News - July 2006

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A motorist passing the Sanctuary the other day very nearly crashed her car when her attention was diverted by a line of seven donkeys making their way into the Sanctuary in blue and white striped jerseys. This is our Donkey Sanctuary Winter Ensemble, very kindly donated by Sylvia Carter, to keep our doted-on donkeys snug this winter. The donkey family continues to grow with the arrival of our oldest donkey, Spike, so named because when he arrived he was so severely emaciated that every bone in his body was sticking out sharply under the remnants of his lice-infested coat. Half of one ear had been hacked off & was an infected, bleeding mess and he was a mass of septic wounds and harness sores. On the journey to Bally Vaughan he stood in the back of the truck, head hanging down, shedding huge tears as we tried to comfort and reassure him. When we fed him for the first time he had no idea what the bowl of food was, although he has quickly cottoned on to the breakfast and dinner schedule (breakfast is served at 5:30am - their reasoning being that as they are awake, so should we be!). Spike is making slow progress; being so worn down and fragile it will be many months before he is fit and well but he is responding to love and attention which is heartwarming as he was so frightened of everyone when he first arrived.  Thank you once again to Ian Grierson of Milborrow Animal Health for your exceptional kindness and generosity in supporting our Horse and Donkey Rescue Project, and to Donald and Carol Hobbs who are also dedicated and generous sponsors of this project. Good news about the donkey with the broken leg, Jasper. He is now putting weight on the leg again and runs around happily with the other donkeys. (He has a huge crush on the rather large and hairy Crumb, foal of Biscuit, who encourages his attentions merely so that she can steal his food.)

We were delighted to be able to offer a home to a pair of Cotton-Eared Marmosets and their teenage son. We rescued Mojo, Scarey and Grover from the workshops at Honeydew Farm and they have settled well in their new enclosure at Bally Vaughan. We supply them with a wide variety of food - sadza, yoghurt, plenty of fruit, boiled eggs, mashed potato and butternut and nuts and raisins. They are very keen on Weetabix but the budget does not always run to imported cereals and they will eat grudgingly eat pronutro instead, although they have been known to throw it at me in protest.

Shabby, our vast and imperious sheep, gave birth to a surprise baby at the end of April. Having attempted, disastrously, to shampoo a rather grubby and absolutely outraged Shabby just days before the birth, we presumed she was simply sulking when she took to her bed. Gorgeous (if slightly wall-eyed) Mad Monica was born shortly afterwards, and is a tremendous character. She assists enthusiastically with herding the flocks of birds into their night quarters, much to their alarm, and is best friends with the over-confident and over-fed Crumb, our enormous baby donkey. Shabby has recently become engaged to Maurice, a brown and white ram less than half her size who visits from the farm across the road. Maurice is no match for the indomnitable Shabby however and we dont think the relationship has a future.

Trigger and Woody the spotted eagle owls are making slow progress in the Owl Hospital . Neither is able to fly properly but both are more mobile than they were. We are currently rehabilitating a baby barn owl called Jonas - he has started to fly and we will release him as soon as he is able to take care of himself.

Kadiki the Little Lioness turned three on the 27th of June. She enjoyed an ostrich cake with her friends and family and then spent the rest of the day destroying her presents. (Rather like most children I suppose!) She continues to receive extremely generous sponsorship from her friend Stacey Gent, and for this we are truly grateful. She has everything a little lion could wish for, except a family of her own, although for now she seems happy to make do with her human friends.

Dr Vinay Ramlaul of the 24 Hour Veterinary Surgery performed a successful hernia operation on Harry the Billy Goat. The hernia formed after Harry fell foul of our matriach donkey, Biscuit, and had grown to the stage where it was a danger to his health. We performed the operation on the lawn at Bally Vaughan. Surgical assistants included our chef, barman, seven heavy-breathing donkeys and a goose.

As always, our thanks go to Vin Ramlaul and his staff at the 24 Hour Vet Hospital for their exceptional care of our animals. Their round-the-clock service has saved many of our animals lives

We have renovated our parrot cages and enlarged the enclosure of Blossom the Hyaena recently. We have also constructed an "imperial palace" for our caracals - a series of platforms furnished with plush sheepskin beds and a variety of toys, which they love. The serval enclosure has also been extended and we now have 3 Blue Duiker enclosures.

Our Winter Day Trip has proved to be a great success. Consisting of a sumptuous morning tea, a comprehensive tour of our Sanctuary, a three course lunch in the hilltop restaurant, followed by "Meet the Donkeys", a visit to the Owl Hospital and hand-feeding of predators, including the big cats and finally sundowners, this is an ideal outing for family groups, overseas visitors and makes for a unique childrens' birthday party. Children love the hands-on contact with the animals and it is a memorable experience for all.

BE A GAME RANGER FOR A DAY!

Unique opportunity for 11 - 18 year olds to work at Bally Vaughan for a day. Feeding the predators, exercising the owls, riding the horses, grooming the donkeys: a chance to experience life as a Bally Vaughan Game Ranger.

9am - 5pm, every Wednesday of the school holidays.

Booking essential on 011 214 007

We said a very sad goodbye in June to our first Overseas Volunteer, Becky Hall, after 3 months at Bally Vaughan. Becky did an outstanding job of caring for the animals and her brief to enrich the lives of the Bally Vaughan animals using only resources already on site was imaginatively and successfully completed.

We are looking for overseas volunteers to live-in at Bally Vaughan for anything from 2 weeks to 3 months to assist with the day-to-day care of our animal family. Please contact me for further details.

This month we also say goodbye to Mel Phillips, who returns to the States after a happy two years in Zimbabwe . Mel has been an invaluable and dedicated volunteer at Bally Vaughan, as well as being a much-needed "voice of reason" and dear friend to all of us.

We are delighted to have 3 new volunteers; Edward Allott, Rogan Caroll and Precious Chituku, and are very grateful to Waylon Lewis for his invaluable assistance with marketing & sales. Thank you to Lloyd Herschell of Mr Handyman (tel 011211852) for volunteering his services for electrical repairs and maintenance, and to Anesh Ramlaul for volunteering his skills as a barman! Beverley Bridger very kindly fields enquiries from our adverts on Mango Market, Jon and Chooks Langerman donated a huge number of books to sell in our shop, John Barratt designed, made and donated our new "Billy Goat's Gruff" bridge for the tea garden, Sandy Coutts donated a much-needed hosepipe. Thank you as always to the Cameron family of Hamish Cameron P/L who continue to feed our large family of birds every month, and to Brett Cameron for donating a male turkey to our lonely girl turkeys (they lost the man in their life when he threw himself into the lion pen) Hannes Cruger and Crugs Chooks for donating chickens for the predators, and Montana Meats for assisting with meat for the lions. We now grow all our own vegetables and salads, thanks to a wonderful donation of seeds from the Gent family. My landlady, Roselyne Wipf, continues to view the procession of furred and feathered creatures in and out of my house with extreme good grace and humour - thank you! I must also thank Chisipite Senior School Conservation Club and Greendale Polo Club for their support.

A heartfelt thank you to Chloride Zimbabwe , and Heather Israel, who so kindly donated a battery for one of our vehicles. Maintaining the vehicles is an ever-increasing worry and I am truly appreciative of this assistance.

And finally, thank you to all of you - everyone who visits us, sponsors an animal or makes a donation, or just tells someone else about us helps our precious family of birds and animals to have the happy and fulfilled lives they so richly deserve. We cannot manage without your support and we are truly appreciative of your concern and interest in Bally Vaughan Wildlife Sanctuary.

"If the great beasts are gone, man would surely die of a lonely spirit"

Chief Seattle

With love and thanks

Sarah and everyone at Bally Vaughan Sanctuary