Hoo calls - nieuws van de Painted Dogs april 2016

Geplaatst op 29/04/2016

 
Painted Dog Conservation - April  2016
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Hoo Calls

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Painted Dog Conservation

As you know, PDC is all about changing lives and in this update you will read a story written by Lephias Muyuni, who has been part of our anti-poaching team since its inception in 2001. In his own words he will explain that he has carried out “…more than 23,000 hours of patrol time and patrolled more than 27,000 kilometers! Those of you who have joined us here and patrolled with us know just how tough a couple of hours are.” Based on the 10,000-hour rule of thumb that would make him quite an expert.

This update will also highlight just how busy we have been so far this year dealing with four painted dogs caught in snares, another one injured in a fight, and the successful collaring of six individuals in four different packs in Hwange NP.

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A Sign of the Times

Reports from our anti-poaching units indicate that the poaching epidemic shows no signs of abating.  The APU found four dead elephants with their tusks removed at a site poisoned with cyanide.  The carcasses of a buffalo, a kudu and a tsessebe were found on separate patrols, although in that case a poacher was arrested selling the meat thanks to a community tip through our Zero Tolerance Campaign.

Our colleagues across Zimbabwe who are also dealing with poaching are reporting alarming trends.

Perhaps most worrisome for us was the discovery of a poachers’ camp deep in the forests, set up with fires and racks for drying meat. The remains of a kudu were hanging in a tree. At a nearby waterhole there were 20 “deactivated” snares made from copper telephone wire. (Deactivated snares are still tied to their anchor tree but they are left deliberately lying in a way that will not catch an animal.) It was clear that the camp was active and the poachers had left, presumably to sell the meat from the kudu. We have left a team in “stake out” mode, observing the camp from a distance, ready to pounce when the poachers return. 

Rather alarmingly, the APU has had a number of encounters with lions in recent months. In one case the lions were feeding on three cows. This is consistent with the perceived increase in the number of lions in the areas outside of Hwange NP that border the local communities. It is no surprise that our senior staff, along with other local conservationists, have been called on to collaborate in Human Wildlife Conflict workshops in the Park.

Lephias Muyuni

“My name is Lephias Muyuni. I started working for Painted Dog Conservation in April 2001 at the age of 20 years.

I have been with the Anti-poaching Unit for the past fourteen years patrolling in the wilderness for seven to eight hours each day covering a distance of eight to ten kilometers each day, twenty-two days per month eleven months per year. That equates to more than 23,000 hours and more than 27,000 kilometers patrolled!! Those of you who have joined us here and patrolled with us know just how tough a couple of hours are.

have collected more than 30,000 snares with the unit and helped release more than ten animal species ranging from elephant to buffalo and wildebeest to yellow billed kites, cows and domestic dogs that had been caught in snares. I have participated in the arrest of more than 100 poachers and have had numerous encounters with dangerous animals on many occasions.

The one encounter still most vivid in my mind is the close encounter with a lioness called “Frisky.” We were on patrol inside the airport grounds and I was at the end of our normal extended patrol line. Frisky rushed at me and grabbed my leg. I fell to the ground and kicked hard at her. My colleagues were so brave and rushed to help me, shouting and throwing stones at her until she let me go. I was quite calm the whole time because we are all well trained in first aid and dealt with the bleeding, while the vehicle was driven to the scene to take me to hospital. I spent three days receiving treatment in Hospital and now have some small scratches on my leg to remind me of the day. 

This incident did not put me off. I am proud of the work we do protecting the wildlife and the painted dogs in particular. My life has changed for the better because of PDC. I am now happily married with two children, Prince aged six years and Brian aged two years.

Thanks to Painted Dog Conservation”

 

Dogs, Snares.......

At the start of the year we received phone calls and emails concerning three painted dogs seen with snares around their necks. These were closely followed by two more reports of painted dogs carrying snares and an injured painted dog whose face was terribly swollen.  I did not know which way to turn. So I dealt with them one day at a time.

First came Cusp of the Broken Rifle pack, then Gceke (pronounced “there Kay”) from our local Ganda Pack, closely followed by Uno of the Gurangwenya pack in Sinamatella. We successfully removed all three snares and, in the process, fitted a collar onto Spooner in the Gurangwenya. 

We enjoyed a few weeks of respite before we then had to deal with the Mabuyamabhema pack. I wanted to replace a non-working collar on the alpha male, Target, but noticed the young female, Tembi, had a snare around her neck. I switched my attention to her and darted her so we could remove the snare. Thankfully the wounds from the snare were superficial but still I did not want to place a collar around her neck

First came Cusp of the Broken Rifle pack, then Gceke (pronounced “there Kay”) from our local Ganda Pack, closely followed by Uno of the Gurangwenya pack in Sinamatella. We successfully removed all three snares and, in the process, fitted a collar onto Spooner in the Gurangwenya. 

Read the full dramatic story of the days we spent In Search of Broken Rifle, which tells the story of the effort we made to find Cusp and remove the snare from her neck.

Washington Moyo has worked for PDC for more than ten years and is now one of the understudies to Jealous. An apprentice if you like. “Washy” is based in Sinamatella on the western side of Hwange National Park, where he follows the packs with the help from our friends at Bhejani Trust. Recently he reported that he had seen Thokozile from the Gurangwenya pack with a very swollen face.

Our new vet, Dr. Ishmael Makamba, was concerned that Thokozile may lose his eye so we quickly embarked on a rescue mission.

It was the school holidays so I had my nine-year-old son, Sam, with me. We headed for Sinamatella in two Land Rovers with Jealous, Dr. Makamba, and Dr. Madzikanda, our Chief Ecologist. On arrival, we discovered that our rental house was uninhabitable due to the terrible smell from dead bats and the fact that a large black mamba had been seen entering the roof space!

So we pitched our tents and set out each day, accompanied by a National Parks scout, to search for the Gurangwenya pack. Three days passed with not a sign of the dogs. We saw lots of lions and heard them calling every night, growing increasingly frustrated and concerned for Thokozile’s welfare. 

Sam is a happy camper and loved the adventure of it all as usual. At night he gazed tirelessly at the brilliant Milky Way, so magnificently visible in the moonless night sky. He was delighted when he finally saw a shooting star and so make a wish.

We set out as usual at first light the next day, our spirits somewhat low. Sam, though, was full of life. He told me proudly, “We will see the dogs today because that is what I wished for when I saw the shooting star last night.” I smiled and less than five minutes later picked up the signal from the collared dog in the Gurangwenya! Five minutes after that, Sam shouted “There!!” as dogs raced past us through the thick bush onto the road.

All I had to do now was get into a position where I could see Thokozile. That took another twenty minutes. Dr. Makamba was now with me and we agreed that the wound needed treating so I darted Thokozile. Dr. Makamba treated what turned out to be a bite wound on Thokozile’s face. The eye was still in tact and we felt confident that he would make a full recovery. We fitted a VHF collar on Thokozile so that we could locate him again if needed, concerned also that the pack seem to be running into trouble too often. An hour later we were back at Sinamatella having breakfast and Sam was wondering what all the fuss had been about.

and Collars......

Removing a snare from a dog’s neck is something I never hesitate to do nor obviously regret doing. Fitting a collar is something else though, and on the whole I am reluctant to do it but know it’s necessary. We are able to actively monitor six packs in Hwange National Park because of the collars we fit and can actively search for one pack or the other if we don’t see them for a while. This allows us to check on their physical well-being as well as record valuable data on their ecology.

This was the case recently when we were able to dart and fit a VHF collar onto the elusive Nyamandlovu pack. In the end, it was a pretty swift operation. But that belied the weeks, if not months, of effort that had gone into tracking them down, only to be thwarted in our darting mission by everything from marauding elephants disturbing the resting pack to their bellies simply being too full of meat to be safely darted.

Read the story of “Don’s New Collar” written by our friend and photographer Nick Dyer

Iganyana Children's Bush Camp

Our world-class education programme, run by Wilton Nsimango and his team, is in its 13th year now. Approximately 10,000 children have now attended the camp and been inspired to take action to conserve wildlife in our area. Some of our graduates now work for PDC.

Others have gone onto professional careers as guides, and still more are pursuing higher academic qualifications in areas such as media studies. Almost all of our 40-strong volunteer APU have either attended the Bush Camp or have a child who has attended it. Strong testament to the quality of the Bush Camp and the work of Wilton and his team.

We extended the programme in 2013 with the addition of a Form Two Camp. This camp reaches out to students who attended the Camp as 11-year-olds and who are now 14, and at the point where they must select the subjects they take for higher education. We bring them back to the Camp for a programme that focuses on science subjects such as Biology and Chemistry and talk to them about future career choices and the importance of good exam results. To date 100% of the children have elected math and science subjects as a direct result of this motivation.  We trust that these programs will continue to inspire future conservationists in the making.

The Difference Your Support Makes

Your commitment makes this possible. The “save a dog” operations, described above, took an estimated 450 man-hours, sometimes with three vehicles out at the same time searching for hours on end. The estimated cost, taking everything from salaries to fuel to tins of beans and Marie biscuits into account, was more than $20,000. Without your support we cannot do anything for the dogs or the people we share our lives with. 

We really need you to help us change lives and make a meaningful, lasting difference.

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Painted Dog Conservation
PO Box 72, Dete, Zimbabwe.
Tel: +263(0)18710
email: info@painteddog.org

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