Bring on the Chubby Unicorns

It takes less than the time it takes to clean your teeth to remove a rhino horn with a saw. The horn, made from the same fibres that make up fingernails, it highly sought after in the East, ground into a powder which is reputed to boost sexual desire. Not only is this not true, but it is a pathetic reason to kill the endangered rhino whose horn is now worth more than gold. Fortunately, the number of Eastern black rhino is now on the increase, having been dangerously close to extinction, but this is only due to the outstanding efforts of conservancies and National Parks to protect them with sophisticated - and extremely brave - security teams, and carefully fenced area with specially designed 'gates' for other animals through.

Loisaba is all set up and waiting for the arrival of their rhino. Apart from upgrading the security team and fencing a massive area of land, they have built a special rhino boma which can be used to administer any medical care if a rhino is sick or injured.

Meru has a rhino sanctuary within the park where rhino can wander widely and safely within a large area, thick with vegetation and swampy ground where they can wallow and bathe in the dark, sandy mud.

In the same area, the lions were keeping a close eye on passers-by.

Meru

Forgive my holiday photos, I won't put all 8,000 of them up here! Meru, like all of the Kenyan National Parks has suffered from a drought all year, fortunately not losing too many of their wild animals that seem to be well-adapted. Some will have migrated but most have stayed. 

Fortunately there was rain about three weeks before our arrival and the whole area had flourished into an improbable green, and the animals which had become bony had started to fill out again. 

You rarely see a thin zebra!

Meru will be forever associated with Joy and George Adamson, albeit that their own relationship was ragged (Joy didn't give George a penny from the proceeds of her book, Born Free), they fought for and gained protection for Meru National Park and Joy set up the Born Free Foundation which is busy, even today, protecting the lions and other animals in the park. This in contrast to Kora on the other side of the Tano River, and the place where both of them were eventually murdered in different incidents, is devoid of wildlife because of illegal grazing and poaching. 

Gerenuk or long-necked antelope

There are thirteen rivers that run permanently across Meru, often highlighted by the wonderful Y-Y palm which is limited to Meru National Park. 

There are also the mysterious and ancient Baobab trees which are the subject of so many children's stories.

The rivers attract a lot of birds and other creatures. 

At lunchtime it was time to go to Elsa's Kopje, the only remaining lodge in Meru, to be greeted by the most amazing team, headed by the outstanding, and sometimes coy, Grace Leonard. As always there were plenty of wildlife around the camp itself and underneath the framed pictures...

Me: "I like your scarf"

Grace: "I wore it especially for you."

I bet she says that to all the girls and all the boys.

Courtesy: Grace Leonard

Home turf

We got back from Kenya just two days ago and I have a mountain of photographs to go through. In Hook and in Fritham, the horses, ponies, donkeys and mule have been cared for by Sue and Nathalie and the team of Lookers for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

The horses have all been fine and fed, but the poor carers have been chipping through 4" of ice on the troughs, and bringing in water to refill them. I think my days of going away in the winter are numbered, lest I kill all my friends. 

We called in on the ponies in the dark and wet on our way back from Heathrow. They're all looking really well and have plenty of shelter. 

Bonus Post

 

Tom, the Reserves Manager, was beating the bounds yesterday and clearly taking pictures for the ponies' next album cover. I'm not sure what is going to be called yet. 

Jack Frost

 

It's very easy for people to instil doubts into your head about the way your horses and ponies are being kept. "I hope you have got rugs on them," or "They must be tucked up in bed at this time of year?" To be honest some people would rug a polar bear but it did make me take a good look at my set today. Are they keeping enough weight on? Do they look cold? 

Nelly looks very comfortable and we have to remember that their teeth and their hooves don't feel the cold like ours (feet that is). Their coats fluff up to create an extra layer of warmth just like we wear layers in the winter. 

They have the option of moving about all of the time and there is plenty of shelter on the Reserve in this case, and the barn in the case of the horses and the long-ears.

They all look picture-postcard beautiful against the frosty scenery. 

The short grass is sheltered too and still providing some nutrition while the long grasses and shrubs provide fibre. 

Pie is the colour of slush but still cleaner than usual. 

Together they form an autumnal group in a wintery background. 

Over at Fritham the long legs and long ears have been kept amused by an orienteering competition which was taking place in one of the nearby car parks. 

This is the last time I will see the Hook ponies before I come back from holiday. Thank goodness for The Grazing Team and all of the Lookers who will be keeping an eye on them while I am away. One last day seeing the horses and donkeys tomorrow and then Sue takes over. 

Heading in the Right Direction

Ruth is continuing to make small but significant progress with Prince and sometimes in unexpected directions. Lately, whenever the other horse and ponies have been taken out of his field, staff at the school where he lives, have let him out onto the trackway which leads up to the yard so that he doesn't have to be alone. On this particular day, he followed them all the way up to the covered yard where the farrier was attending to some ponies and had four dogs loose and running around.

Despite these noisy activities, Prince was happy to stand close by, munching on the hay and minding his own business. 

Best of all, when it came time for him to go back, he followed another pony, and Ruth with her clickered treats, all the way back to the field some distance away and only hesitated a little to go through the gateway. I'm wondering if he can be persuaded with a hard feed to enter one of the pen-like stables which are under cover with the door left open at first until he gains confidence and then see where Ruth can go from there.