoured her, but in a country where life is tough, the welfare of an animal did not have much of a priority. The development worker circulated her photos to friends and colleagues and one ended up being forwarded to me at Born Free Foundation Ethiopia.

After the Wildlife Authority had given permission for the animal to be confiscated, a veterinarian who generously donates her time to Born Free Foundation Ethiopia collected the cub and had to give it intensive care for a few days. The cub had been fed such a poor diet it could hardly use its back legs.

The couple who had so successfully cared for Sheba (Story in Blog 5) agreed to provide the cub with a home for a few weeks until I had built a temporary enclosure in the Born Free Addis office compound.

I collected the cub on 24 November and named him ‘Menelik’ after the famous Ethiopian Emperor and because I have never known a cat that licks so much. The cub seems to be particularly fond of licking my bald head. That rough tongue may be great for skin exfoliation, but is ruining my tan!

I have designed the enclosure so that it includes the back door into my office. The cub comes and goes from the garden into the office. He spends most days in the office lying on, or wrestling with, his blanket or watching birds outside the window.

Menelik has settled in well and I hope that when the cub is a bit older, we can introduce him to Sheba and the two male cheetah will share an enclosure at the new Wildlife Centre.

As I write this Blog, Menelik is purring loudly from his blanket. He’s a complete minx and has already managed to shred a rug. He seems to have a fascination with cutlery. In the morning I have my bowl of muesli sitting on the steps that lead down into the cub’s enclosure. Menelik invariably steals the spoon and rushes off to his hay-lined sleeping shed to play with the spoon; flicking it into the air and batting it like a tennis pro.

Please do help our project if you can.

The Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre will cost around UK£600,000 to build and equip, and it will cost UK£ 250,000 (US$ 500,000) per year to fund the Centre and its conservation and education programmes.

The enclosure for Menelik and Sheba, and for other animals at the Wildlife Centre will cost between £12,000 and £40,000 to build.

We must get Menelik and other wildlife in captivity in Ethiopia into spacious enclosures as soon as we can.

And if anyone wants to help pay for the care of Menelik, he costs £2 (US$4) per day to keep at the moment. However, he is growing fast and the costs to keep him will continue to grow - as an adult cheetah it will cost approximately £6 (US$12) per day, or £40 per week to provide care for him.

You can donate at Born Free’s website where the Centre is the subject of our New Year & 25th Anniversary Appeal see www.bornfree.org.uk/give/new-year-appeal/, stating that you would like the funds to go towards the Born Free Ethiopian Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre. 

For more information on Born Free, please visit www.bornfree.org.uk and should you want more information or think you may be able to help please leave a comment here on Wildlife Direct and we will come back to you as soon as possible.

More news in a few days,

James

Tags: Born Free, cheetah, conservation, education, ethiopia, rescue

6 responses so far

Category: Born Free, Born Free Ethiopia | Date: Oct 10 2008 | By: bornfree

Thanks for all the comments and donations following the previous Blogs.

Apologies for the delay in updating this Blog site. I’ve been in England for a month at a series of project planning meetings with Born Free. Although the Born Free team offer support from UK and USA, I am on my own out here in Ethiopia and sometimes the difficulty of this job and physical distance from family and friends do make one feel very alone. For those aspiring wildlife conservationists out there, make sure you are incredibly self-motivated and take a break every so often to catch up with family and friends.

This week’s Blog is all about a cheetah called Sheba. The name Sheba reminds most people of the Queen of Sheba, but in fact the cub is male. Sheba being the Amharic word for lame.

Back in 2006, I had just arrived in Ethiopia to work for another wildlife organisation in Omo National Park in the southwest of the country. While at meetings in Addis I heard about a young orphaned cheetah cub that was being looked after by an American veterinarian and his wife. The cub had been confiscated from an animal trader. Cheetah have long been used for hunting in the Middle East where they are hand raised and then taken out wearing a hood similar to those used in falconry. At a given moment the hood is removed and the cheetah sprints off to catch the antelope or other ‘prey’. Even today, despite cheetah being endangered and their removal from Ethiopia against the law, cubs are taken from the wild and smuggled out of Ethiopia through Somalia and into the Gulf states to be kept for hunting.

Cheetah that are hand raised can become habituated to humans (I prefer not to use the word tame as they are wild animals). Please don’t get the idea that a cheetah would make a good pet! Firstly, they are threatened enough in the wild, and secondly, despite getting used to humans they are wild animals and should not be kept in captivity.

I have spent several years working with Dr Laurie Marker, the founder and CEO of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. I’m by no means a cheetah expert, but have helped hand raise orphan cubs and helped develop the Cheetah Conservation Fund environmental education programme and set up an innovative business as a conservation tool. (For more information Google ‘Bushblok’).

Back to the six-month old Sheba.

X rays showed that one of the cubs’ rear legs had been broken in the past and had mended badly. Not only was the cub very lame, the cub was also young and inexperienced and chances of surviving in the wild were slim. In the wild, even healthy cheetah cubs with attentive mothers are often killed by hyena, leopard or lion.

As I have mentioned in a previous Blog, the Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority would like to stop the illegal trade in Ethiopian wildlife, but need the Born Free Wildlife Centre to be built so that confiscated, orphaned, or injured animals can be cared for. Wherever possible treated animals would be released back into the wild, but in the case of severely injured animals like Sheba there is no other option than lifetime care in a spacious and naturalistic enclosure. Since we had not yet built the Centre, and the cub was growing too big for the veterinarian’s garden, a temporary home needed to be found – and found fast. The Ethiopian Government forbids wildlife from being taken out of the country, so it was decided that the cub should be kept in an enclosure in Omo National Park where I could take responsibility for him.

In January 2007, I lifted the very good-natured Sheba into a large dog travel crate with his favourite blanket and set off in my 4 x 4 to start the three day journey to Omo National Park. Amazingly, Sheba did not seem to mind the car journey at all and purred noisily while watching the Ethiopian countryside go by. (Cheetah are the only big cat that purr, and boy is that purr loud!)

After a full day’s drive I decided to stay at a guest lodge in the town of Arba Minch, but they did not allow pets, let alone cheetah. Covering the dog crate with a blanket, I smuggled the cheetah into my thatched room.

It was important that the cub could stretch his legs after the day’s drive, so I had no alternative but to let him out in the room. Sheba stalked around sniffing everything inquisitively. His first hotel room! Sheba ate and drank as on a normal day, but I couldn’t bear the idea of shutting him back in the crate again for the night when he would be in the crate for the whole next day, so I put his blanket on the floor. I’m sure more from exhaustion than good behaviour, Sheba immediately walked over to the blanket, lay down and rolled onto his back. I admit to being relieved. I had wondered if Sheba might chirp all night. Young cheetah when unhappy or calling their mothers chirp like a bird. It’s an extraordinary sound, not like a cat at all.

Having descended from the hills of Addis into the Rift Valley, I was now in a malaria zone, so I covered my bed with the mosquito net provided and slipped under the top bed sheet. The temperature at 10 pm was still close to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), so no blanket was needed!

I lay and fell asleep quickly – a combination of the soothing noise of Sheba purring from his blanket and the day’s exhausting drive. Driving on Ethiopian roads requires a healthy mixture of patience and anticipation. At any time you may need to avoid or stop for camels, people, donkey carts, cows, goats, sheep or – the most dangerous of all – kamikaze trucks or buses.

At about 1.30 am I dreamed my cheek was being rubbed by warm, wet sandpaper that smelled of raw meat while a revving lawnmower was being inserted into my ear. You guessed it. Sheba had snuck under the mosquito net and was lying alongside me on the bed sheet, licking my face and purring right into my ear.

Despite the flickering doubt that it might not be the wisest thing to let a six month cheetah I hardly knew sleep alongside me, I was so exhausted I simply stroked Sheba’s head. The purring quietened and then stopped. Sheba was asleep and taking up far too much of the bed!

I fell asleep myself and woke several hours later to find the whole sheet, the mattress and myself covered in warm cheetah urine. Disgusting! Obviously, Sheba was not house trained… I washed out the sheets and mattress the best I could and smuggled Sheba back into the 4 x 4. No one knew a cheetah had spent the night there, but I had to apologise to the hotel for the state of the bed. One of the most embarrassing moments of my life must be checking out of that hotel and apologising for ‘having an accident’ in the night.

Sheba spent a year and a half in Omo National Park. Some of the photos show how happy he was.

Sadly, the organisation I was working for decided to leave Ethiopia and I was asked to look after Sheba at the new Wildlife Centre. The only problem being that the Centre is not built yet! The Ethiopian air charter company, Abyssinia Airlines generously agreed to fly Sheba up to Addis, and now Sheba has a temporary home at the Presidential Palace. Yet another reason why it is so important to get the Centre built and construct a new spacious permanent home for this special cat.

Sheba now spends most days on top of his grassy bunker sleeping quarters watching cows and calves in a neighbouring field.

Please do help if you can.

The Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre will cost around UK£ 1 million (US$ 2 million) to build and equip, and it will cost around UK£ 250,000 (US$ 500,000) per year to fund the Centre and its conservation and education programmes.

We must get Sheba and other wildlife in captivity in Ethiopia into spacious enclosures as soon as we can.

And if anyone wants to help pay for the care of Sheba, he costs £6 (US$12) per day to keep.

Please donate here in the BF Ethiopia donation box to the right.

More news in a few days,

James

Tags: Born Free, captivity, cheetah, education, ethiopia, wildlife rescue

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