July 5, 2016

July 5, 2016

I pet a leopard today!!!!  I scratched her back like she was a house cat!  Another one licked my hand.  They are beautiful animals up close.   

 I was 6 inches away from a male lion.  The power in these animals is amazing!  You can feel their self confidence rolling off of them.  I do think that the female lions are more intimidating than the males- the males just really don’t care, they know they are big and they know that you will bring them food.  Of course it would only take one swipe of their paw and you would be done, but they just don’t care- they want food from you.  In the wild the females typically hunt, the males show up at the last minutes and eat what they want.  The females are calculating…they look at you and you can see them thinking about what they would do to you if given the chance.

This morning, we went on a tour of the entire park and learned about its history and all of the animals in the park.  The park is over 40 years old and has survived two major upheavals in Zimbabwe.  At one point there were actually more animals and more diversity of species, including rhinos, but they were poached off the land.  The founder of the orphanage, Viv Wilson, was originally a ranger helping to control the Tsetse fly outbreak (a biting fly that causes sleeping sickness).  To do this, they built a fence, and then two kilometers away built another fence and then cleared everything out of the middle space that could be a carrier for the disease or something for the flies to bite.  As they were clearing the land, there were many young animals that were injured or orphaned and Viv convinced the other rangers to begin bringing the animals to him and he started taking them home.  At the time him and his wife lived in town.  After that, Viv worked in the Natural History museum and people would bring dead animals into the museum to be mounted and for data collection, but not all were dead- so he took these home as well.  Eventually, they decided they had too many animals to continue to live in town so they bought the property that would eventually become Chipangali.  The land was barren- except for some cacti.  They set up a tent to sleep in and built animals enclosures first.  And as animals started to come, they expanded and expanded.  The pumps for the water have to be encased in cement or they will be stolen.    You cannot even imagine the level of poverty in this country- we are so very lucky for what we have in the US.  Each of the animals in the park has their own story- it is impossible to remember them all!!  The stories range from leopards that were originally raised as pets and- shocking- they became too big and powerful to keep in the house, to a bush pig that was attacked by the family’s dog, to owls that are hit by cars (a common occurrence in this area because they land in the roads to eat roadkill and are blinded by headlights when cars come by), to reptiles that people bought as a mistake.  The park is run solely by the money it brings in from the people who come to visit and some of the money the volunteers pay to come here.  

There are multiple trips that are being organized for us, including Victoria Falls next week, a visit to Matopos- which includes a rhino walk, visit to a local village, and to see cave paintings, and also a research trip.  The person who takes us on the Matopos trip used to run a zoo in the United States, and I was told that he also currently works at the Philadelphia Zoo.  It would be awesome to have a contact there for when I come back….The orphanage is doing research with carnivores at local farms- the animals are trapped and tranqed, and then data is collected and the animals are fitted with radio collars and released.  I am super excited for all of these trips- especially the research trip!  I plan on participating in all of them!

We started working in our groups this afternoon- we are divided up into groups and each day we work in a different area of the park.  I started working the carnivores.  This includes the leopards, lions, jackals, hyenas, and servals. First we were just sweeping up some of the leaves along the walkways.  It sounds boring right…that’s what I thought at first, but first we have to make brush brooms.  And again..sweeping sounds so boring, but you are sweeping and you look up and you are face to face with a 600 pound lion or a 300 pound leopard- who wants to lick you hand and then rubs against the fence for you to scratch.  No one is allowed in the enclosures with these big cats- just because they are ok with you petting them through the fence, they will still look for weaknesses and wait for your to be distracted for the slightest little bit and then attack.  We helped to feed all the animals as well.. I helped cut up a horse…that was a little rough- at first, I just had to keep telling myself it was for a good cause and the animals need to eat too.  So to feed the lions, one of the workers throws the pieces of meat and bone over the fence for them.  They won’t let the volunteers do it in case someone does not make it over the fence- the lions will jump up and try and grab it and could possibly pull down the enclosure.  Some of the lions are locked in a separate area and we go in and put the meat in the enclosure.  The leopards are fed the same way.  There is an obvious hierarchy for the lions.  Even in an enclosure of 5 animals, the male eats first and you can throw a piece right in between two females and the subordinate one does not make a move for it.  

The food for the carnivores comes from local farms- when they have an animal die.  There was a calf that was dropped off yesterday but it was not able to be used because it was infested with ticks.  Even as it was sitting on the “slab”- the engorged ticks were jumping off the carcass and you could actually see them moving across the ground looking for more live animals to jump on.  

When we came out of our cabin for dinner tonight, there was an owl sitting right outside.  His name is Max…he was raised here and was released but he won’t leave the orphanage.  So he “plays” with people, but it really comes across as he is attacking us…yup.. we are currently being held hostage in the cabin by an owl named Max…..

Max update…the Max problem has been resolved..I brought him a peace offering..a mouse…apparently he comes here for food when he is having a rough week, kind of like when you go home to mom for some home cooked food.  So- since getting the mouse, he has left our porch.  

Tomorrow I will be meeting with the director of the orphanage and two of the other workers to talk about the ideas my students came up with on animal enrichment ideas- so present the ideas and see what will work and what needs to be changed, and then hopefully the volunteers will be able to start building implementing some of the things.

Also, the paperwork for the cape buffalo went through 3 days ago, so hopefully they will be arriving in the next couple of weeks!