Tikobane Trust making progress in Zimbabwe

AAA partner group, Tikobane Trust in Zimbabwe had a very busy April. Along with treating a total of 95 donkeys for mostly harness wounds, they also met their goal of building 15 donkey pens.

Of the donkeys they treated, many of them work for the fire wood traders who tie chains directly to the bodies of the donkeys pulling the carts and thus causing wounds and strain. The group set about educating the traders on how best to utilise the power of the donkeys through proper and humane harnessing techniques.

Due to a shortfall in dipping of bullocks by the Government, Tikobane have been working with the Veterinary Department to conduct regular cattle spraying.

Tikobane have secured land in the Makwandara community where construction of holding pens is in progress. This will help the community by providing somewhere for owners to spray their cattle. Currently the large distances needed to be travelled to have their cattle dipped to prevent tickborne diseases are a deterrent and this puts the animals in these communities at risk.

One issue that has arisen is that lions in the area can prey on the animals while in the pens, so night fires and scarecrows have been used as a deterrent but have been found to not be very effective. This could be further compounded by the rumour that safari owners have been buying old, sick donkeys to feed to the lions that they keep.

This issue is among others on the list of goals and future plans for the Tikobane Trust.