Wildlife Conservation South Africa Project #20100

Provide food&care for ALL our animals for 1 year!

by DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage

Project Report | Sep 30, 2016
New animals and the start of baby season

By Sonja Heineck | Marketing Manager

Little Poquita, the baby nyala

Your donations are now helping us feed even more animals!

As of today, DAKTARI has 83 animals in our camp that you are supporting. The start of baby season means that number is likely to grow! Thankfully, many of the babies that we raise are able to be released back into the wild.

We welcomed three new animals to DAKTARI in September. The first new addition was a baby nyala from the neighboring game reserve, Makalali. The rangers at the game lodge saw that the baby was alone for a full night, which is very unusual if the mother is still alive and caring for the baby. The next morning they called us to see if we could take her in. Of course, we said "yes!" having raised two nyalas last year. We brought her to camp and named her Poquita.

She is being bottle-fed by our volunteers and staff and growing every day. Our volunteers have definitely fallen for her and battle every day for the chance to feed her. We are very optimistic that Poquita will survive and be released back into the wild once she is weaned.

Two days after Poquita's arrival, our students found two mice on the floor of their bathroom and ran to tell us! Just the fact that they told us about the small animals and wanted to make sure they were being cared for, is a sign of the impact of our teaching program on their attitude towards animals. Our animal manager, Willington, went to take a closer look and found that the mice were actually two baby squirrels! There was no sign of the mother and we believe she died just the day before. We took the babies in and began to feed them and warm them up.

The brother and sister were watched day and night by our volunteers. Unfortunately, the male squirrel did not survive following the fall. The sister, however, is doing very well and will also be released in the coming weeks! She was affectionately named Aria after the Game of Thrones character, as she is a survivor.

Our final arrival was not a baby at all! DAKTARI often works closely with the other animal rehabilitation programs in the area, most notably Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre outside of Hoedspruit. They called DAKTARI just a couple of weeks ago and asked if we had room for another eagle. Moholoholo has already donated three eagles to DAKTARI but we were eager to take another ambassador! The Wahlberg's eagle was rehabilitated at Moholoholo after being injured but is no longer able to fly, and so he cannot be released. Therefore, he will join our other eagles in an enclosure to serve as an ambassador to the children who visit DAKTARI. We are excited to welcome him and have named him Donnie!

The next few months will likely bring the arrival of more animals and more opportunity for our volunteers to take on animal care. Check out the volunteering link below if you want to join us for baby season!

We are ready!

Tiny Aria making friends

Aria, a little more grown up

Donnie, the Wahlberg Eagle

Links:

Join us as a volunteer!

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Aug 3, 2016
What is DAKTARI's Wildlife Orphanage?

By Sonja Heineck | Marketing Manager

Yster serving as an ambassador

Hello and Welcome!

Thanks to several amazing stories on the Dodo and through GlobalGiving there are a lot of new people receiving this report. If you are one of them, welcome and thank you for your support!

There are many different types of wildlife sanctuaries out there, especially in South Africa. There are game reserves and farms where the animals roam free, rehabilitation centers that help injured animals, breeding programs to bolster the populations of endangered species, and more.

DAKTARI's wildlife orphange is a bit of hybrid. We have a camp with animal enclosures and a farm surrounding us where animals roam free. We have some injured animals but don't consider ourself a rehabilitation center. We are not a breeding program, though we often care for abandoned baby animals.

The animals in our enclosures are often there because they would not survive if released. Our eagles and owls cannot fly; our wild dog, Dongo, has maimed legs from being hit by a car; and Martin, our cheetah, was raised in captivity and is too old to thrive in the wild. These animals live in comfort at DAKTARI and serve as ambassadors for the local children that visit our camp. Other animals are only here temporarily, like our mongooses, who will be released once they have established the family unit necessary to survive.

There are also animals in the farm that visit the DAKTARI camp every day. A collection of antelope species that were hand-raised by DAKTARI's staff keep coming back to say hello and get a snack. Maxi, a bushbuck, has been thriving for the past 8 years on the farm. She comes back every day to serve as an ambassador for the kids. Her many children also stop by for a visit from time to time.

One of our favorite animal ambassadors is Yster. Yster is a porcupine that was rescued by DAKTARI as a baby. She was abandoned by her mother and bottle-fed at the DAKTARI camp. She was immediately affectionate and would cuddle up with volunteers and even the children! Once she was strong enough, she was released onto our farm. Much to everyone's surprise, that evening, Yster showed up right around dinner time! She continued to come back for a carrot and some love every night. Today, Yster is a fantastic animal ambassador. She will arrive right around dinner time and every Monday, the first night we have new children at the camp, we introduce them to Yster. She shows the children that wild animals, like Yster, should not be killed out of fear or uncertainty. As they watch her munch on a carrot, they learn to respect her and as they give her a belly rub, they learn to admire her.

All of our animals have a special place in our hearts. They have unique, and sometimes quirky, personalities. Most importantly, all of them teach the children who visit us the importance of protecting the wildlife and the environment. Every week, the children leave with an appreciation for animals and a passion to keep them safe.

To all of our furry (and not so furry!) residents, we say thank you and we love you!

To all of their supporters like you, we hope you get to come and see our family here at DAKTARI and meet our ambassadors in person. They, and we, thank you for the support that allows us to do what we love every day.

Until next time,

A humbled and grateful DAKTARI Team

Sir Martin, our resident Cheetah

Dongo, our Wild Dog

Maxi, left, with one of her babies

Three of our baby banded mongooses

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May 19, 2016
Where are all of the animals??

By Sonja Heineck | Marketing Volunteer

Baby Dassies, Tilou, Lulu and Buddha

In April, some of DAKTARI's animals started to disappear. Not to worry though, it's a good thing! Four of DAKTARI's animals were released back into the wild in April - a very happy time for us!

First to be released was Mickey, one of our new jackals. He was healthy enough to be released and has made his home on the DAKTARI farm. Last time he was spotted by our volunteers, he had a female Jackal with him so we think he's doing great in his new environment!

Next, two of our dassies, or rock hyraxes, were released nearby. Cachou and Pepper were taken to rock outcroppings, their natural habitat. We still see them on our bushwalks as we pass by! Our three remaining baby dassies, Tilou, Lulu, and Buddha, were moved to a new enclosure while they continue to get bigger and more adventurous.

Our final release was of our white-faced skops owl, Nitro. He was brought to DAKTARI after an injury that left him unable to see. We weren't sure if he would be permanently blind or if he would be able to recover. Thankfully, he showed signs of improvement and he was able to hunt on his own. He was released nearby but he hasn't been spotted since. We think he's gone back to the neighbouring farm where he was found.

Two of our animals at DAKTARI also got new hiding places! Our volunteers and staff updated the caracal enclosure for Shangaan, our caracal. He now has a large stone hut and plenty of wood to scratch and climb. We've also added a place for him to have his meals, perched above the ground.

The second enclosure to get a makeover was the meerkat camp. We constantly need to refill their enclosure because they dig out so much of the sand and dirt that they have no were else to dig! This time, we also added a wire mesh patch to the bottom so they could no longer dig tunnels to get out. Our little escape artists had already dug a tunnel between the separated enclosures which we need to patch. Not all of our meerkats get along and so we have to keep them separated. In mid-May, our volunteers teamed up with volunteers from GVI Limpopo to lay down the wire and refill the sand and dirt. The meerkats are back in their enclosure, digging away again!

Although we are always sad to say goodbye to the animals we have cared for and become attached to, we are very happy to see them back where they belong! For those that we aren't able to release, our team is constantly working to make their lives at DAKTARI comfortable and exciting!!

Thank you for all of your support in making these happy endings happen! Without your donations, we wouldn't be able to provide the care these animals need - THANK YOU!

If you are interested in continuing to support DAKTARI's animals, we encourage you to make your donation through GlobalGiving on June 15th at 9am EDT. GlobalGiving will be matching donations to our projects at 50% at 9am EDT and so your donation will go even further!

Nitro, the White-Faced Skops Owl

Shangaan's new house

Our wonderful volunteer team with GVI!

Links:

Become a DAKTARI Volunteer!

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