Born Free

Category: Born Free, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Nov 17 2009 | By: bornfree

We have now had 6 weeks to settle in and have certainly had to hit the ground running! Unfortunately there is some sad news to report from the vervet monkeys. In mid September we sadly lost Skinny, who suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction, resulting in pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs. We believe this was caused by an allergic reaction to something he ate or a bee sting. While we had only known Skinny a few weeks we had grown very fond of him and always enjoyed watching his morning ‘sunbathing’ routine which he often shared with Thoko.

Skinny (left) and Thoko enjoying the morning sun!

In addition to this news the vervet troop were also the victims of a vicious attack from a wild troop of vervets. The research team had given the release troop an afternoon alone away from our ever-watchful gaze. On our return we discovered 4 of our monkeys, Michelle, Ben, Brave and Esnart, with bites wounds. Michelle’s wounds were very severe, but unfortunately due to the imminent night fall there was nothing we could do until the morning. To our distress, the following morning we could not find Michelle. We hired extra Scouts to search the area, but she was nowhere to be seen. We all feared the worst.

Miraculously, on Sunday morning, we found her sitting near the water source, in very bad condition. We set about catching her, while a vet traveled down from Lilongwe to aid her care. 48 hours after the attack, we finally had a chance to thoroughly examine Michelle – and were shocked with what we found. She had seven different bite wounds to her legs, one of which had completely severed her Achilles tendons, and one to her tail. After 3-and-a-half hours of field surgery, Michelle was transported back to the Wildlife Centre in Lilongwe to undergo long term care. We are informed she is an exceptionally good patient, is healing well and still tolerating her splint! As yet we do not know if her Achilles tendon will ever fully recover. We very much hope to see Michelle back in Kasungu in the future for the next vervet monkey release.

The other 3 injured monkeys only sustained comparatively minor bites; they were all able to remain within the troop and received a daily dose of antibiotic in a chunk of banana. All concerned have healed exceptionally well, with little to show of the ordeal apart from a couple of small scars.

Michelle, post surgery still on the operating table.

We are currently gearing up for our next monkey release in January 2010 and as ever we are counting every penny. If you wish to make a donation to our project and help give Malawi’s rescued primates a better life here is an idea of how far your money will go:

£1 – supplementary feeds one release monkey for one day
£5 – will buy a machete, to clear the trees the Elephants ‘helpfully’ knock in to the middle of the roads
£5 – the cost to repair a puncture on the land rover
£10 – provides the project with stopwatches to aid our data collection
£15 – will buy rechargeable batteries for our GPS and radio tracking device
£30 - supplementary feeds one release monkey for one month
£35 – builds one transportation box to safely transport a monkey from Lilongwe to Kasungu
£50 – provides an emergency field first kit for the monkeys
£75 – will supply our ‘bush office’ with a much needed printer
£100 – buys a dongle and the software required for internet access from the bush, contact with the outside world and more frequent blogs!
£200 – buys one radio tracking collar for a released monkey
£250 – supplies the monkeys with a 24 hour watchman in the form of an infra red night camera to record the monkey’s night time activity
£300 – would buy the bush camp a generator and we would all be eternally grateful!
£500 – provides a laptop for report writing
£750 – will supply the field staff with army standard tented accommodation, resulting dry beds during the rainy season!

Many thanks to all of our readers for your continued support.

Best wishes from Malawi

Andrea and Keith xx

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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, 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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