Moving Safia to her new enclosure
Following her rescue from southern Ethiopia, Safia is moved to a new temporary enclosure, while planning for the Centre continues.
With the help of Rea, Born Free’s consultant vet in Ethiopia as well as Jane Strachan who initially identified the little lion cub, Safia was sedated in order to give her a health check and to allow the Born Free team to relocate her to her new enclosure.
Rea undertook the health check initially, taking her weight (27kg) and temperature, listening to her heartbeat and more. Rea also looked at her front left paw – although it is at a bit of an angle, it is flexible and usable and potentially will improve with calcium supplements. Jane Strachan was given the honour of removing the chain which had been around Safia’s neck since the little lion’s arrival in the village.
After the health check, Safia was loaded into a travelling crate and the team drove the 30km to the site where the Born Free Wildlife Centre is to be constructed and where Safia’s enclosure was positioned. Safia was then carefully taken from the crate and placed in the indoor section of her new enclosure.
Once she came round from her anaesthesia, Safia dopily investigated her new enclosure, feeling grass under her paws, sun on her back and wind in her fur for the first time in a long time.
She is slowly getting used to her new surroundings, enjoying the view down the valley, watching the passing wildlife and relaxing under her platform, appreciating that she is no longer disturbed by people being unkind and thoughtless.
Although this is an improved situation for now, Born Free intends to create a far larger area for Safia in the grounds of the Wildlife Centre. Here Safia will be provided with lifetime care and possibly a companion in due course.
Safia in her new enclosure
To continue to improve Safia’s well-being, we need your help. The Centre will need significant investment by Born Free and any donation you might be able to offer will be appreciated by Born Free and those animals we seek to provide with a better life. For more information on the Centre, please click here.
You can see a short video of Safia relaxed in her new enclosure below, please consider donating by clicking here.
Appeal
Safia is featured in Born Free's 2010 New Year appeal, please click here to read more and donate.
The Tortoise and the Cheetah
Working in Ethiopia continues to be a massive challenge. Although the site was officially gifted to Born Free Foundation by the Region of Oromiya to create a Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre, it now appears there are still some legal issues to resolve. I have stopped all work until the Federal and Regional Government departments give us the final green light to continue the infrastructure development.
However, as I have mentioned before, Born Free Foundation Ethiopia is now the primary wildlife rescue organisation in the country, and the Rescue and Care Programme started back in 2007.
In future Blogs I will keep you up to date with the animals in my care. To date these are:
The Dolo Lion
The ‘Italian lions’ (now sporting magnificent manes)
Sheba the cheetah
Menelik the cheetah
Cody the eagle owl
In many gardens in Addis Ababa, there are giant tortoises. Most of the Embassy compounds and the Presidential Palace have several. It is reported that these tortoises can live for over a hundred years, so many of the larger tortoises will have lived through the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie (the King of Rastafaris) and Mengistu.
For those of you who are gardeners, giant tortoises make slugs and aphids very small fry. As I have discovered, giant tortoises are not a gardener’s friend! If they don’t eat the plants (and they can reach a surprisingly long way with their necks at full stretch) they only need to drag their considerable weight across a flower bed and in minutes the herbaceous border looks like a Panzer tank has run over it.
Perhaps there has been a sudden interest in gardening over the past year, as the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority has received several requests (including from a Government Minister) to rescue tortoises from Addis gardens. Born Free Foundation has agreed to look after some until they can live on the 77 hectare Wildlife site.
As for the lions, cheetah and eagle owl, we have created a temporary enclosure for the tortoises and built a palatial shelter (well-deserved, having lived through the reign of a king). The tortoises can escape the hail and torrential rain of the wet season, and will be able to find relief from the heat of the sun in the dry season.
One of the smaller tortoise shares Menelik’s temporary enclosure. Aesop should really have written his famous fable about a tortoise and a cheetah as the comparison of speed is far more marked than a tortoise and a hare.
At first, Menelik was rather curious about the slow moving creature, but the tortoise now rules the enclosure. When Menelik catnaps in the sun (like all cats, it’s one of his favourite past times) if the tortoise approaches, Menelik sighs loudly and moves off to find peace in another part of the enclosure.
More news soon.
James
For archive news, click here
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