News from the Zambezi Working Donkey Project

AAA partner group Zambezi Working Donkey Project have sent an update on their recent activity:

"October has been hot and very hard work for working donkeys in Zambia. Our staff have also been working hard to ensure we reach and help as many as possible… A clinic in Mutonga village was attended by both new owners and people we had seen before, coming for check ups and help to fixes harnesses. During the day we found many donkeys to be extremely thin, as it is dry season and the area is known to be sparse anyway. There were also a huge amount of ticks on all the animals meaning many are anaemic. We dewormed, dipped and treated donkeys for a variety of injuries. Some owners were complaining about the high death rates of donkeys in the area. Not all from sickness and work-injuries as we usually see – there are rumours told that people are killing each other’s donkeys, by poisoning and attacking with machetes or axes. This is because the animals are starving and stray into their neighbours vegetable gardens or mealie patches in search of food. People don’t shut donkeys in kraals at night as this is the only time they can wander to find food as they work during the day. With grass so scarce the poor animals search for anything green they can find. We are trying to work with community leaders to address the issue and get people to fence their gardens properly but it is a tough message to get through when the people have barely enough to feed themselves. The other victims of these attacks are the offspring of the donkeys killed. We came home from Mutonga clinic with another two orphan foals – Dom and tiny Freddy. Dom’s mother was poisoned apparently, and Freddy’s mother was also killed with an axe. When we found him he had been without his mother’s milk for 3 weeks, wondering alone with no shelter, food or company. It was the most pitiful sight we have seen yet. Sadly, despite a week of hand feeding, daily veterinary treatment and lots of love, Freddy did not make it. His little body was too far damaged by starvation. This is the first donkey we have lost and it has hurt us badly. The other foal Dom is doing well however and has bonded with a previous orphan, Otis - who incidentally came from the same village! We also held several outreaches at Libuyu market where the team conducted monitoring of donkeys and sensitisation, as well as follow ups in the villages, and our workshop at Maramba Farm was busy with drop-ins seeking assistance with harness or to tend sick and injured donkeys. We have taken in another donkey called Knowledge who has a very bad injury above his left eye, and the owner has released him to us for veterinary attention. We don’t know how it happened but he is very lucky not to have lost his sight!

This month, with the support of Animal Aid Abroad, we attended to 68 working donkeys and provided 16 new sets of harness. In the coming month of November we will be pushing to get out to see as many donkeys as we can before the rains set in. As always thank you so much for supporting our work!"