Zambezi Working Donkey project - September 2023 Report

The working donkeys of Zambezi are helped thanks to the generous donations from AAA supporters and the hard work on the ground by the Zambezi Working Donkey Project (ZWDP).

During September the ZWDP team treated 136 donkeys through mobile clinics, in addition to our 14 permanent residents at Maramba Farm. 135 donkeys were dipped, 107 dewormed and 10 donkeys were treated for wounds.

11 new sets of harnesses were given out. On the 21st of September, the team ventured out into a new area for a full mobile clinic. The area is called Musokotwane and is approximately an hour from Livingstone. Our supervisor Emmanuel has previously engaged with donkey owners from this area when they come into town but this was our first time visiting them. The attendance throughout the day was really good and we managed to fit all 8 pairs of harnesses we brought on that day. We still need to go back and give out a couple of more harnesses. It was great to see the willingness of this community to change their ox yoke for humane harnesses.

When the clinic was done, one of the community members had requested us to come and visit a family a little bit further to check on their donkey. We took a 20-minute drive and found a female donkey with young foal (approx. 3 to 4 weeks old). The female donkey had a horrible wound on its right upper leg/bum. The story isn’t 100% clear but what we know is that the donkey used the have a big lump and someone decided to cut it out because it wasn’t going away and they didn’t know who to ask for advice as there is no vet available there. Unfortunately, this action had led to a big infected wound. We collected the donkey and her foal the next day, with consent and encouragement from the owners. They wanted to see her getting healthy as soon as possible. Unfortunately, after a few days, her health went downwards quickly, the wound must have caused such a big infection that there wasn’t much for us to do. After a few days of intense care, Butter (her name) unfortunately died. The little foal (named Belinda) is now in our permanent care, we are hand rearing her and keeping a close eye on her health.

Update on the police case: we are still waiting for the court case, as a lot of things in Zambia take time, so do police cases unfortunately... We are still in close contact with the police and the court case is supposed to happen mid-October so we are hoping to give an update on this next month!

It is thanks to the supporters of AAA that we were able to help these donkeys and we will continue fighting their cause wherever we can!