4 Quartely Update 2023 Bumi Hills Anti Poaching Unit (BHAPU)

2023 was a difficult year, operationally, throwing many challenges and obstacles in our paths, most of which we were able to successfully navigate, with the ever-valued help of our operating partners, Zimparks, African Parks, Nyaminyami Rural District Council, ZNA, MFFU and ZRP.

2023 also saw the deepening and enriching of our working relationship with the African Bush Camps Foundation,who, apart from their vital financial support, are as driven as we are to educate the surrounding communities on the value of the wildlife on their ancestral lands, and to work at mitigating Human Wildlife Conflict.

The biggest potential challenge, which was completely outside of our sphere of influence, was the dire warning from most meteorological sources of a severe drought this season, due to the dreaded ‘El Nino’ phenomenon. Adding to what has been the hottest year here on record, this was depressing stuff, and indeed the first months of the rainy seasonproved to be exceedingly arid. We lost four of our elephants over this intensely hot and dry period – 2 adult females and 2 babies (it’s always smallest and oldest who suffer the most during times of stress) and we were preparing ourselves mentally for further deaths – when the heavens opened on the 10^th December, presenting us with over 100mm of rainover a 24 hour period (the heavens also presented us with a storm such as none of us has ever experienced – our Base took a direct lightning hit and most of our electrical equipment went out with a bang that night).

More than ever this year, we marvelled at the ability of the female impala to ‘hold on’ to their babies until the conditions are right – this year must have been an extra bit of a trial for these patient mothers, as was evident by the almost instant crop of long-legged lambs in the days after the first good rains – we could almost hear the sighs of relief all round! We also have dozens of tiny, highly powered warthog piglets, who use the road

 

leading to our base as a sort of race track – skidding around corners, careering past their mothersdevotedly munching on the new green grass – such energy is dizzying to watch!

Even our bushbuck and mongooses, who are here whilst we rehab them for the wild, were infected by the joys of the season!

As you can see from our statistics, we have had a huge upsurge in snaring, discussed in our last newsletter. The majority of the snares which we have uplifted and destroyed have been in the last 6 months of the year.The animals poached (54 altogether) were all found in these snares – mainly impala, and one baby elephant, which was extremely distressing. As seems to be the norm – snares are laid, animals are caught and then left to rot. With the onset of the rains, and farming in full swing, this terrible poaching method has lessened greatly, but we are still out in all weather to keep on top of this epidemic – the thickness of the bush, though, works in the perpetrators favour, as it is very difficult to spot them in amongst the deep foliage.

And we end off with a local Tonga tale. One of the fascinating aspects of the area in which we live, are the rich cultural and historical stories surrounding this area. One such legend is worthy of

mention. It concerns a hill, or ‘gomo’ as we call them, on the upper Ume River, called ‘Bikeni Nyemba’.

 

This hill is apparently ‘haunted’. So much so, that local residents nearby will never point or look directly at it – todo so would invite certain disaster. No-one will spend the night there because it is impossible to sleep for the noise. Throughout the night columns of ‘warriors’ march past, clashing their spears, beating drums and shouting war slogans. After them come the women and children, wailing and singing. This manifestation is said to go on all night, yet the next morning there would be not a sign or footprint to be seen anywhere near or on hill.

 

A old man called Cameron, who lived in the vicinity for some years, used to have a small stone store and did occasional road-cutting jobs, but although the remains of his building still stood in 1951, Cameron seemed tohave completely disappeared. He apparently spent one night on ‘Bikeni Nyemba’ with a man from another district. It is said that he left the accursed place at dawn after spending a completely sleepless night clutching his rifle and listening to the marching multitudes passing below. In the morning there was not a spoor to be seen anywhere!

 

In the early days, one of the District Commissioners had decided that there should be a police post there andactually got as far as building the foundations of a few small buildings. It is not recorded why the project was totally abandoned, but we think we can guess....