News - July 2007The Chicken and the Egg Firstly please note my new email address. Thanks to Garth and Heather Drummond, Yo Africa and Dianne Twiggs, for arranging this. The Bally Vaughan Sanctuary would not have made it through the cold, quiet month of June without the hugely generous support of Rudolph de Wet. Not only has Rudolph given financial support to our projects, but Seldex Fleet Management has kept the Sanctuary vehicle operational and supplied with fuel. Having sent our hard-working pick-up truck in to Seldex for a major service and repairs, it returned as good as new, minus the ubiquitous sqeaks and rattles and ominous clouds of black smoke that formerly marked our progress! The only thing that hasn't changed is the immense variety and quantity of animal by-products floating about the cab; from caracal fur to owl feathers! Rudolph's assistance allows us to continue to run rescue missions, whether fetching serval cats from the airport or driving across country to collect injured farm animals, and we are truly grateful for this. Our owl hospital is almost complete. This is another project supported by the de Wet family, and is now a vital part of our operations, as the number of injured owls coming in to the Sanctuary increases all the time. We are currently rehabilitating three spotted eagle owls, our most common patients, as they tend to sit on the tarmac roads at night and frequently get hit by cars. All three owls have broken wings.This does not, however, make them submissive patients. Wentworth (named for the star of the TV programme "Prison Break") discharges himself from the hospital regularly, scaling an eight foot fence, mysteriously making his way across a large expanse of water and then marching briskly up an enormous rock face to our water reservoir where he sits inscrutably observing us from under feathery eyelids as we toil, panting and gasping, in his wake to bring him back down again. Clive and Heather Wakefield sent me a wonderful story about a family of barn owls they were forced to move from a tobacco barn on their farm. They placed the chicks in their study and started to hand-feed them, only to discover a few days later that the parent owls had located their chicks and were bringing food to them through the open windows! The little ows have thrived and are now very much a part of the Wakefield family! There have been several requests this month from our clients to join the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary family, as our predators are possibly the only Zimbabweans enjoying their usual evening meal of a large chunk of meat! We have been able to maintain the high quality of life of our resident animals and birds thanks to the continued assistance of the management of Douglyn Farm, Steve Curle and Crugs Chooks and the Cameron family of Hamish Cameron (Pvt) Ltd. Dave Adams of Radiator Services, Vicky Campion, Jon and Chooks Langerman, Emma Robinson, The Middletons, John and Moira Kane, Thanks also to the Verhey family, the Langridge family, Judah Day, Richard Vaughn Sue Roberts, Trixie Rhodes, the Prinsloos, Nicky Kelder, Debbie Lewis, Steve Watt, the organisers of the Borrowdale Craft Fair, and Cora Ruck whose recent portrait of Khan our leopard is the best likeness of him I have ever seen. Premier Asset Management enjoyed a corporate day at the Sanctuary in July and very kindly made an extremely generous donation to Mac the Lion. The "Thursday Club" of Westridge High School have included the Sanctuary as a recipient of their fund-raising activities and the Form One Class recently enjoyed a day out at the Sanctuary and made a donation to the Bally Vaughan animals. All school visits are personally conducted by me and combine an experience in conservation, education and awareness, as well as fun activities such as monkey feeding, predator feeding and hands-on interaction with our farm rescue animals. SCHOOL VISITS ARE BOOKED ON THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS: SARAH 0912 592 944 WAYLON 0912 311 661 COLIN 011 214 007 SYLVIA 04 497588 Sadly, Milborrow Animal Health can no longer support our Farm Animal Rescue Project which has been a huge blow to Sanctuary operations. We would be extremely grateful for any assistance with the stock feed bill for our beloved donkeys, sheep, horses and antelope. Our Endangered Blue Duiker Breeding Project has also been affected. We need the equivalent of US$100 per month to purchase a tonne of stockfeed which we mix with bran and hay to provide a balanced diet for the animals. Please contact us on any of the above numbers if you are able to help, or donations can be left at the Twenty Four Hour Veterinary Surgery on the corner of Second Street Extension and Upper East Road (tel 04 303518 or 9). Thank you! As the Sanctuary was also visited by the Price Control Task Force and our entrance fees and restaurant prices reduced significantly, this has all added to the challenge of keeping the Sanctuary going, especially as animals and birds in need of a safe haven continue to arrive and put added strain on our resources. The famous book by Anna Sewell, "Black Beauty", ends with the words "My troubles are now over, and I have found a home." This is what I trust our cherished Sanctuary residents feel, every day. Please help us to continue to make this a reality for them. Our very first rescue donkey, the irascible Biscuit, gave birth in the early hours of yesterday morning to the exquisitely tiny Muffin. This will be our last baby donkey born at the Sanctuary as the male donkeys will be neutered in the near future to prevent further breeding. We believe it is essential that a responsible attitude is taken towards breeding animals that rely on us to provide a future for them and would rather use our resources to take care of animals that come to us seeking a safe haven. Smeegal the serval cat arrived this month from a farm in Chirundu, yet another beloved pet whose tranquil existence has been shattered by current events in Zimbabwe . After a heart-wrenching farewell to his family before they left the country, he sat quiet and upright at the gate to his enclosure, enormous ears pricked, eyes huge and gleaming with expectation, waiting patiently for them to come back. A great deal of attention from the Sanctuary staff helped him to settle into his new home and an afternoon visit to Smeegal is now a highlight of our Day Trip as he welcomes all visitors with enthusiasm and loves a cuddle. At the age of four, he still enjoys a bottle of milk and is very much a mummy's boy (despite his much-hyped reputation as a Crocodile Hunter in Chirundu.....which, having seen him flee from the innocuous hinge-backed tortoise in the garden, is somewhat in doubt....) Kevin the greyhound joined our family in July. Left to starve while his family went on holiday, when we offered him a home he was so thin that the bones on his rear end had broken through the skin, leaving oozing pressure sores and a tail so emaciated every tiny bone was visible. Handsome and courageous Kevin is recovering from the horrific abuse he suffered and is a wonderful character, content to potter about the Sanctuary (but not around the lion pen!) and enjoys accompanying visitors on Guided Tours. He lives with Harry the Caracal and Harry's siblings George and Twala, which has done nothing to help restore his self-confidence as caracals regard dogs as superfluous and coldly rebuff any attempts at conversation. A terrifying encounter with a troupe of baboons on the Sanctuary boundary fence left Kevin rather wiser about life in the bush but fortunately his pride was more damaged than anything else. Dominic the nightape was rescued by Florence Mombeyarara on the road to Esigodini late one night. Tiny Dominic (the size of a hamster) had been hit by a car and had a broken arm, a broken leg and a head injury. Florence took him home, splinted his arm and leg and devoted eight months to his rehabilitation before bringing him to the Sanctuary where he will hopefully be released in the future. A nocturnal member of our family, he spends the day curled up asleep in his snug bedroom and then leaps about his enclosure with immense agility and skill once the sun goes down. He enjoys strawberry yoghurt and chocolate cereal with syrup, supplemented by a rather more natural diet of insects that we catch in "bug traps" hung beneath the outside lights. We also took in a very charming terrapin, a crow, six geese, and a barn owl with a broken wing. Tom Dugan, our new Overseas Volunteer, is spending an interesting few weeks living and working with the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary family. One of his jobs is to take care of Sheila, a tiny baby baboon whose mother was shot during a Problem Animal Control exercise on a farm. Little Sheila was found clinging to her dead mother and brought in to the Sanctuary. She is a pathetic little creature, overwhelmed by the tragic events of her short life and very traumatised, but with constant care from the Sanctuary staff, she is slowly responding. Sheila is being sponsored by Steve Curle, a generous and long-term supporter of the Sanctuary. Sheila enjoys chocolate malt cereal and a fruit platter several times a day and is being bottle-fed on a special milk formula designed for baby animals. The indomnitable Waylon Lewis continues to rise to the many challenges of being a Bally Vaughan Volunteer. In between fund-raising and running an awareness campaign for the Sanctuary and hosting our day trips, Waylon has learnt to reverse a horsebox, make nappies for a marmoset (receiving instructions over the telephone for this particular skill), fit two people, six baboons and an advertising billboard into a Mazda 323 and prepare a three course lunch in half an hour. Being rushed to the Trauma Centre after being the unwitting bystander in a monkey drive-by attack has not dampened his enthusiasm. Our 'fairy godmother' Karen Gent remains a dedicated sponsor of Kadiki the Lion, and a wonderful friend and source of inspiration to me. Sylvia Carter, Leslie Ives, Dianne Twiggs and Mike Trask continue to offer friendship, support and practical help beyond all expectations, and Dr Vinay Ramlaul of the Twenty Four Hour Veterinary Surgery remains a constant factor in keeping our family happy and cared for. Running the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary does not just mean hands-on care of the birds and animals. I also have administrative work to do. I recently did a stock-take of all the kitchen equipment, something I had been putting off for ages but which turned out to be a fascinating exercise...... A quick glance through the stock list drew my attention to an item declared as "Broken Cup - Nesting Black Chicken" which had me somewhat intrigued. Questioning the staff revealed that a small black chicken was absolutely determined to lay her eggs on the table in the coffee shop, and a stand-off between the staff and the chicken eventually peaked in a violent confrontation that resulted in the breakage of a tea cup. Trigger the owl's nocturnal party in the restaurant kitchen resulted in a smashed dinner plate and, worryingly, a missing meat skewer. (Trigger was found asleep on top of the microwave the next morning, exhausted by the night's excesses). The donkeys accounted for an entire tea set, including a (metal) tea tray, in a scuffle for scones. An exquisite antique brass tray, belonging to my mother, was discarded due to "Black Stain - Leopard" - the unfortunate consequence of Khan the leopard being taken short and using the tray as an emergency pit stop. (There was almost as much family drama over this as there was when the baby servals peed on my mother's telephone, setting off some sort of chemical reaction that meant the telephone rang continuously for several days. As this was shortly after the same servals had vomited in my sister's suitcase the night before she left for England, family ties were a bit strained for a while) Harry the caracal has stepped up his campaign to test my devotion. He now refuses to go in and out of the windows, preferring to use the door. As he is able to open doors (but never, ever closes them...) he can let himself out, but returning home at 2am, he bangs on the door with his big, furry feet to summon me from sleep and then shoves past me to claim the best spot on the bed. Discussing his unreasonable behaviour has resulted in a compromise - we keep doing things his way. Having recently given himself a unique spa treatment in my bathroom, by eating a loofah brush and annointing himself with the contents of a chewed up packet of "Detoxifying Bath Salts", he seems to have a whole new lease on life although he continues his disconcerting habit of joining me in the bathroom in the mornings and standing with his front feet on the basin, hissing vociferously at himself in the mirror - mind you, I suppose most of us feel like that when we see ourselves first thing in the morning. We look forward to seeing you all again soon at the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary! We now offer personal Guided Tours of the Sanctuary, hosted by myself or Waylon Lewis, during which you will meet Khan the Leopard, the biggest lions in Zimbabwe, Smeegal the Serval, Sheila the baby baboon, Dasher the mongoose, Satchmo the civet, Woody the owl and, subject to his schedule (and mood) Harry the Famous House Caracal, as well as other Sanctuary residents. Tours can be booked in advance on the numbers supplied in this newsletter, or at the Sanctuary, subject to availability. We also offer full and half Day Trips, giving you a unique insight into life at the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary, from the treasured animals and birds we take care of and their fascinating histories to the behind-the-scenes operations of the Sanctuary. PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE SANCTUARY! We cannot continue our work without you and as the challenges of running an animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe at the present time continue to stretch our resolve and resources, we rely more and more on our supporters to keep going. With love and thanks to you all Sarah and the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary Family
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