Category: current projects

We also handed over the expensive anaesthetics to the head of the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust in Zimbabwe, Jessica C. Dawson, in 2022, as we did to several other units.

On January 11th, 2021 we received the following email from the Bumi Hills Foundation:

Zimbabwe is losing its wildlife at an alarming rate, and we need your help. Up until the beginning of 2020, when COVID arrived, and tourism within Zimbabwe departed, we were managing to keep (just) on top of things. However, in February 2020, Bumi Hills Safari Lodge was forced to abruptly close its doors, due to the pandemic. This resulted in several  devastating repercussions for us:

1. The immediate cessation of bed night levies, which up until that date had provided us with up to USD1500 per month, which went straight towards our Rangers salaries .
2. The almost immediate start of snaring, which has since risen to alarming proportions. This snaring can be traced back to job losses due to the pandemic – the lodges round our concession have all been forced to make many staff redundant, in an effort to remain viable for when tourism does return, but those same staff have to feed their families – its bitter Catch 22 situation, in which the wildlife suffers.
3. The loss of donations from guests – our Unit is close to the Lodge, and we were able to show many interested guests our video/power point presentation, followed by a Q & A session – this often resulted in immediate cash donations, or wired transfers once the guest had returned home, all of which were so helpful.

 Quick recap of our unit:

In 2009, the Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU) was formed to combat the issues of diminishing wildlife and environmental degradation due to heavy poaching, Illegal fishing and unmitigated human strain on the land and water. In March 2016 the Bumi Hills Foundation Trust was founded, incorporating BHAPU, to help achieve long term sustainable conservation in our region in Northern Zimbabwe.

Since 2013, over 254 Elephant carcasses have been investigated forensically by BHAPU, the majority of which were concluded to be victims of poaching. And since the Units inception, we have removed over 20 000 wire snares (utilized to trap unknowing wildlife for bush meat).

More recently, the poaching situation has evolved into a serious threat with armed gangs operating within the wildlife area and surrounding hunting areas, targeting predominantly Elephant for their ivory but also other large mammal species to supply the lucrative bush meat trade.

Loss of wildlife and environmental degradation can be in part directly linked to the lack of social and economic opportunities the local population has available. The plight of both wildlife and people needs to be addressed for a sustainable and long term solution to Zimbabwe’s needs.

And that is where we come in – our passion for wildlife and the associated environment is ultimately entwined with education, awareness and leadership. We have managed to keep going in our own, supported by our local patrons, up until now, but we simply cannot do it any longer.

www.bumihillsfoundation.org

Last year’s Covid-19 pandemic has also had numerous repercussions for Africa, its people and conservation. Dwindling income and revenue from tourist and safari operations have been eroded down to a bare minimum and made it very difficult to keep supporting the APU (anti-poaching units) and allow them to remain operational. This has resulted in a noticeable spike in poaching activities. A particularly insidious, indiscriminate and cruel method to catch wild animals illegally is the use of wire snares.
Currently we are supporting one project to counter poaching activities in Malawi. The organisation Elefence is in the process of erecting wildlife fencing around the Dedza-Salima Forest Reserve. This should alleviate and resolve local human-wildlife conflict, safeguard animals inside the reserve, prevent elephants from breaking out, as well as deter potential poachers from entering this wilderness area. It was only recently that elephants went on a rampage through fields and villages bordering the reserve which wreaked havoc and destroyed crops and farmland, the livelihood of the local populace. The rangers barely succeeded in preventing the elephants from being killed in retaliation.
The monthly salary of a park ranger amounts to 300 US$, that is 10 US$ a day. A little money goes a long way in Malawi! When a ranger collects 5 wire snares on patrol in a single day, he will have saved 5 animals a gruesome and lingering demise. So these 10 US$ is money so well spent!
Over the last months rangers have located and collected hundreds of wire snares that were set to catch unsuspecting wildlife.
A reliable representative of Elefence has assured us that our donations will be used 100% to benefit the project. Elefence has absolutely NO administrative salaries.

Your donation will help save the lives of wild animals and contribute towards putting an end to the poaching crisis.

As you may have learned through the news at the time, from August to November 2019 Southern Africa was in the grip of one of the most severe draughts in years. In the country of Zimbabwe, Hwange National Park and Mana Pools were the wilderness areas affected most.
The clarion call reached our NGO and we wanted to help as effectively and swiftly as we could. In previous years we had already financed the drilling of a borehole and paid for the maintenance of several water provision points for wildlife. Having once again taken counsel with local conservationist we were given the strong recommendation to support „Wild is Life“, an NGO set up and run by Roxy Danckwerts.
“Wild is Life” consists of two branches, namely „The Wild is Life Trust“, a wildlife sanctuary catering for injured, orphaned and rescued wildlife, and the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery.
Gisela and Wolfgang Hennig visited the Elephant Nursery and met Roxy in November 2018 during a trip through Southern Africa and could observe Roxy and her team’s sterling work first-hand.
Not only do they care for orphaned elephants there, but also look after lions, cheetah, pangolins, kudus, giraffe, wildebeest, sable antelope, impalas, duikers, tortoises and primates who have all found a safe and caring home in the sanctuary. Whenever possible - and after careful scrutiny of suitable and safe habitats - the animals will be released back into the wild after they have gone through the rehabilitation process. However, this may not be a feasible option in some instances. Then the animals will have to be provided for in situ.
On 19th November 2019 our NGO transferred the substantial sum of 20,000€ into the bank account of „The Wild is Life“ Trust. As you can imagine the team was absolutely delighted to learn of the donation as they had had to take in a larger than usual number of orphaned elephant babies whose mothers had perished in the draught.
Roxy and her team not only take care of the physiological needs of the animals, for them the close bond between animals and people is just as important. Their Sanctuary has become a fusion of humanity and wildlife.
The tours they offer through their property are conducted with integrity and authenticity and play an important part in educating the public, above all school children, about the importance of caring for our wildlife and learning about the sentience of these precious animals.

Please support our work and make a donation to:

IBAN DE 84 7706 9739 0000 1155 17
BIC GENODEF1THA

Do not forget to state your address as we will issue you with a receipt. Your donation to our NGO is tax-deductible.