In August 2019 Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre, located in Tzaneen, were presented with a cheque on behalf of Jejane shareholders.

Arnie the aardvark from Jejane had been cared for by Emma and her team 24 hours a day for three months.

Because his hind quarters were paralysed he had to be turned hourly, he weighed in excess of 50kg.Arnie also received daily hydrotherapy.

Unfortunately, Arnie did not make it, his paralysis causing too many other issues and in the end enough was enough. It broke the team’s heart to make the kindest decision for him. Arnie lives on in the invaluable experience and knowledge the team gained from caring for him. Mars another Aardvark the team were caring for was released in September 2019. He was taken on nightly walks enabling him to forage for termites and excavate his dens, preparing him for release.

Umoya Khulula rely on donations and their sole aim is to rehabilitate wildlife, it is not a sanctuary and is not open to the general public. This enables the team to focus on rehabilitating the wildlife to safe areas.

Some are quick releases once an injured wild animal has recovered or, a soft release process where an animal may have been hand reared or kept as a pet. Human contact is slowly withdrawn once an animal proves it can fend for itself, Emma and her team source a safe environment, set up enclosures, and spend as long as it takes, in a tent, to ensure the animal can seek food and shelter in order to survive alone in the wild.

Umoya Khulula have recently completed a hippo enclosure which is now a safe place for three orphaned Hippo

To read more about Umoya Khulula visit their website https://www.umoyakhululawildlife.com/

Call to action: Aardvark project

On 12 February, Francois Oberholzer discovered an injured aardvark on the Southern Boundary road. Evidence indicated that it had been shocked by the electric fence, and then – with its back legs paralysed - had dragged itself some metres away.

Glen Thomson and one of the Protrack teams, including Sergeant “Crow”, loaded the animal onto the back of Glen’s bakkie and raced it through to the Provet practice in Hoedspruit.

The aardvark is being cared for by Dr Rabie, and is currently being tube fed and sedated. X-rays have not shown any broken bones or obvious internal damage.

A make-shift swimming pool has been arranged for the aardvark to undergo a form of swimming therapy in an attempt to get him to begin using) it is the Board’s policy to intervene in the most practical way appropriate. Because the aardvark sustained his injuries by getting tangled in our electric fence, a kitty is being set up for what could become a protracted recovery, through the Balule Community and Anti-Poaching (BCAP) Trust.

One of the goals of the BCAP trust is to accommodate such situations and the project-based administration of the trust will facilitate the ring-fencing of donations made toward each project. Donations to the BCAP trust should be marked “Aardvark” on the payment and the donor should confirm in an e mail to the board if they require a sec 18A certificate for the donation from the trustees.

The BCAP Trust bank account details are as follows:
Account Name: The Balule Community and Anti-Poaching Trust
Bank: ABSA
Account Number: 4095078765
Universal Branch Code: 632005
Branch: Hoedspruit

The BCAP trustees are Pierre Hugo, Sharon Haussman and Siegie Morgenroodt who approve any expenditure related to a project to ensure the correct application of donated funds.