Thank you for helping keep us safe!

Training the rangers who protect vulnerable animals

Johnnie and Bumi - dear friends enjoying a tete-a-tete

Subscribers to this newsletter help support the work of Wild is Life and ZEN, who do extraordinary work in Zimbabwe to nurture orphaned elephants until they are ready to be rewilded. They also protect some of the most endangered creatures on earth, like pangolins, whose lives are under constant threat from poachers.

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I don’t often write about what is essentially a low-level war between highly sophisticated poaching gangs who penetrate Zimbabwe from other countries, and the Rangers who are on the front-line of animal protection. Today I want to share a few images and notes directly from Wild is Life and ZEN.

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“Panda Masuie, our 34,000 hectare-protected area near Victoria Falls is where our rehabilitated elephants embrace their wild lives. This large expanse is served by our 16 dedicated Rangers who tirelessly work to protect the elephants and the other animals in the ecosystem from illegal activities such as poaching and deforestation to ensure the long-term success of the Wild is Life mission.

Recently the Rangers underwent rigorous training in collaboration with our partners the Forestry Commission, ifawglobal and Zimparks to enhance their skills.

Trained by a seasoned mentor, Rangers recently learned their role transcends traditional notions of conservation to the protection of the ecosystem as a whole. Through Ranger training, communities thrive, biodiversity flourishes, and forests stand as resilient bastions of life amidst an ever-changing world faced by diverse challenges, including climate change.

A big well done to the Rangers and a thank you to our partners for providing these new skills and insights to the team!”

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While the Rangers can do much to fend off human predators, life is by no means easy for animals in the wild, even for elephants.

An elie I have introduced you to before, both in my current novel, and in real life, is Kadiki. Kadiki means ‘small’ in the Shona language, and it’s thanks to her very short little tail that the real life Kadiki got her name.

When she was only a few months old, Kadiki was attacked by a pride of lions and separated from her herd. She wandered into a safari camp, injured, frightened, disorientated and looking for help. Her trunk was badly lacerated and her tail had been bitten by a lion.

Transported to Wild is Life and Zen, their vet team managed to heal her wounds but her tail had to be amputated … hence its size today.

Kadiki is growing into a fine young elephant and wonderful matriarch to her little herd at the sanctuary. You’ll be hearing a lot more about her in future years.

Below is a pic of me at feeding time, giving Kadiki her bottle - drained in about a minute! An ineffable experience! As I was absorbed in this task, daylight robbery was underway. If you closely study this photo, you will see what I mean.

(I had some food pellets in my pocket, as one of Kadiki’s mates soon discovered! They weren’t there long!)

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Another resident at Wild is Life & ZEN who I’d like you to meet is this curious little girl called Marimba the pangolin.

Pangolins, or scaly anteaters, are the kinds of animals you’d think would be left to their own devices in the bush. But such is the demand for their scales in China and Vietnam - any one of those larger scales are worth around US$1,000! - that they have been hunted almost to the point of extinction. Marimba has her own round the clock body-guards like Johnnie.

Pangolins are very shy creatures and it is extremely rare to get anywhere near close enough to see them eat ants. They feed by slipping their long, sticky tongues into an ant nest. Attracted by the saliva, the ants get stuck to their tongue, which the pangolin then retracts. In the video clip below you catch a brief glimpse of part of that loooong tongue!

Keeping all the animals safe requires constant vigilance, monitoring, training and management. Once again, none of this would be possible without generous people like you subscribing to this newsletter.

In supporting organisations like Wild is Life & ZEN, as a group we are not only contributing to animal rescue, especially with regard to some of the most endangered species. We are also supporting the people who protect and take care of them, thereby creating jobs, furthering education, and uplifting communities in a ripple effect of waves with many unseen but positive consequences.

Finally, a cheery goodbye and ‘Hakuna matata!’ from Pickles the warthog. Who wouldn’t want to be the proud owner of a pair of tusks as magnificent as these?!

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Dear Subscribers,

Raising funds for Wild is Life, and our other charities, is one of the main reasons why I write this newsletter. Of all the great virtues, Buddha taught generosity first. In giving we receive - immediately, in the happy knowledge of the virtue we are creating. And longer term in creating the karmic cause to experience future abundance.

If you are able, our little community here on Substack would love to welcome you as a paying subscriber. What you get each Saturday is an article or story from me, sharing the wisdom I have learned from my own lamas. More important is what you give: love, compassion and hope, manifest in the most extraordinary ways, like those outlined in this post.

I very much hope that you will join our community of kindred spirits, bringing fresh energy to our journey of compassion.

Warmest wishes,

David