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dehorning 7

Tuesday, 27 August 2019 / Published in

dehorning 7

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Bridge Road, Wedza, Zimbabwe

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Email: sablelodge@imire.co.zw
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Friendship + wildlife = magic 💫⭐ #imire #imi

Friendship + wildlife = magic 💫⭐

#imire #imirevolunteers #zimbabwe #bucketlistravel #travelinspiration #travelafrica #africa #volunteerwithanimals #volunteervacations

"Every activity at Imire and all the people you me

"Every activity at Imire and all the people you meet make it worthwhile to go there. But if you join the horse riding programme you can top that. The people that guide you, Judy and Josh, the unexpected way you face nature and the cattle rounds ups - all in sensational surroundings. I don't know any other place you can do that."
- Reinhardt 🇦🇹, Equine Volunteer

#horseriding #horseridingsafari #horsesafari #horseridingholidays #horsevolunteer #volunteerwithhorses #zimbabwe #imire #imirevolunteers #travelafrica #bucketlist

How do you transport a pair of giraffes? 🦒🦒

How do you transport a pair of giraffes? 🦒🦒

Back in the 1970s, Norman's dream of turning Imire into a wildlife conservancy was going so well that after just a year, he increased the wildlife area to 1,000 acres and decided the time was right to reintroduce giraffe. He made use of a 3-tonne farm lorry, recruiting his young sons Simon and Alastair (Squinks) to help bring two giraffes from just south of Bulawayo. Simon recalls:

“Dad, Squinks and I went down with a truck and car. It was all very new and experimental, the first time the vet had darted a giraffe, and no one really knew how they would react. The journey back to Imire took three days, and for the whole time we couldn’t turn the lorry off because leaving the engine running kept the animals calm. The giraffe got so used to us sitting with them over the three days that they would nudge us and push against us. We drove through Bulawayo early in the morning, during rush hour traffic, and people were agog at the sight of two giraffe heads sticking out of a farm truck!”

The giraffe were loaded with theirs heads and necks sticking out over the top of the cab. Norman recalls the perils of travelling with such a high load: "We rigged up a pole with a T-bar as a cross member and Alastair and Simon were delegated to overhead watch. If an obstacle approached, they would shout a warning, “Telephone wires!” At which point I’d stop, and they would hoist the wire up so we could pass underneath, without getting snagged on giraffe necks – and off we’d go!"

Norman remembers thinking the giraffe very stupid animals and “once saw a male straddling a telephone pole clearly trying to mate with it! The tops of the pole had two porcelain knobs on and perhaps looked like the head and tufts of a female!”

The giraffe soon settled into Imire and it wasn't long before they decided to go walkabout into the local villages, sometimes being found on farms more than 30km away! Sometimes they came back of their own volition and sometimes they needed a bit of persuasion, but no one they visited seemed to mind.

Today we have a dozen or so giraffes at Imire and luckily they don't have the same fondness for roaming!

This week we had the pleasure of assisting @vawz1

This week we had the pleasure of assisting @vawz1 with the annual Wedza mobile dog clinic 🐕 🚐. VAWZ (Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Zimbabwe) do the most fantastic and much needed work in rural areas around Zimbabwe, running sterilisation and vaccination programs for communities who wouldn't otherwise have access to veterinary care for their pets.

Our volunteers did the most wonderful work assisting Mel and her team, with special thanks to @mollyrs0 who ended up on a busman's holiday helping out @travers_judy and the vets!

The team gave rabies vaccinations to more than 1,600 dogs (and one cat 🐱!) and carried out 44 spays and 48 neuters.

🚨 Why is this important?

Zimbabwe's dog population is estimated to be at least 3 million animals. Most live in rural areas, where there is little access to veterinary treatment. The average lifespan of a rural dog is approximately three years and during this short period, female dogs will have a number of litters of puppies – often giving birth to weak pups while the mother’s health also deteriorates with each pregnancy. The vast majority of these dogs are not vaccinated and outbreaks of canine distemper, rabies and parvo virus further put their lives, and in the case of rabies, the communities lives, at risk.

Human deaths, as a result of contracting rabies, have increased in recent years. There is a tendency for free-roaming dogs to form packs which scavenge for morsels of food and are often to blame for attacks on humans, particularly school going children, and other animals.

The difference that the VAWZ operation has made in the lives of these dogs is immeasurable. The dogs, their owners and the community as a whole benefit immensely and people can now have a much more positive relationship with their animals.

VAWZ and Imire have carried out mobile dog clinics within our surrounding communities for a number of years now, supported by VAWZ's enormously generous donors from around the world - thank you as always to Kaye Nicholson in Australia and to @dogs4wildlife for your generous donations. See you again next year! 🐶

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