News - Aprl 2007

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Those of you who have visited us recently will have seen our beautiful new signs on the animal enclosures, helping you to find your way around the Sanctuary. I would request, however, that none of you tell Elsie the Lioness and Khan the Leopard, that there are signs on their enclosures reading "Fat Cat" and "Fattest Cat" respectively. They are under the impression that the signs say "Super Predator".....

Thank you to Leslie Ives for arranging for the signs to be printed and to Signature Images for donating the beautifully produced signs. Leslie also arranged for our eye-catching and unique flyers and menus, designed by herself and Sharon Sephton, to be printed. Our grateful thanks to Greg Pozzo of Interprint for donating 4000 flyers. Sandvik Tools will make a tremendous difference to our lives at the Sanctuary with the donation of tools! Having used a home-made hammer for the last few months, we are truly appreciative of the donation of all sorts of wonderful tools! Thank you to Malcolm Smith, and again to Leslie Ives.

Leslie is part of our devoted team of volunteers who do so much to keep the Sanctuary running and to make the animals lives happy. Waylon Lewis and Mike Trask, Dianne Twiggs, Sylvia Carter, Amanda Mileson, Anesh Ramlaul - thank you from us all. Our Australian volunteer, Trixie Rhodes, returns next month to volunteer at the Sanctuary again - Trixie brightened all our lives with her sense of humour, practicality and innate understanding of the challenges of running a wildlife sanctuary in Zimbabwe at the present time. And of course, most importantly, she understands the need to present me with a cup of coffee and several minutes silence before even attempting conversation at the beginning of each day.

I am sure she was relieved to be on another continent when our ancient water pump, held together with steel putty and bits of wire, finally died a noisy and dramatic death at 5am one morning. When we opened the pump and the broken bearings fell out into my hand, even the donkeys drooped their ears in despair. With no hope of finding the sort of money needed for the major repairs, it was a black day at the Sanctuary. But once again, our friends stepped in - Amanda Mileson got together with Donald and Carol Hobbs and "made a plan", as Zimbabweans always do. The Hobbs ' donated the necessary bearings and Clay Mileson of Kia Ora Nurseries did the repairs free of charge. Four days later our water pump was humming away efficiently! When we first switched on the pump I had to ask if it was actually working, because there was no clanging and thumping, no water spurting in the air, no asthmatic gasping and wheezing from the pipes! Once again the Sanctuary operations continued thanks to our friends.  

As ever, our family continues to grow. We welcomed Noddy and Big Ears , two vervet monkeys brought in as confiscated pets by the Z.N.S.P.C.A, and they were soon joined by a tiny baby monkey rescued from a pack of dogs on a farm in Lion's Den. Thanks to Ellen Ciampi and Waylon Lewis for caring for our babies, and to the Verhey family for sponsoring the fat and inscrutable Helmut , a baby monkey they saved from horrible abuse in a street market. Big Ears is now designated baby sitter and cares for the little monkeys as if they were his own. Tarzan , our one-armed monkey, continues to hog the lime light, being particularly fond of curvaceous ladies upon whose assets he likes to loll languidly, being hand-fed and groomed by his statuesque admirers.

Scary , our tyrannical mother marmoset monkey, surprised us with triplets on the 1st March. As it was only five months since she had produced twins, it was very sad but not unexpected when two of the tiny babies passed away. The third baby, Katinka , is thriving and even the little twins help to take care of her. We are now looking at ways to prevent the marmosets breeding indiscriminately without breaking up the devoted little family. Thanks to Thomas Wicke and Avani Mooljee for your sponsorship of our little marmosets whose varied and ecclectic taste in food is a constant challenge to both the budget and imagination! Sian  Chinsen saved the day with a donation of Weetabix for our new mother - very gratefully received indeed! Dingly Dell Nursery School are also sponsors of our Marmosets - the children raised $150 000 for the marmosets by having a colouring competition at the school.

Wayne and Wanda , the servals we rescued from captivity in a tiny chicken coop on a Marondera Farm, are now happily settled in their boma and will be released next year. Johanna and Lowrie Jones sponsor the cats and help to provide them with all they need. We have just doubled the size of their enclosure which has improved their quality of life greatly.

The donkeys continue to dominate our lives, constantly implicated in plots to raid the tea room and feed shed, and they are now showing expansionist tendencies as I found two of them wandering about the upstairs restaurant as if contemplating the suitability of its facilities for a Donkey Congress. In January we set off on an epic, cross country journey to rescue Charlotte , an exquisite little grey donkey who had been attacked by crocodiles. We travelled most of the way on a pedestrian path through the bush, in torrential rain, pushing the truck numerous times as we slid off the path into knee deep red mud, skirting tiny maize fields and ant bear holes and assisted en route by various people who quite clearly thought we were lunatics. We finally arrived at the village to be greeted by a wizened old man who took us to Charlotte . She was a mass of stinking, infected lacerations where two crocodiles had seized her as she drank from the Mazoe River . It took over an hour to load her onto the truck as one of the tendons in a back leg had been severed and she was severely disabled by her injuries. It was dark and still raining heavily as we set off for home with the old man running behind the truck shouting, "Bye Bye donkey! Bye bye! God Bless you for saving my donkey!" until we disappeared into the night with our sad cargo.

On the way home we stopped to rescue a grey heron being dragged down the road on a piece of string by a gang of youths. After a heated exchange of words, we added the heron to our cargo, and off we went again.

Charlotte 's wounds were so severe I could fit my entire hand and wrist into some of them as we set about cleaning the infected tissue several times a day. Having thought her tail had been paralysed we cheered the first time she managed to swish it indignantly into our faces as we crouched behind her treating her wounds. There wasn't as much cheering as swearing the first time she managed to kick me, however! After weeks of intensive treatment that must have been agonising for Charlotte , including heart-breaking times when we almost lost her to infection and stress, she has made a full recovery and is now a beautiful, happy and charming part of the Bally Vaughan family. It is thanks to the dedication of  Dr Vinay Ramlaul of the Twenty Four Hour Veterinary Surgery and my staff at the Sanctuary that she now has a life worth living. 

Charlotte is now a celebrated member of the "Scone Snatchers" gang, roaming the grounds with our beloved old donkeys Spike and One-Eyed Jack , trying to persuade visitors to share their cream teas. We have placed wooden railings around the tea garden now as not everyone wants to share their lunch with the donkeys but the donkey treats are still on sale and the donkeys will always be close by!  

The Bally Vaughan Donkey and Horse Rescue Project would not function without the hugely generous support of Ian Grierson of Milborrow Animal Health, who could not be a better friend, and Donald and Carol Hobbs whose continued fund-raising efforts and support of the Sanctuary makes such a difference. Thank you to Mrs Roberts, the Prinsloo and Wakefield families for the donation of stock feed, hay and horse blankets. City Clothing donated uniforms for the Sanctuary staff which were greatly appreciated as with the nature of our work, it is a challenge to keep the uniforms looking respectable! 

We were thrilled to receive a batch of stunning postcards featuring our magnificent lion, Mac , from a wildlife photographer who donated the cards to raise funds for the Sanctuary. When the photographer kindly delivered the 18kg parcel (which took up virtually all his luggage allowance flying from the UK ) he suggested we get a suitable picture of Khan the leopard to use on another batch of cards. Well, Khan excelled himself during the photo shoot, as only he can. He provided a whole series of shots of his gigantic furry bottom, several interesting perspectives of his enormous spotty belly and then treated us to his interpretations of "Fat leopard with Squint", "Very Fat Leopard with Tongue Hanging Out", "Extremely Fat Leopard in the Toilet" and the grand finale..."Obese, Unconcious, Upside Down Leopard". We are not really expecting a stampede when those go on sale......

Cora Ruck, the wildlife artist continues to donate part of the proceeds of her paintings of Khan back to the Sanctuary for which we are truly grateful. He is also generously sponsored by Jeff Bunnett. Crugs Chooks, Koala Park Abbattoir, Steve Curle, the Bean family of Douglyn Farm and Linda Chant continue to assist in giving our animals the balanced diet that they need by donating meat to the predator feeding program. Thank you from us all. We could not maintain our animals in the superb condition you see when you visit without the help of these people.

It was a day of mixed emotions when we released Columbus , the barn owl we raised from a newly hatched chick who came in covered in ants and bleeding from an assault by chickens (!) and grew into a rather pre-occupied but charming member of our owl family. Having driven me mad with his insistence on minutely inspecting every tiny morsel of food offered to him and then ruminating endlessly over whether or not to actually eat it before tossing it to the floor and commanding me to pick it up and repeat the ritual all over again, now that I do not end my day with this infuriating performance, I miss it terribly! Our spotted eagle owls, Trigger and Woody , who we released a couple of months ago have stayed within the Sanctuary grounds and come down every evening for their dinner which they always eat outside the Ladies Toilets. They have the best of both worlds, I think - their freedom, with room service thrown in!

Sincere thanks to Hamish Cameron P/L for their monthly donation of bird food to the Bird Sanctuary and to Green Park for fruit and vegetables for the parrots. Anthony and Jess Thomas of Key-Den donated a large number of padlocks for the enclosures, all with the same key, which has made life so much easier for us - thank you so much!

Dave and Jenny Adams of Radiator Services and Belts 'n Hoses continue to offer generous support to the temperamental Cruella the Caracal and her sidekick Arthur , as does Emma Robinson. They have recently had the builders in to do renovations to their enclosure to prepare it for winter. Arthur has arthritis in his back legs and needs a warm and sheltered bedroom to see him comfortably through the cold months. Daire, Laura-B, Ibone, Avani - our volunteers from the International School continue to brighten the animals' lives. Thank you to Mike Wilton for constant and generous support and friendship and to Benedict le Breton and the Middleton family for sponsorship of our magnificent lion Mac who is so superbly groomed and immaculate that visitors often ask if we brush him every day!

The sheep and donkeys were furious to be excluded from the garden wedding held in the Sanctuary last week. Having enthusiastically assisted with the decoration of the Bridal Arch and re-arranged the seating several times to their satisfaction, they were outraged to be asked to leave before the bride arrived. It took four kilograms of biscuits shoveled constantly into their mouths to keep them from voicing their outrage during the ceremony.

We have also had a number of CHILDRENS BIRTHDAY PARTIES in the Sanctuary - it is a wonderful venue for children, with a rock pool for swimming, farm animals to pet and feed and a guided tour of the Sanctuary to visit the predators and hand feed the monkeys.

Our animals are fed on a balanced and varied diet which is a constant financial challenge to provide. The parrots, monkeys, blue duiker and civet are served a "buffet" of mixed fruits and vegetables, cereals, yoghurt, eggs, bread and vitamin supplements every day. The rabbits, tortoises, guinea pigs and birds are given mash and green vegetables every morning. Grateful thanks to Lyn Mileson of KiaOra Nurseries for the donation of fruit trees and plants, and advice, to make us more self-sufficient at the Sanctuary. The donkeys, sheep, goats, horses and the Zorse get dairy meal, bran and vitamins twice a day. The predators have beef, pork, chicken or game meat every evening and the smaller predators also have milk and eggs twice a week. All the predators are on a Frontline program for ticks and fleas and are de-wormed regularly and every predator enclosure is cleaned every single day and clean drinking water provided. Every animal has a shelter and toys and every animal is visited and checked on twice a day.

None of this would be possible without the continued support of our sponsors. Mel, Lex and Caro Phillips made it possible to relocate my beloved caracals to a wonderful enclosure at Bally Vaughan after they suffered the trauma of a violent robbery at my former home in Harare . I am pleased to report that Harry , who lost his brother Henry and was injured in the break-in, is recovering and is currently involved in a horticultural project - excavating our new vegetable garden seedling by seedling and body-surfing in the herb garden.

Anne Marie Witkowski, Karen Gent and Laura Murphy, Steve Watt and Ella and Merrill Shoup, Jim and Joyce O'Toole - friends far away who continue to support the Sanctuary and the Bally Vaughan family - we are privileged to have such loyal friends who make a difference every day to the birds and animals who rely on us to provide a happy and fulfilled life.

We are open throughout the Easter Weekend from 9am to 5pm. NO BOOKING IS REQUIRED unless for lunch in the Duck or Grouse Restaurant upstairs. The Gazebo Restaurant with its extensive menu and fully stocked bar is open all day to Sanctuary visitors.

We look forward to seeing you during the Easter holidays. Each time you visit us, or tell someone about the Sanctuary, you are helping our Bally Vaughan family to continue to enjoy the quality of life they so deserve and allow us to continue to offer sanctuary to Zimbabwe's wildlife, birds and farm animals in need.

With love and thanks to you all

Sarah and the Bally Vaughan Family