News - July 2008CONTACT US:
Dear All "MAKING A PLAN...." It is winter now, and the grass is the colour of lions. Mist rises like spirits at sunrise and fierce red bushfires throw black smoke into a sky so blue you feel you could touch it. Beneath it lies a country in turmoil, and the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary. We continue to offer a safe haven to wild animals, birds and farm animals in desperate need. It is our friends who have made this possible. We now rely totally on donations to keep the Sanctuary functional as out-of-control inflation, severe shortages and political upheaval take their toll on Zimbabwe. Many of you visit us frequently, some of you we have never met. All of you share our faith and hope for better times, and help to give our beloved animal family the love, care and dignity that they so deserve. Without you, we would not be here now. As always, we take in new residents who have nowhere else to go. Kylie, our charismatic new hyena who we had been trying to bring to the Sanctuary for two years, finally arrived last month. Thirty six hours later, she bit through the wire of her enclosure and headed off into the bush. After a frantic call to the vets of the AWARE Trust, Drs Keith Dutlow and Lisa Marabini, they arrived armed with their dart gun and we tracked the runaway round in circles for several hours. News of a sighting near the Shamva Road came in and we leapt into the vehicles and headed out on her trail. As we drove along the highway a horrific spectacle appeared before us - Kylie crested a hill, racing alongside the road, demented with panic and fear, pursued by a commuter omnibus and a truck, horns and music blaring, and the many occupants hanging from the vehicles screeching and whistling at the petrified animal as she ran for her life. We lost her as she veered from the road onto overgrown farmland and we despaired of ever finding her again. As it was a few days before the elections and the countryside was in turmoil, it was perhaps not the best time for me to have to roam through the remote rural area surrounding the Sanctuary, brightly enquiring of suspicious villagers, "Um...you haven't seen my hyena anywhere, have you?" At 2am two days later I heard the unmistakable sound of Kylie the hyena whooping in the distance. This was followed, rather alarmingly, by the snarls and grunts of angry lions. I grabbed a torch and Berkley the Brown Dog and headed in the direction of the ominous noises. Halfway there I realised Berkley had silently turned tail and fled for home and, spurred on by thoughts of meeting up with an over-excited hyena, and possibly some sleep-deprived lions, I followed suite. At first light we headed out again. My assistant, Collen, was instructed to stand on a nearby anthill, (the only place with cell phone signal) ready to launch a rescue party if necessary, as I went forward, brandishing a dead chicken loaded with tranquilisers, towards the giggling and growling ahead. As I emerged at the lion enclosures in the next door game park, Kylie rushed up to me, tail fanned with excitement, emitting sonorous growling sounds. I was literally frozen with fear as she leapt up at me, feeling her immense strength and seeing her mouth with its bone-crushing jaws snap open in front of my face. And then I realised that she was licking me and that the growling was sounds of welcome. She ate the chicken with relish and then, much to my dismay, finished off by eating my cell phone for dessert. ( At least now if she goes missing again, we can just call her.....). I then spent a nerve-racking hour waiting for help, with no way of communicating with anyone, an enclosure of very angry lions on one side of me and a hyper-active hyena on the other. But, thanks to the swift and efficient response of the AWARE vets once again, we brought Kylie home safely and she is now happily settled at the Sanctuary. We are extremely grateful to the AWARE Trust for the donation of professional time and other assistance, including a generous donation of Frontline for tick and flea control. Kylie is also deeply indebted to her sponsor, Dr Vinay Ramlaul, who not only covered the costs of her initial rescue and relocation to the Sanctuary, but also the costs of her latest escapade! All our time, energy and resources at the moment goes into funding, sourcing, transporting and storing food for our beloved animal family. We make literally dozens of phone calls every day in search of food and then have to react immediately if we are to secure it. A delay of even an hour can mean either paying a higher price, or getting nothing at all. A few weeks ago I received a message that an order of soya we desperately needed for our animals would be taken by someone else offering more cash unless we got there first. I got the cell phone message at 3:30am. By 4:15am my foreman and I were crouched over the kitchen table with a mountain of money before us, trying to count out several TRILLION dollars by the light of a candle, our electricity having gone off twelve hours before. We packed the money into laundry bags, stuffed it behind the seat of our truck and roared off in the freezing darkness to collect the soya. Apparently we beat the other contender by forty minutes. I am determined not to allow our exceptionally high standards of care to deteriorate, despite the immense challenges we face on a daily basis in Zimbabwe. Our animals and birds are still fed every single day on a balanced, varied and plentiful diet and receive all the love and care they need from the Sanctuary staff and volunteers. We have been on a mission to acquire enough stockfeed to see us through what will undoubtedly be some very lean months and this project has succeeded thanks to Rob Follet-Smith of Alro Shipping, Anne Lowe, Paul of Shumba Millers, the SAVE Foundation of Australia, Sue Calass of Sue's Foods, the Cameron family of Hamish Cameron (Pvt) Ltd, Donald and Carol Hobbs, Rose and Rogan MacClean, Lorna Batchelor and family, Alan Derry of the NDC, Geoff Hildebrand, Tracey and Russell Turnbull, Sue Ward, the Christiansen family, Nomads Golf Club, Monaken Marketing, Ronelle van Breda, the Huggetts, Dave and Jenny Adams, Jane Blackstone, the O'Toole family, Sue Roberts, Guy Thornycroft, Leander Robson, Scott Parker, Ibone Verhey, Avani Mooljee and Bob and Naomi Dunkley. Regular readers of this newsletter know how dearly I love my family of caracals who share my home and my life. George, aged only six, died suddenly a week ago. He was magnificent, in all ways, and will always be loved, missed and irreplaceable in our hearts. We buried him in my garden on a cold winter morning, under the old fig tree where I can see his resting place from my window. In the evenings the other caracals sit quietly at his grave as the sun sets behind them and throws out long, dark shadows. The space on the bed where he used to lie, his toothmarks in the cushions he loved to chew, his empty green bowl that I cannot bring myself to put away, a picture of him on the wall - that and our memories of his life with us remain. "I didn't hear you leave; I
wonder how am I still here? DIDO Fuzzy the serval kitten shared and brightened our lives for a few weeks while her family were on holiday. Tiny Fuzzy, so vulnerable and dependent, was lost when a mob invaded her home on a farm and has not been seen since. I think of her every night. Mark Walker and his family are generous sponsors of the endearing and neurotic caracal Harry; providing him with absolutely everything a caracal could wish for (including sumptuous chicken dinners, his own pink hairbrush and a small, stuffed lion called Furfax who is his most treasured possession.) Arthur, our little caracal with persistent health problems, has all his needs provided for by Emma Robinson and her family, who also sponsor the evil Cruella - the spinster caracal who lives a secretive and predatory life that involves honing her exceptional hunting skills and throwing volcanic tantrums at the slightest provocation. Twala is the senior caracal in the house, and referred to as 'the good caracal'. Beautiful, serene and maternal, Twala nurtures us all and is only known to show flashes of a lightning temper when Harry insists on sharing her space on the couch or I try to put her on a diet (Her proportions tend towards curvaceous). She is the only caracal without a sponsor, so if you would like to be involved in Twala's life, please contact us. The dignified and handsome Smeegal the serval also shares our garden, together with Princess Fiona the retired guard dog, Kevin the Greyhound, and Jack and Nina the donkeys. Those who volunteer at the Sanctuary know to expect the unexpected. Our wonderful friend and sponsor Rudolph de Wet found himself master-minding a crocodile capture after he idly mentioned an interest in watching the "Crocodile Hunter" programmes. Before he knew it, he was in the crocodile pit armed only with a piece of rope and a sack, ready to launch himself at a highly suspicious and extremely irritable crocodile. Fifteen minutes and some very smooth moves later he had two crocodiles in the bag, much to his, our and the crocodiles' surprise! Rudolph and Elize de Wet are generous and constant supporters of our work at the Sanctuary and their friendship makes a great difference to our lives. Carol Hobbs, another volunteer, also recently discovered a new talent....Asked to show a photographer to the leopard enclosure, she happily obliged; only to find that Khan the leopard (who I have also called 'Noopy' since he was a tiny baby) had absolutely no intention of posing for posterity. The photographer desperately needed the pictures, and we desperately needed the fuel coupons he had kindly offered to donate to us, so Carol (in the true spirit of the Sanctuary) "made a plan". For over an hour she performed unique impersonations of farm animal noises - her turkey impression (complete with flapping wings) was particularly commendable - and Khan was entranced. Sadly I was not at the Sanctuary at the time and Carol messaged me to tell me of her triumph, finishing by saying, "Noopy loved it. Yes, we are on pet name terms now." I didn't dare message her back to ask what he calls her...... Sheila, our orphaned baby baboon, has a new friend. Lois, a four month old baboon, was rescued and brought to the Sanctuary after her previous owners decided she no longer fitted in with their plans and had decided to exterminate her. She is extremely malnourished, with a huge potbelly and brittle orange fur, and is severely traumatised. Lois has huge brown eyes and freckles on her pink nose and every day that she spends at the Sanctuary she gains a little more confidence and trust. Thank you to Vera Taylor for sponsoring soya milk powder for our baboon babies and to the Follet-Smith family for a donation of pronutro. King Kong, the baby vervet monkey who previously lived with Sheila, has joined our vervet family with great success and is lovingly cared for by Tarzan and Jane, our adolescent vervets. Thanks to the Bristows for their continued sponsorship of King Kong, who they rescued and brought to the Sanctuary. Peanut also joined our vervets this month - rescued and sponsored by Rob and Nicky Kelder. The Houghtons of Christon Bank and Heather Guild of Valley Fresh have made such a difference to the lives of our herbivores with donations of vegetables, and our thanks as always to Miles Peech of Green Park too. The eternally fertile Scary the Marmoset has had twins AGAIN despite my little chat with her about restraint and responsibility after she produced triplets in January. Our plan was to get her to the vet for a family planning session as soon as she stopped feeding the triplets but the wily and devious little creatures took advantage of my distraction over the political situation engulfing us, and went and did it again! We are now on standby for that postponed trip to the vet. Of course, we have to catch her first....... Our predators continue to enjoy dinner served at 4pm every day, and visitors are welcome to join us as we make our way round the Sanctuary with what we call the "Meals on Wheels". You are guaranteed close up encounters with our gigantic lions, hyena and leopard as well as all the smaller and more secretive predators. Young visitors who hold birthday parties at the Sanctuary can assist with feeding the predators and our monkeys, blue duikers and civet - an unforgettable and educational experience for them. We are truly grateful to Steve Curle, Hannes Cruger, Stoff Hawgood, the Bean family, Karen and Sean Gent, Annabel and Oscar Gritz, Sophie and Alexandra Bean, Neil Martin, Fiona Simon, Koala Park Butcheries, Jack and Luca Drysdale, Anna Jones and her family and Leegold, Catherine Carter, Vicky Campion, Rose and Rogan McClean and Rob Follet-Smith, who so generously donates diesel for transport, for making it possible for our predators to continue to enjoy the highlight of their day - a variety of chicken, beef, pork, and game meat that keeps them so healthy and happy. Mel Phillips made it possible for the staff to get new overalls, boots and jerseys this winter. The Sanctuary staff work long, hard hours caring for the animals and birds and have had a very stressful and frightening time over the last few months. We are extremely grateful to Mel for lifting their spirits and making their lives more comfortable. Our thanks to Nir Bodasing and Prem Ramlaul for arranging for the purchase of the staff clothing, and to Anesh Ramlaul who so kindly donated a bicycle to the Sanctuary. Another friend who continues to remember the Sanctuary is Anne Marie Witkowski who sent us desperately needed tools and treats to brighten our lives. Anne Marie had packed the goods in her parcel in shopping bags, and wrapped some things in tin foil. We were almost as excited to get the shopping bags and the foil as we were to get the contents of the parcel! Zimbabweans are certainly masters at recycling! With such severe shortages and astronomical prices, we re-use absolutely everything we can, and it constantly amazes me how the staff will produce anything from a hyena capture cage to a full outside kitchen just from bits and pieces around the Sanctuary. Our water pump broke down in May and as we use it to clean and water all the animal enclosures as well as for the public facilities and staff housing at the Sanctuary, this was a disaster of monumental proportions. Lugging buckets of water from the dam around the hilly, 30 acre Sanctuary did wonders for our abs, but little for our morale! Without the extreme generosity of Arthur Schultz of A and T Engineering, we would still be carrying buckets. The pump was refurbished and returned to us as good as new, as a donation, for which we are very grateful. As always our volunteers play a special part in keeping the Sanctuary (and me!) going. Their dedication, generosity and friendship to me are a constant source of comfort and inspiration. Mike Trask, Lesley Ives, Dianne Twiggs and Waylon Lewis do everything from helping to take care of the animals to fundraising, creating awareness of the Sanctuary and tackling mind-boggling tasks such as renovating a house armed with one paint brush, a tin of varnish with the lid stuck on, a litre of blue paint and a jar of curtain hooks.... Sylvia Carter provides invaluable support to me and to the Sanctuary, and Sundays at the Sanctuary would not be the same without Luigi, her toy pom, in his designer outfits and attitude to match. Carol Hobbs has worked tirelessly on the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary Cook Book (which will be out soon!!) and is also responsible for the new format of the newsletter. We could not ask for a better friend. Sylvia and Carol also supply the delicious homemade biscuits and cakes now available every Sunday. Luisa Ciampi and Danielle Hasson are welcome additions to our volunteer team and we are grateful for their hard work at a car boot sale where they raised funds for the Sanctuary. Sincere thanks also to Sharon Nicholls for much-needed assistance with our secretarial work and to Tina Wicke, Steve Watt, Edward Allott, Rogan Caroll and Rhonnie from the CFU for assisting with advertising and awareness. Ian Butchart donated a radio set to the Sanctuary to help improve our security network and I am extremely grateful for this generous gesture. To Beverley Bridger, Norman Conlon, Mr and Mrs Creed, Gloria Carter and Karen Coetzee - thank you for your donations of second hand books for our shop. We would be grateful for any books or newish magazines to sell as part of our fund-raising activities. And to Dr Vinay Ramlaul, without whom none of it would be possible - thank you, as always. Thank you for your support and friendship. The animals and birds live out happy lives at the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary because of you. With love and thanks Sarah and all at the Sanctuary
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