Born Free

Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Oct 22 2009 | By: bornfree

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of volunteer Dave Moulds, the Wildlife Centre now boasts a flash new kitchen area for volunteers to use during their stay. As you can see from the photos below, every care was taken to ensure the new construction blends into the natural environment as discreetly as possible. Using the existing trees as the shelter’s primary supports minimised the need to bring in wood from other sources. Where wood was needed, it was sourced from timber farms in the north of Malawi.

The installation of electrics around the camp has turned the dark nights into this wonderful nightscape, keeping the larger animals at a distance and making a lot easier for volunteers to prepare and eat at the camp.

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Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: bornfree

On Monday 12th October, a lorry load of recycled office furniture and supplies started its long journey from Swindon to Malawi as part of a joint project between the Born Free Foundation and the Green Standards Trust.

The recovered materials, which include everything from printers, computers and furniture to brooms, books, binoculars and veterinary supplies, started their journey in Swindon, where the Green Standards Trust has been gathering donations from various companies and Born Free supporters. In total, about 27 pallets, weighing over 20 tonnes, were loaded on board the 40ft container.

Of the office equipment, Ellen Winter, the overseas project manager for the Green Standards Trust, said “It could have ended up in landfill so it’s a real win, win.”

All being well, the container should arrive at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in the next 6-8 weeks.

Using recycled and donated equipment will save the Wildlife Centre considerable funds in equipping an on-site Office, Veterinary facility and Education Centre that are all to be built in the near future.

Chris Wright, Programmes Officer for Born Free, said: “There is a great threat to the animals in Malawi and education is a major issue. People aren’t aware of the impact that taking these animals out of their environment can have and they don’t know how to care for them, causing sever welfare problems. Wildlife can be seen as pests – they can harass people and spoil their crops. Rather than shoot them or trap them as pets we’re trying to encourage people to consider ways that they can mitigate that conflict and live side by side without fatal consequences for wildlife.”

The Wildlife Centre and Born Free would like to offer our sincere thanks to those generous supporters who have donated their time, equipment and finance to the delivery of these much-needed items.

Tags: Born Free, Lilongwe, Malawi, monkeys, primates

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Category: Born Free | Date: Oct 09 2009 | By: bornfree

Again, our supporters amaze us and donate their hard-earned money to our conservation projects, and regularly too.Thank you so much Brenton and Wanda for your donations, they really are extremely appreciated.Many, many thanks and we will do our best to continue to supply you with interesting blogs which will detail the projects you contribute to.THANKS TO ALL OUR READERS AND DONORS!

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Category: Born Free | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: bornfree

A big thank you goes to Wanda from the Born Free projects for her lovely donation!!  All your contributions are appreciated, from reading and commenting to donating!Thank you so much!

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Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: bornfree

It’s been a long time since we last updated you on the progress of the troop of baboons released last December. This has partly been because of personnel changes at the project, but also because the team have been enduring a tough time of late, and all available time has had to go into intense monitoring efforts.

Sadly, since the last blog from the release team, at which point the troop were adapting well to their new life in the wild, we have lost several individuals from Jack’s troop. Chris and Najinga were found dead just near their sleeping sites, presumed to have been killed by leopard. In addition, three other individuals (Nina, Ali & Bob John) have also disappeared from Jack’s troop, and have not been sighted among Zenus’ troop, the wild baboon troop in the area. Jack, Brenda, Becky and Ruth have not been seen since May 11th, leaving their whereabouts a mystery, though it is hoped they have simply moved to another area of the park, beyond the range of the monitoring team’s equipment.

Following such disruption to Jack’s troop, only Mandy could be found with Eddie, who had sustained a very deep flesh wound on his back right leg. After consultation with the Wildlife Centre’s vet it was decided that Eddie would have great difficulty surviving in the wild if his wound were left unattended. On June 6th both Eddie and Mandy were removed from the field and brought back to the Wildlife Centre where they are currently residing. Eddie’s wound needed proper treatment in a closed environment and Mandy was extremely vulnerable on her own without any troop members for protection.

The research team’s efforts to relocate the missing members of Jack’s troop continue.

On a more positive note, the Centre began its second release of rescued and rehabilitated monkeys. In late May, Titan’s troop of fifteen vervet monkeys was released into Kasungu National Park, 13km from the baboon release site. Some monkeys raced for the door, springing out of the cages as soon as the gate was lifted. Others were a bit shy, taking their time to venture out into the great expanse of the wild. Within half an hour of the release all monkeys were exploring their new surroundings, ecstatic to be free!

One of the troop’s adult males, named Jimmy, decided to join a wild baboon troop just two days after the release. Jimmy was the alpha male (leader) of the troop until three months before the release, when another male, Titan, took over the leadership position. Understandably, Jimmy has been having a difficult time relating to his group members… let’s face it, it’s embarrassing to be overthrown and lose all your power… how will the ladies ever respect him now? I suspect Jimmy became a little confused about what species he was on release and approached the baboon troop out of desperation to join another troop. Two weeks later though, he was back with his own kind, no doubt still resentful of Titan.

One of the troop’s adult females, Hellena, went off with a wild troop of vervets in the third week of the release. Just six days later, she was back under Titan’s command – presumably missing all the delicious food we were providing for Titan’s troop. During the first eight weeks of each release we provide the monkeys with supplementary food to help ease their transition into their new environment, allowing them time to learn how to cope with finding all of their own food.

Tragically, Michael, one of the sub-adult males in Titan’s troop was found dead a few weeks after release. He was killed by a predator in the park, likely believed to have been a jackal. Michael was the most curious monkey in the group - one of the favourites of the research team. His playful manner and sweet face made it impossible not to love him. Since his death, his best friend, Moses, has been a bit lost without him. Moses can now frequently be found sitting somewhere near the vehicle or research team, intently watching the humans, as if he’s expecting us to tell him how to continue on.

This event is deeply discouraging for everyone here in the field, especially on the tails of the results from the release of Jack’s troop. The research team and Wildlife Centre staff are currently doing all they can to assess what factors are contributing to the deaths, reworking our release protocol so we all can see increases in survival rates. It is expected that a few individuals will die with every release; however, this does not make it any easier to cope with when we find one of our beloved monkeys dead. We will remember Michael fondly.

All other members of the troop are doing well, and continue to enjoy their new found freedom.

Tags: Lilongwe, Malawi, monkey, release, vervet, Wildlife

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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

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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 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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