Your weekly donkey update from Safe Haven for Donkeys
Dear Friends
I do hope you enjoy reading this week's update. It's from Dr Rakan, who recently helped a donkey who had fallen while pulling a cart during particularly hot and dry weather conditions.
Foto: hulp voor gewonde ezel in Gaza
We're pleased to say this story has a very happy ending - so please enjoy Dr Rakan's report and photos below!
Thank you so much for helping to make stories like this possible - you make such an incredible difference to donkeys, mules and horses with your support to Safe Haven.
With warmest wishes, Wendy, Safe Haven UK Office
News from the West Bank
Here's our report from Dr Rakan:
"I had a phone call about 2 weeks ago to say that a donkey had fallen while pulling his cart. It was a hot and dry day, with very high temperatures during the afternoon. The owner had initially administered first aid to treat the donkey's scratches and superficial wounds and then took him home to rest.
Dr Rakan was called out to the Balata Refugee camp to see a donkey who appeared to be in great pain.
"The next day the donkey had a very poor appetite, was dehydrated and couldn't stand up. The owner then called me to visit - at the Balata Refugee camp. Firstly, I checked his vital signs and gave him medication and fluid therapy.
The donkey owner's children were very worried, so keen to help Dr Rakan.
Fluid therapy included multivitamins and amino acids.
"After a few hours I was so relieved to see he was improving! I was keen to continue treatment, so I asked the owner if I could take him back to our hospital in Nablus. The owner was very happy for me to do this, so the donkey was transported the next day.
William continued to receive veterinary treatment at our hospital in Nablus.
"I continued to provide treatment - fluid therapy, vitamins, painkillers and antibiotics to help treat the wounds on his body and above his eye from falling on hard concrete.
Dr Rakan was pleased to see the donkey - now called William - improve!
"Every day he improved and soon he was able to receive some extra special treatment - a good brush and some carrots! The happiest day was when I saw his swishing tail, showing me he's happy and healthy once again.
William is now back to full health and with his owner in the Balata Refugee camp.
"I am certain the donkey was suffering from dehydration from the intense heat. His fall onto hard concrete caused wounds which I was able to treat with intravenous and topical medicines. I will return to the camp in a week to check up on William and to monitor his progress."
Dr Rakan will visit William next week to provide a full check up.
Thank you
It's only with your help we are able to improve the lives of working donkeys, mules and horses in the West Bank, Gaza and Egypt. You're also helping to fund our hospital in Nablus in the West Bank and care for our rescue donkeys in Arrana, as well as our donkeys at our sanctuary in Israel. If you'd like to read previous updates of our work, please click here to visit our blog.
PERSBERICHT: Zieke en magere kittens bij broodfokker in Limburg
AMSTERDAM/HEERLEN, 21 juni 2024 - Dierenwelzijnsorganisatie House of Animals heeft in Heerlen (L) een malafide kattenhandelaar ontmaskerd, die in een appartementje op grote schaal Maine Coons fokt. Undercover telde House of Animals zeker 40 katten in de woning van een Limburgs koppel, dat handelt onder de naam Cattery Nazarene. Eerder kwamen er diverse meldingen binnen over zieke en magere kittens afkomstig van Cattery Nazarene. “Dit laat zien dat de problemen rond kattenhandel in Nederland groter zijn dan werd gedacht”, aldus Karen Soeters van House of Animals.
In maart opende House of Animals het Meldpunt Kattenhandel, waarna veel tips binnenkwamen over misstanden bij kattenhandelaren, waaronder Cattery Nazarene in Heerlen. House of Animals ontving meldingen over Maine Coons met niesziekte, giardia, vlooien, tandproblemen, kittens zonder inentingen en kittens met ondergewicht. Ook werd er gerommeld met geboortedata en worden er stambomen beloofd, maar nooit afgegeven. Kopers blijven achter met torenhoge dierenartsrekeningen.
Broodfok
Door de vele meldingen over Cattery Nazarene opende House of Animals Investigations een nieuw dossier. Onderzoek wijst uit dat er zeer intensief gefokt wordt door het Limburgse koppel, waar in een jaar tijd minstens 14 nesten geboren zijn met in totaal 72 kittens. Een rode draad in de meldingen is ondergewicht van de kittens op het moment van verkoop. Tijdens een undercover ‘pseudokoop’ trof House of Animals kittens aan die alle kenmerken van niesziekte hadden en graatmager aanvoelden. Karen Soeters van House of Animals:
“Zo veel kittens bij elkaar, dat is vragen om ziektes en niet-gesocialiseerde dieren. We zijn redelijk kort geleden begonnen met het onderzoek naar kattenhandel, maar het is ons duidelijk dat die niet onderdoet voor de problemen met hondenhandel. Katten worden op dit moment niet beschermd in onze wetgeving en kattenleed in de broodfokhandel is veelal onzichtbaar. Dat zie je ook nu weer, al die ellende weggestopt in een appartementje.“
Cavia’s
Het Limburgse stel fokte tot 2020 op grote schaal cavia’s. Bij controle stelde de Landelijke Inspectiedienst Dierenwelzijn (LID) meerdere overtredingen vast. Ruim 150 cavia’s waren ernstig verwaarloosd aangetroffen, ondervoed, in zeer kleine en vervuilde hokjes. Veel hadden water noch voedsel. Ook lagen er dode cavia’s in de kooien. Er zijn lasten onder dwangsom opgelegd om verbetering af te dwingen in de leefomstandigheden van de dieren, maar bij een daaropvolgende controle waren alle cavia’s verdwenen. Karen Soeters:
“Naar andere fokkers, beweert Zeger T., maar gezien de staat waarin de diertjes verkeerden, is dit niet heel aannemelijk.”
Handhavingsverzoek
Inmiddels heeft House of Animals bij de gemeente Heerlen een handhavingsverzoek ingediend. Het fokken en verkopen van katten is op het adres van Cattery Nazarene in strijd met het bestemmingsplan. Vorig jaar openbaarde House of Animals grove misstanden bij een kattenfokker in het Limburgse Echt. Recent publiceerde de dierenwelzijnsorganisatie het onderzoek naar een kattenfokker in Helmond, die niet minder dan 91 mogelijk zieke katten hield in huis en een stacaravan in de tuin.
Twee beloega’s gered uit dolfinarium in Oekraïense stad Charkiv: “Mogelijk meest complexe redding die ooit is ondernomen”
Een internationaal team is erin geslaagd om twee beloega's te redden uit een dolfinarium in de Oekraïense stad Charkiv. De dieren werden met een speciaal transport naar het grootste aquarium van Europa gebracht in de Spaanse stad Valencia, 3.500 kilometer verderop. “Dit was mogelijk de meest complexe redding die ooit is ondernomen”, aldus Dan Ashe van de Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), een Amerikaanse non-profit van dierentuinen en publieke aquaria.
Charkiv ligt in het oosten van Oekraïne, niet ver van het front. De stad wordt continu beschoten en ook voor het dolfinarium in het centrum van Charkiv kwam het oorlogsgeweld dichtbij. Zo dicht dat besloten werd om de twee witte dolfijnen Plombir (15) en Miranda (14) in veiligheid te brengen.
Specialisten van het Oceanogràfic València (het grootste aquarium van Europa), het Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta en SeaWorld schoten te hulp. De dieren werden in speciale waterreservoirs gelegd en met een vrachtwagen van Charkiv naar Odessa gevoerd, een rit van maar liefst 12 uur, over slechte wegen en door oorlogsgebied.
Luchthaven
Daar aangekomen werden ze onderzocht door het internationale team van specialisten. Vervolgens ging het verder naar buurland Moldavië, waar de beloega's op de luchthaven van Chisinau in een speciaal gecharterd vliegtuig geladen werden. Na een vlucht van 5 uur landden ze in Valencia, Spanje.
Daar werden ze opnieuw op een vrachtwagen geladen en naar het Oceanogràfic overgebracht, waar ze sinds gisteren rondzwemmen. Ze worden 24 uur per dag in de gaten gehouden om te zien of ze goed acclimatiseren. Het aquarium hoopt dat ze binnenkort bij zijn eigen beloega's Yulka en Kylu gelaten kunnen worden.
Het dolfinarium in Charkiv bracht eerder ook al zeehonden, zeeleeuwen en dolfijnen in veiligheid. Het verhuizen van de beloega’s was door hun omvang en de specifieke technische behoeften echter een veel complexere logistieke operatie. De dieren waren ook niet meer in optimale conditie om te reizen. Volgens het Oceanogràfic zouden ze echter nog slechter af geweest zijn mochten ze in Charkiv gebleven zijn.
120 southern white rhinos have been successfully translocated to reserves represented by the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation (GKEPF) in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, South Africa. This translocation is the second move under Rhino Rewild, an African Parks initiative to rewild 2,000 southern white rhinos into secure, protected African areas.
One hundred and twenty southern white rhinos have just been translocated to member reserves of the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation (GKEPF) in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, South Africa. This boost to the southern white rhino population in the Greater Kruger area is part of African Parks’ Rhino Rewild initiative, an ambitious plan to rewild 2,000 southern white rhinos into secure, protected areas in Africa over the next ten years. This follows the translocation of 40 southern white rhino to Munywana Conservancy in South Africa in May.
GKEPF, established in 2016, is an alliance of nine private reserves, one provincial park, and one national park to service the protection needs of the western and eastern buffers of the Kruger National Park (KNP) and the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier National Park. This translocation comes when poaching rates within GKEPF reserves have significantly declined, indicating the effectiveness of security and anti-poaching measures.
In September 2023, African Parks purchased the world’s largest captive rhino breeding operation from John Hume in a bid to rescue 2,000 southern white rhinos following a failed auction, with one primary objective: to rewild them all to well-managed and secure protected areas, to establish or supplement strategic populations, ultimately helping to de-risk the future of the species.
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Through Rhino Rewild, African Parks is dedicated to bolstering healthy southern white rhino populations in South Africa – and recognises the country’s efforts in rhino conservation for the benefit of the African continent.
Rhinos are darted with tranquilliser from a helicopter
“Moving 120 rhinos under the Rhino Rewild initiative to GKEPF will augment the existing rhino population in the Greater Kruger and ensure that these rhino are fulfilling their role in their natural environment, which has been our vision from the start,” says Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. “Despite significant pressures, GKEPF members have played a critical role in the conservation of the Greater Kruger landscape, providing an important buffer to the Kruger, and we support their commendable progress in protecting rhino populations in their native range.”
Sharon Haussmann, CEO of GKEPF, says, “The rewilding itself bears testament to the cumulative knowledge, partnerships, and insights of a protracted period of anti-poaching efforts in the Greater Kruger landscape. That the benefits so clearly outweigh the risks presents a significant opportunity for rewarding the efforts of everyone who has remained committed to safeguarding rhino populations amid extremely challenging circumstances over the past 10 to 15 years.”
Collaboration is at the heart of GKEPF’s mandate. While rhinos will not be released into the KNP itself but into private game reserves along its western boundary, the project received consensus, collaboration, and expert inputs from KNP and South African National Parks (SANParks). This strategic placement to private reserves sharing an unfenced border with the KNP strengthens the rhino metapopulation and lays the groundwork for potential future collaboration as the Kruger continues its fight against poaching.
GKEPF vet, Günter Nowak, carefully guides a sedated rhino to a translocation crate
This region of South Africa is an ideal habitat for southern white rhinos. The fertile and water-rich grasslands of the selected release areas are suitable for ensuring optimal rhino health and population growth. Through a decade-long collaborative effort to combat rhino poaching, reserves and stakeholders have developed and shared a wealth of expertise. This has significantly bolstered their ability to proactively and effectively address poaching threats and safeguard the species.
The safety of these translocated rhinos is at the forefront for everyone involved. “The rhino will come in dehorned, which is a very effective way to decrease the poaching risk in this landscape. We’re at a point where this risk is well calculated,” says Markus Hofmeyr, a wildlife vet and Director of the Rhino Recovery Fund. “This will be the first reintroduction of rhinos into this landscape in about 50 years,” he adds.
A rhino is led towards transportation crates
Moving 120 rhinos is an enormous undertaking in every way, and it has taken, as Haussmann explains, “many, many sleepless nights” and extensive funding. African Parks is donating the animals to the reserve, with GKEPF donors contributing to the translocation costs and the subsequent ongoing monitoring of the rhino, a critical element for the project’s long-term success.
A word of thanks from African Parks: The Rob Walton Foundation and the Pershing Square Foundation are the initial funders of Rhino Rewild. Thanks to the OAK Foundation, Rhino Recovery Fund, Hancock Family, Max Planck Institute & Contemplate Wild, and Land Rover Sandton/SMH Group for their support of this translocation to GKEPF.
The translocation team leads a rhino towards a crate for translocationGünter Nowak and GKEPF CEO Sharon Haussmann inspect the ear of a tranquillised rhino prior to attaching a tracking deviceA rewilded rhino takes it first steps into Greater Kruger from a transport crateA rewilded rhino approaches the water hole inside the boma in Greater KrugerMoving animals over thousands of kilometres is a serious endeavour. With 30 animals, chartered jumbo jets are the best way. This requires considerable veterinary and logistical coordination to capture the animals, load into crates, transport to the aircraft, load as quickly as possible, unload similarly, transport to the site and release into well-sited and secure bomas. Documentation needs to be in order with customs and immigration officials on both ends to make it as smooth as possible.
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