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 minute 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.
At
one point the orphanage had 5 rhinos that were all poached right off the
property.
This
is what you need to contain a rhino!
You
cannot even imagine the level of poverty in this country- we are so very lucky
for what we have in the US. People here don’t steal just to steal, like
what we see in the US. People here are
stealing because they need to buy a loaf of bread to feed their family.
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 road kill
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, a 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 (the person who told
me this was mistaken!!! I
asked!!). It would be awesome to have a contact there for when I come
back (But, Kevin is going to work on re-establishing a relationship with
Philadelphia Zoo!!). The orphanage is
doing research with carnivores at local farms. The animals are trapped and
tranquilized, 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 with the carnivores: 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 your 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. We were sweeping when Brian and
Lala, the two carnivore area workers, came and asked us if we wanted to help
feed. Um, yes we sure do! All of a sudden I felt like one of those
little girls who just want to pet and brush and feed horses, the things that I
do everyday and just think they are so mundane.
I became one of those little girls!
So to feed the lions, one of the workers throws the pieces of meat and
bone over the fence for them- they are not small pieces of meat- we are talking
15-20 pounds of raw meat here! 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 could not 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. The ideas will be presented and we will see what will work and what
needs to be changed, and then hopefully the volunteers will be able to start
building and implementing some of the ideas.
Also,
the paperwork for the Cape buffalo went through 3 days ago, so hopefully they
will be arriving in the next couple of weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment