Urgent - Prevent cruel poaching of rare wildlife

News update on Suni-Ridge Sanctuary. 24 May 2020

Thank you all for your support! With Covid-19 and lockdown, we continue to work tirelessly to maintain and protect the biodiversity of our Sanctuary.

POACHING PREVENTION: Tragically we had a recent increase in poaching and over 85 snares were recovered after poachers entered our Sanctuary. They were disturbed by our night guard but unfortunately, some of our wildlife were snared. This was traumatic and terribly sad as 2 of our wildebeest were caught. We managed to release them but the female, that was a mother of a female calf, succumbed to stress. Eventually we had to euthanize her. The young calf is now cared for by the territorial bull, her father, and the zebra. This horrible event has placed us on high alert and we urgently need to increase our anti-poaching surveillance and prevention. We will be launching a fundraising outreach as we have to find support for this project.

RELOCATION OF ZEBRA: The good news is that we are, at long last, busy with arrangements to relocate a male zebra that needs to be moved. Suni-Ridge will provide an excellent home for him. The funds raised to bring in a mate for our female zebra is paying for the relocation costs. We will be sending photos!

EMERGENCY MEDICAL FUND: As nature cannot always be left to “take her course” in a Sanctuary, we have to prevent any animal from suffering unduly. We are pleased that our emergency treatment fund has helped us to treat an injured wildebeest bull that had massive swelling of his foot.

REMOVAL OF ALIEN INVASIVE VEGETATION: During this time of the year, follow up on the removal of alien plants is important. Our main concern is the Potato Creeper (solanum seaforthianum) that can crowd out indigenous trees and plants. Last year we removed it efficiently, but annual follow-up removal is always necessary, to prevent any regrowth from seeds. We are presently ensuring an effective follow up.

INDIGENOUS ORCHIDS A joy to light up our day has been the flowering of one of our indigenous orchids(cyrtorchus praetermissa ssp zuluensis) How beautiful to suddenly see this tiny orchid bloom.

Although the Covid-19 impact on our lives, has been stressful, we are Blessed to all be well. Day by day, we continue to work tirelessly with the protection of our rare and precious wildlife and their unique habitat in our Sanctuary.

Thank you all for your support.

We wish you all the best safety and health.

Janet Cuthbertson