VETERINARY APPEAL

Dear friends

Over the last couple of weeks we have had numerous telephone calls to help injured wildlife; many of them were injured as a result of poaching incidents and snaring, but somehow these unfortunate creatures have managed to survive. During the last couple of months it has been especially rhino poaching that have reached critical levels in South Africa with 162 rhinos poached for their horns since January 2010 this has been covered extensively in the local and international media. However there are many other wild animals that have fallen prey to poachers and their species vary greatly.

SPECIES THAT HAVE FALLEN PREY TO POACHERS

  • Vultures are poisoned so that African muti traders and witch doctors can obtain their body parts for many reasons. Some even believe that having a vulture's head in your possession can help to predict the national lotto numbers. For this stupidity many vultures are poisoned, but there are those that do survive and need extensive treatment and rehabilitation to be able to be returned to the wild.

  • Pangolins are trapped with wire snares as they leave their burrows and are kept in the most appalling conditions until they are slaughtered so that their scales may be used in the muti trade. Just such a pangolin was collected and released back to the wild after it was confiscated in Alexandria - a township in Johannesburg.

  • Warthogs are hunted down with dogs and are then killed with spears, but many survive these attacks, but are badly injured. SanWild has collected and saved many of these unfortunate creatures and dealing with them has made us realise what an exceptional level of intelligence they have.

  • Zebras and other wildlife are caught in snares, but manage to break the cruel traps and walk around for days and weeks while the steel wire bites deeper and deeper into their bodies. If not darted and treated the snares will continue to cause infection until the animal eventually dies a cruel and lingering death. Most of these unfortunate animals can be darted and the snare removed. With some treatment many of these animals can immediately be released back into the wild - as wild animals have an amazing ability to overcome infection, pain and injuries - all they need is a little bit of a helping hand and at SanWild we provide this service free of charge to anybody that phones us - on behalf of any wild animal - irrespective of species importance.

Of course there are a number of other reasons why wildlife get injured and most of these are as a direct result of man's actions or superstitious beliefs:

  • Owls are injured as they are believed in many instances to be the carriers of bad luck or witch craft, many others are poisoned. There are also some that are hit by motor vehicles at night and survive with bad concussion or broken wings - lying helplessly beside a road until they are either taken by a predator or a kind human being who cares enough to call for help or stop to pick them up.

  • Owl chicks that are picked up in gardens, or are removed from buildings that need to be knocked down or renovated.

The list is endless and SanWild do what we can to help as many wild animals as possible and we will continue to do so.

VETERINARY APPEAL

However, half way through 2010 we urgently need your financial help as our available veterinary funding has been totally depleted and we urgently need to find funding to continue our work otherwise innocent wildlife will suffer and die. We have had some operations done already the past two weeks and there are some pending procedures which we need to have done within days.

We would appreciate all donations; no matter how large or small. Any contribution will be greatly appreciated. For easy on-line donations with your credit card, please visit our website: www.sanwild.com Alternatively, direct internet banking transfers can be made to ABSA, Danie Joubert Street, Tzaneen, South Africa. The account number is 9111221180, Branch Code 334349. The swift code is ABZASAJJ and the Iban Code is ZA632005.

Please also remember that by simply making a donation of any amount you stand a good chance of winning free accommodation for yourself and a partner to visit SanWild anytime until the end of 2011. This is a great opportunity to experience SanWild first hand and to become a part of what we do. Please visit our website www.sanwild.com Special Events page to see some of our donors who have already won free accommodation and will soon be visiting our wildlife sanctuary.

Kind regards

Louise Joubert

SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary