URGENT DROUGHT APPEAL

 

Dear friends

 

SanWild and the surrounding areas are now entering a drought period and our rainy season has come and gone with less than 200mm of rain. Our next hope for rain will only come in December 2008 and this effectively means that we have to help animals in need until the first rains will hopefully fall 8 months from now.

 

There is simply no way that many of them especially kudu and warthogs can survive that long without our help. It will be the young and old that will die first. 

 

From previous experience we know that initially the warthog piglets will die as their mothers simply do not have enough sustenance to keep them going. Then it will be the old-adults and finally the mothers.

 

The next animal specie to be affected will be the kudu. Our calving seasons has changed drastically over the years – this might be as a result of global warning, and where kudu cows normally use to calf during December/January the calves on SanWild and our Limpopo Province were only born in March which means that many of the cows still suckle unweaned young and this too will place a severe strain on the cow’s own physical condition and her ability to feed her baby.

 

Animals resistance to ticks and other parasites drop drastically during drought periods and it does become very difficult for them to survive unless they can find alternative sources of food or unless it is provided for them. 

 

The main reason why kudu are greatly affected by a drought is because they are browsers and when all the leaves have dropped from the trees, they find it difficult to survive on grass alone.

 

In addition to making a couple of feeding points available to warthogs and kudu, SanWild will also need to ensure that sufficient fodder is supplied to our two relocated hippos, Tonga and Aldo.  Both hippos are still very contented and happy in their new surroundings, but the vegetation around their dam has almost totally been depleted by the many other animals that share the reserve with the hippos and soon they will be forced to walk a great distance for find sufficient food for their growing needs. At the moment we are not comfortable to put the two hippos in this situation as they have only recently been released back to the wild and are still finding their feet so to speak. We do not want them wandering off into the 6000 hectare reserve where no other surface water other than their “hippo haven” is available to them. A decision was therefore made to immediately start supplying them with additional food every afternoon. Both Tonga and Aldo have welcomed this decision and eagerly await the arrival of our truck every afternoon when they eagerly approach.

 

Additional food will also be supplied to Wireless and Tshu, our two white rhinos along with Bliksem and Le Roux that is still in rehab.

 

We urgently need your help to ensure the continued welfare of the animals under our care. A local farmer has agreed to sell us all his available fodder (lusern) and this will be delivered today. Sadly it will only be sufficient to keep us going for a short period of time and thereafter we will need to purchase lusern from as far as Hartzwater (almost 15 hours by road from SanWild) The area is knows for its quality production of lusern on South Africa’s Orange River and we have already tied up a farmer on a contractual basis to supply lusern to us. To help cut costs we will be sharing large interlink truck loads with a local supplier of animal feeds that supply to cattle farmers as well.

 

The animals that need it most (from SanWild and adjoining areas)  – like those that have collapsed or grown weak from hunger, i.e. baby warthogs or kudu calves will be brought into the centre and placed in secure areas to be fed until the first good rains have fallen and they can be released back to the wild.

 

Additional branches cut from old citrus orchards, oranges not graded sufficiently to be exported and utilised along with other food locally available to us will be collected from nearby farms and brought to SanWild.

 

Presently SanWild is home to more than 4500 wild animals, including a herd of nine African elephants, but most of the animals will have sufficient food, as their dietary requirements are different from those of warthogs and kudu.

 

We have been faced with the question “why do you try and save a few”; “it is nature’s way of sorting out the weak and the young and they should be left to die; - we realise that this might very well be the case, but mankind has interfered in nature and we have taken so much from Mother Earth already that she simply cannot continue to make right our mistakes. In addition to global warming mankind in South Africa has also fenced most of the land available to wild animals and we confine them in areas from where they cannot escape or move should their food source become depleted. 

 

Here at SanWild we try and manage the natural problems the best we can and also help where we can and I pray that you will support our point of view at this critical stage and help us save the few animals we can.  Our reserve is not overpopulated with wildlife, but this year has been particularly bad in regards to the rain we received and for now, we need to do what we can to help. We simply cannot drive past and ignore a starving animal; especially not when they choose to seek out man and approach you hoping for you to give them something to eat. As many of the wild animals were hand raised and rescued by us, they instinctively will approach our rehab centre or vehicles in a time of drought still remembering that man provided them with care and food when they needed it most and we need to continue to life up to their needs.

 

I would greatly appreciate your urgent help to raise the funds needed for our drought relief program. The 1^st victim of the drought has already arrived on our doorstep and it is only a matter of weeks before the next call for help will be received.

 

Our cost estimate for the period running from May to December will come to at least $1600.00 per month = $ 12 800.00 (1000 Euros pm = 8000 Euros). This amount will secure 200 bales of lusern per month leaving us with only 6.5 bales of lusern per day for those that need it most – it is just a drop in the bucket, but it will ensure the survival of a number of animals.

 

For more information please email louise@sanwild.org or phone our offices on +27 (0) 150-3187900/1.  Emergency mobile +27 (0) 833103882

 

Websites - www.sanwild.org & www.afritrust.com

On-line donations can be done via the Afritrust website. Go to the Adoptions / Donations page, use the dropdown box to find Drought Relief and choose any amount of your own choice.