An update on (T)Eddie!

It has been five months since we waved (T)Eddie off from New Hope as he made his way to Austria. Below is an update from Stefan who is in charge of our little friend...

Eddie is preparing himself, also like the other bears, for wintertime. He eats a huge amount of food, especially weight full things like grapes, meat and nuts. This year we had big luck with the beech nuts. A mass of them fell down to the ground and the bears had only to pick them up. Because of that, all bears are in a very good condition of their weight.

Eddie seems also ready for hibernation. He got his winter fur and looks now like a furry ball.

The temperatures are sometimes close to zero at night and there is also frost. Eddie prefers it to stay in his cave in the afternoon and during the night. He brings all his toys into it and plays inside because of the bad weather.

He still wants to play with us. I try to find time every evening to run with him, of course with the fence between us. We are running up and down and he gets very tired (also me). After some minutes he goes his own way and searches for food or has a nap.

Between him and the other bears is still no possibility for co-housing . Brumca keeps him at distance if he comes to close to the fence. Maybe next year at mating-season Brumca will be open for something new! Now we are hoping that Eddie goes to hibernation in the wintertime.

Have a look at the pictures to see just how well he is doing!

 

Growing Together... Where Miracles Happen

For the last couple of weeks before I left Amman, and certainly since my return to the UK, people have been asking me,

“WHAT is it that you do DO?”

And in my attempt to answer that question I started thinking…..

Nine months ago, like a child, the thought of Growing Together emerged quietly into reality from the depths of dreams and half-formed ideas…Thanks to the Princess Alia Foundation, those feelings and beliefs were given the opportunity to take form and become real, bringing together hope and actuality into a programme of equine therapy for children with specialised needs.

In those nine months, we have had many stories of positive behavioural change, much anecdotal evidence of happier children, amazed teachers and thrilled parents, and day to day experience with children who are interacting and communicating more with the world around them.

There is the fifteen year old boy who no longer sits all day inside four walls afraid to leave his room, the boy who talks to his mother in sentences instead of sounds, the girl who summons what little upper-body muscle tone she has to hold herself upright independently on her horse, the boy who is wheel-chair bound and was able to be placed on a horse and rode, and the boy who spoke his first word ever when he pointed and said, “WOLF!!”

We have other stories too of course, stories of constant frustration with parents who refuse to share their children’s successes because of the social taboo in having an autistic child…stories of teachers who refuse to be pro-active with their students because it’s easier to sit doing nothing than to engage…stories of sponsors who moved the goal-posts and left us shaken….. Shaken, but not stirred… Growing Together will continue to function regardless of the vagaries of sponsors for at least another year.

During these past months, several professionals in the fields of psychology have approached Growing Together with the intention of committing the work to paper for academic review, but as I have told them, how can you measure a qualitative change in quantitative terms? There is no way we can record the changes to the children in a scientific manner because we do not have a control group, and the variables are infinite…But regardless of this obstacle, we have still had graduates observing the programme and commenting upon the positive changes they have observed in children’s behaviour. Their findings will be written up later this year.

 

For me personally, Growing Together has been a huge blessing and gift from the Universe. It has allowed me to work daily with animals I love, admire and respect, and to share those feelings with children and people that might otherwise never encounter the true gentleness of spirit that resides within every equine…The healing Power of horses has been recognised for centuries among many peoples, and it is truly an honour to be able to introduce the concept of equine therapy through Growing Together.

I have also been blessed with the help and assistance of many exceptional individuals, among them Lt. Col. Faisal Sherif, the Director of the Royal Stables, and his staff. Ghalia Norredin, the ever solid and organized Director of Development and Programmes at PAF. Our amazing “Go-Getter”, Sarra Ghazi Nasser, the CEO of PAF, and photographer extraordinaire, the teachers of all the schools that tolerate my lack of Arabic but still manage to co-ordinate with me, and of course, HRH Princess Alia…I cannot stress strongly enough what a truly genuine and beautiful person we are blessed to have at the head of the foundation…Unlike so many people in positions of influence, Princess Alia actually DOES make a difference and IS the good we want to see in the world.

When the mother of a dear friend asked me that question,

“And, what is it you do?”

I told her the answer was very simple….

“I walk up and down a hill all day leading horses, and God does the rest.”

Suyen Talken-Sinclair

Project Director

Growing Together

Little Teddy-Eddie embarks on a new journey...

Over the past seven months which Teddy-Eddie has been with us at New Hope, we have watched him grow, play, learn to trust and overcome some of his bad memories. We have shared with him many hours of laughter, joy and some heart-ache too.

We have been pushed to the limit of our creativity trying to come up with new ways and toys to keep him busy and we are proud to say in some things we have been successful! The one factor we are united on is that this little bear has stolen all of our hearts and will forever hold those pieces with him.

We have been blessed to have had the knowledge, experience and support of many who have shared in our love for Teddy namely; Stefan Knopfer (Arbesbach Bear Park,Vier-Pfoten International), Sharon Holden (all the way from Australia), Suyen Talken-Sinclair, Annelie De-Klerk and Herbert (Lionsrock SA), and most importantly the staff of New Hope - Dr. Zain Shaheen, Thair and Ismail without whose devotion, time, willingness and care we would not have been able to provide the care needed for this particular little one. There are two very special individuals who must be mentioned...Erik and Josje Dorssers, from Holland who have supported Teddy throughout his stay at New Hope. They have offered him the best possible food, enrichment, care and love and for this we will forever be in their debt.

Since the spring, we started to notice that although Teddy was in very good physical condition, we were not able to provide for his mental health. He was missing the one thing we could not provide...his family. Having been separated at birth from his mother and sibling (who sadly did not survive), Teddy was in desperate need of the physical and mental stimulation of his bear family. Having contacted Vier-Pfoten International and with their generosity and help the decision was taken to move Teddy to Abersbasch Bear Park in Austria with the hope that he may be adopted by a grand old female bear already happily settled at the park. The wheels were set in motion. We built the crate, did the paper work and started the count down to the start of Teddy's next big adventure.

This morning, May 30th 2011, we set off bright and early (5:00am to be precise!!) to New Hope to load Teddy into his crate and bid him a bon voyage.

Paperwork ready and in hand all that was left to do was to say 'Au Revoir' (never goodbye) and watch as Teddy started the first leg of his journey to his new home and God willing a better life.

The day passed slowly for all of us as we watched our phones for news of Teddy. Finally at 3:00pm the news we had been waiting for came; Teddy had arrived safe and sound at Vienna airport and after a quick vet check and some fresh water he set off on the second leg of his great adventure - his car ride to the bear park.

We are happy to report that Teddy arrived at the bear park at 7pm and was greeted by a 'Welcome  Teddy-Eddie poster along with a big basket filled with a little teddy bear, lollipops, fruit and sweets and  after long and stressful day of travel Teddy was released into his new enclosure and quickly set about  exploring his new surroundings.

We wait anxiously for more news on the progress of little Teddy-Eddie and meanwhile we take with us the lessons we learned through our time with Teddy; those of heart break, joy, love and trust...

Picture courtesy of Erik and Josje Dorssers



Spring at Growing Together

With the coming of Spring, and a profusion of flowers and greenery on site, Growing Together has acquired itself a new logo. Many thanks to Iona Fournie-Tombs, who took my rough concept and made it into a cyber-friendly reality!! As you may realize, the horse in the design bears a striking resemblance to Iago, and it is no little coincidence that the horse also sports a small star!

In my trusty “Insight Guide to Jordan” I recently read that Islamic Traditions attribute their (the horses’) source to the South Wind:

Then God took a handful of wind and fashioned from it a chestnut horse. He said, “I have created you, Arabian Horse; I have moulded you from the wind; I have tied Good Fortune to your mane; you will fly without wings; you will be the noblest among animals……God then blessed the horse with the sign of glory and happiness and marked his forehead with a star…”

Although I can claim total ignorance of all of this when I did the first rough sketches for the logo several months ago, I think it is strangely fitting that it should all have worked out so beautifully.

Another new addition to Growing Together is a wonderful play apparatus, generously donated by Shakir Mohammed Esmayeel of EAM Textiles. The play equipment had been in storage for a year waiting for “the right cause” to come along, and we were lucky enough to have been judged worthy! The children really love the equipment, as can be seen in some of the photographs, and it is a real Godsend when the children have to wait for their turn with the horses.

In fact, some children are SO enamoured that they rather play on the slides than on the horses! But that is fine too, since the real purpose is to have the children enjoy themselves and to interact socially. And with the clement weather and increased rainfall, our lake now holds many dozens of frogs and toads which some of the children take great delight in watching.

For those of our followers who are Arabian Horse enthusiasts in the UK, there is now an article on Growing Together in the Arabian Magazine edited by Sam Mattocks. It is hoped that the international audience of the magazine might include a child-loving philanthropist or two!

Although it has only been a couple of months since my last Blog entry, we have had some amazing developments at Growing Together with the children.

The boy who has had high-anxiety issues for many years will now walk down the track happily beside a horse and, with encouragement from his teacher, holds onto the lead rope as well. Three weeks ago he finally found the courage to actually touch the horse, albeit for only a fraction of a second, but he did repeat the gesture two more times! Too fast to be caught on camera though so we have no photographic evidence …Yet!! Nonetheless, the memory of the smile that flashed onto his face as he realized just what he had done is an image that I will never forget. Sheer unadulterated JOY.

Another young lad, about nine years of age, has lived with the complications caused by his mother having toxoplasmosis during pregnancy. When he came to Growing Together he was distant, gazed vacantly and did not interact in a pro-active manner. At school, his teachers now tell me that he recognizes them, he communicates his likes and dis-likes, he follows instructions, he is more independently mobile and he can now drink independently as well.

The boy featured in the magazine article, A Boy Called, “Horse!!” is now not only speaking but actively making choices at school and inter-acting with his peers on a daily basis; he expresses opinions and makes choices, he plays football.

One of our other boys who also started out anxious of the horses and barely verbal is now impatient to join in with the horses and happily jumps onto their backs without any hesitation. He is now able to communicate with his mother, making connections between her comments and future actions. When she tells him, “No school tomorrow,” he replies with “Horses!” and if she tells him it is “Friday tomorrow” he tells her “Farm!” because that is where they go on Fridays.

Suzanne, one of the few girls who come to Growing Together, is eighteen years old and has very elderly parents. They have cared for her all of their lives within the home, and only recently has Suzanne joined main-stream schooling. Understandably she was very anxious and scared of the unknown outside world, and showed her anxiety by biting and kicking anyone close enough to be a target. Her first session at Growing Together was a huge challenge for her and her teacher, but only three weeks later Suzanne is accepting of the horse which walks beside her and also willing to ride on one, albeit very slowly.

These are just some of the amazing anecdotal testimonies that we are receiving from teachers and parents whose children are involved with the Growing Together programme. We cannot say, of course, that the changes are due to Growing Together, but we can say that they have taken place after the children started coming to Growing Together.

Finally, my special moment happened in the foyer of the Holiday Inn Hotel at the Dead Sea...

My friend and I were waiting to return to Amman when we both spotted a lady on the other side of the room with a large child held on her hip. Due to the size of the child, the woman’s dress had hitched itself up around the child’s foot, exposing quite a decent length of leg. As soon as she was within earshot I called out to her, “Excuse me, your skirt….” And she quickly put the child down and came over to say thank you. As she was walking away her boy turned slightly and I recognized him as one of the children who comes to Growing Together. He is a challenging child, caused in no small part by his hyper-sensitive ears which appear to be an almost constant source of discomfort. The doctors say there is nothing wrong and so do nothing to help him…he is often seen screaming with his hands over his ears, or throwing himself on the ground in a “tantrum”…

“I know your son,” I said, ‘He comes to horse therapy with me.” At which point he turned around and saw me from about ten feet away. Immediately he ran over, threw his arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek! I don’t know who was the more surprised, me, his mother, her friends, or his teacher when I relayed the story soon after. And then he smiled and walked away into the dining-room, very quietly and composed.

This week he came to the site with a new piece of personal wardrobe…baby blue ear-muffs. Watch out for those photographs sometime soon!

Suyen Talken-Sinclair.
Growing Together
Amman.

The price of freedom...

For weeks now the world has been focused on the political events of the Middle East, watching in disbelief as thousands head to the streets in protest. The events which occured in Egypt are still on the minds of many, however one area of events is not being covered sufficiently (if at all) in Egypt and internationally. This is the very real suffering of many people and their animals, namely camels, horses and donkeys which are used in the tourist business in Egypt. An extremely large sector of the Egyptian population rely on these work animals as their sole source of income; one widow, for example, supported her twelve children through her two horses-both of which have died in the past weeks from lack of income to feed them- and two rented camels which were also in dire straits. With the events of late in Egypt, needless to say, the tourist business has ground to a halt. Where does this leave these families whose sole income was from income made through these animals? The picture below says it all (this may be disturbing for some)

Two  local Egyptian organisations, ESMA and then ESAF sent out worldwide appeals for help to assist them in funding food and medical assistance for the work animals, also providing some hope for the families and owners that they will not lose their only source of future income.

Vier Pfoten International and the Princess Alia Foundation, have joined forces and a team flew to Egypt to do just this. While Vier Pfoten have a team on the ground and are focused on the treatment and feeding of the animals, The Princess Alia Foundation has complemented their work by also providing funding to alleviate the direct needs of the people and the families who find themselves at their wits end.

On the 26th of February the Vier-Pfoten team, along with a number of volunteers (mainly student vets from the University of Cairo) set up their base camp and work began... The animals were suffering from severe malnutrition and many of them also had skin disease and open wounds. All the animals were treated and de-wormed and food supplies were issued to the owners through a system of vouchers. Each animal was given the appropriate amount of feed for one week (50 kgs per camel per week and 35 kgs per horse/donkey per week) in addition to this the owners were also given Alfalfa to supplement the basic feed. At the end of the work day of the 1st of March, food supplies for one week were provided to over 400 camels and 500 horses and two veterinary clinics were fully operational and treatment of the animals was well under way.

Vier-Pfoten and The Princess Alia Foundation also supported ESMA and ESAF in their efforts to provide feed to working animals and Vier Pfoten will co-ordinate closely with these two organisations in order to reach an effective and efficient system of distribution and to ensure that everyone receives the necessary assistance.

The pictures below (credited to Mihai Vasili) were taken in Egypt and show the extent of the suffering. We hope that we may all continue to assist in the feeding and treatment of the work animals in Egypt for as long as possible, and ensuring that the future of the families who rely on these animals for their own livelihoods is a bright one...

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated.
 
Please contact the Princess Alia Foundation at paf.jordan@gmail.com
 
or
 
Vier-Pfoten International at http://www.vier-pfoten.org/

Growing Together...

With the first month of the New Year 2011 about to come to a close and the Chinese New year of the Rabbit creeping into view, I thought it was time to bring everyone up to date with the latest developments at Growing Together.


The project has been running for a little over two months, and has been an unqualified success. We now have seven schools involved, with sessions held either before or after the noon-day divide, depending upon the schools’ individual transport schedules. Then, after school hours, we try to see children who can come privately with their parents, family or therapists, on a one to one basis. This allows people with special needs other than autism to become involved, and we have one boy attending who has been blind since birth, as well as others who are hearing impaired. The plan for the future is to extend the Growing Together programme to InSha’Allah includes children from local orphanages and those who are victims of domestic violence and/or abuse.

Our horse therapists continue to amaze and inspire their human counterparts! Iago has proved himself a true diamond in the rough, happily spending many hours with the children with unending good grace and patience. In one instance, working with a young lad who has high anxiety issues, Iago stood like a rock for half an hour while the boy summoned up the courage to move from twenty feet away to just inches from Iago’s side. Iago is a horse that truly gives of himself with the children, and he is definitely one that I constantly rely upon when I need a horse for a child who is nervous and afraid.

Reem, our “queen”, continues to look down her royal nose at us adults but is extremely gentle and caring with the children. While known as a “spirited” ride, when working on the Growing Together site she is the epitome of quiet grace. At one of the last sessions at the end of December, one of our children had his first epileptic siezure while he was walking with Reem down the track.. She immediately stopped and waited motionless beside him, while his carer did what needed to be done in this upsetting situation. The boy thankfully recovered very quickly, and once back on his feet wanted to continue walking with the horse! Of course, this had to be forgone for an immediate visit to his doctor.

Zippo, the tall, dark and handsome one, who won the hearts of ALL the teachers and carers, has been retired from the programme as he obviously thought it was too much like hard work! Every time we went to lead him from the paddock he would gently nip his handler as if to say, “No thank-you, not today,” so I have bowed to his preference and replaced him, although none of the others are as eye-stoppingly stunning!

As the programme expands, we are adding horses to make certain that the old favourites do not end up over-worked and jaded. Istabraq is still with us, as are Areej , Burkan and Chance (who is now happily a part of the herd and no longer an outsider!), but we are now also have a big bay gelding called Jericho and another called Skeeters…for "Mosquito," I am told! Alain continues to make the odd appearance when we need just one horse to familiarise a child with the programme, and he certainly does love to flirt with the Ladies as he is walked over from the Stables.

Due to the increase in numbers I have recently started advertising for volunteers to help with the weekly sessions, and have been very fortunate to have gained a young lady from Canada who is living in Amman, Iona, and a fellow Englishwoman, Jenny. I know that there are others who also hope to join us very soon! Without the help of such good people the project would be much harder to keep running smoothly, as the more horsey people I have helping me, the longer the children can stay on the horses during a session.

Another exciting development is that the local glossy magazine Luxury has generously offered to run a series of articles on the various PAF projects, including of course Growing Together, and I am hoping that we will also soon be featured in some of the Arabian horse press in other parts of the world. It is such a tribute to this old and noble breed that they can literally just “step into the shoes” of 'animal therapists', without any lengthy or specialised training. So often the Arab horse is maligned as being either just a pretty toy at the end of a lead rope or a mad, unmanageable creature that is too untrustworthy to turn your back on. Well, if nothing else, Growing Together continues to prove how inaccurate and prejudiced those perceptions are.

In much the same way, the children we work with are also defying stereotypes, as they continue to come out of their shells and interact with the horses and the natural world around them. One boy, who used to always just sit and stare vacantly at the ceiling, now really interacts with not just his horse but also his teacher. We have many instances of children who start out nervous of the horses but who soon find a link with them and then want to sit aboard one…and often do not want to come off! Some children have never managed to focus on anything and yet find that they can not only hold a rope but can also use that rope to get a certain response from their horse, and do so! For many of the children I work with, it is a new experience to be out in Nature and to be allowed the freedom to enjoy that nature, not having to worry about getting dirty, getting wet, or simply running loose without having a hand held. This freedom is a wonderful gift, and for that the site donated by HRH Princess Alia is priceless and unique.

Finally, the most touching moment, and there are many when you work with special needs children and animals, came with our blind boy, who although fifteen years old now has a mental age of eight due to complications in his incubator soon after birth. His parents came to me through one of the schools that I work with, because they wanted to find him some form of enrichment beyond what he was already doing.

His first session, one to one with just him and his parents, was derailed because all he could focus on was how hungry he was and dear father had forgotten the picnic in his haste to get to us! However his second session was far more successful. To begin with I asked his Dad to explain to his son what he was feeling as (let’s call the boy Ben) Ben stood besides Iago (yup!) and felt him all over. His Dad told me that Ben has a toy horse at home so he knows what one feels like…of course, Iago is slightly bigger….We then set off down the hill with Ben holding onto Iago and his Dad holding onto Ben. As we walked, I asked his Dad to explain to Ben what the sounds and smells were that he would be experiencing as we went, and Ben walked confidently along holding onto Iago’s rope as he managed the rocky track. When we returned to the yard, I asked if Ben would like to get onto Iago, and this he did…Now, imagine what that actually MEANS, a blind boy actually being trusting enough to get up onto a horse for the first time EVER…and then, we took our first step. And then the second. And by the third step Ben threw back his head and laughed…and laughed and laughed. It was the most wonderful moment and both Ben’s father and I just stood spell-bound at the sheer miracle we were witnessing. To remember it brings tears to my eyes; on the day, Ben’s father did well not to cry.

And so we go on. Growing Together, although relatively new, has been able to establish itself as a programme that is having amazing results. It continues to be offered free of charge by PAF to all individuals involved. Without the vision and confidence of the Princess Alia Foundation none of this would be happening. When I first came over to Jordan at the invitation of Her Royal Highness and Sarra Ghazi, their CEO, I was eventually told, “This will be your baby, YOU will have to run with it”…… Well, MaShaAllah, I’m still running………

Suyen Talken-Sinclair.

30 January 2011.

Shaballala's Final Request...

New Hope has been up and running for one year now, and while we have Thank God had some truly wonderful experiences with our "Guests", most of which have either been released into the wild or sanctuary enclosures as close as possible to that ideal , we have also had certain heartbreaking losses. While it is much nicer to read stories with " Happy endings", I do feel that the creatures who did not have that privilege-at least not during their earthly existence-also deserve to be mentioned here, for they were also players in this story and worthy at the very least of our acknowledgement and thanks for the lessons they left with us.


Our first loss was a beautiful little bulldog puppy, one of the batch of ten puppies and kittens mentioned in our blog under "The Terminal". They all arrived dehydrated and chilled right through. In spite of all our efforts she was the one who did not 'make it', drifting away the following morning. We comforted ourselves with the knowledge that she died after a night of love and nurturing, and not in fear and stress in a freezing hangar at the airport. Her group was just one of the hundreds of shipments of animals bred in puppy mills-in this case Eastern European - from probably unhealthy unvaccinated parents, weaned far too young, often themselves not vaccinated either with little inherited immunity and sent in internationally unacceptable ways to pet shops and dealers around the world. They arrive often without correct paperwork, either sick or susceptible to picking up disease, spend some time in an unsuitable pet shop and then are bought either out of pity or by someone who does not know better- spread their diseases like Parvo virus, and cat flu, and often die within days, breaking the heart of a child who was so thrilled to have this pet. PUPPY MILLS and the illegal trade of animals NEED TO BE STOPPED.

We also lost three striped hyena, who had been sent to another wildlife centre to be rehabilitated and released. Sadly, they were clearly not regarded as worthy of the care they deserved, one had to be euthanised due to an injury and two others we brought BACK to New Hope to be treated by us-sadly both were too far gone and also died, but again, amid warmth and respect and truly great efforts from our staff-Dr Hussein sat with one hyena's head in his lap for one whole night giving it strength and support. We are VERY grateful that six of these truly amazing creatures WERE released into the wild-one, a pregnant female, we HOPE delivered her litter safely as the RSCN reported that cubs tracks were seen shortly after in that area; we pray that this means her babies WERE "Born Free!" Our three AFRICAN (spotted) hyenas were returned to Africa, thanks to Vier Pfoten (and GREAT thanks to ARAMEX) and they now also run in a large natural enclosure in Lionsrock sanctuary visited by the occasional babboon brave (or silly) enough to climb inside! Most of us ,even the more experienced wildlife members of our teams, had to acknowledge that the Hyena in particular did much to alter our awareness: this species is normally NOT well regarded by humans- ( portrayals such as in The Lion King do not help) and are thought to be nasty, treacherous, cowardly, and in many places are also endowed with supernaturally negative folklore. From spending time around those in our care, we must speak up for them and say that they are courageous, adaptable, clever (NOT sinister) and POLITE. Yes POLITE! In the zoos here , they were among the most terribly frightened creatures, cowering in terror but snarling in defiance as keepers would show off by going in to take photos- thinking that it is "macho", to have a reputedly dangerous animal cringe at the sound of your voice. It is time we stopped stereotyping ANY species. The Universe is a WHOLE and EVERYTHING has its place. We owe it to the future health of the WORLD not to ignore, underestimate, persecute or neglect OR EVEN MISUNDERSTAND any part of it willfully. I recall one of the visiting sanctuary guests saying she felt, "a little bit ashamed", at having had a neutral or slightly negative idea about Hyenas, having now interacted with them. THAT is someone with SENSE and HEART. Ok, most of us don’t know about MANY MANY creatures and plants and insects but none of us have the right to say "Ugh", or "Yick",...it could well be playing a very specific and necessary role in the cycle of the Universe!!!

When we first established New Hope, we were amused to be greeted daily by a beautiful white and tan wild dog. She evidently roamed the area around there, but would come almost flying across the fields when she saw any of us arrive. She became a kind of mascot, eventually staying almost all the time around the centre, a happy presence and wonderful with new "guests",(particularly the wolves) who she seemed to have a way of reassuring by her presence. One visitor actually referred to her as, “Staff", which in a way she WAS. One day she did not come out of her outdoor kennel. When she did, it was clear that she had either been injured-hit by a car? Hit on the head? -or was suffering from some problem possibly a stroke. She fought for weeks, pottering about and eating and still trying to do her 'rounds'. She did not seem ready to give up, and we did not feel it right to take that decision -then one day she disappeared. We searched in vain for days, but it was not until a couple of weeks later that her body was found at the edge of the sanctuary land near a bush. I like to think she took herself off to die in her own place and time. She contributed a lot to New Hope, and even when her cheerful presence and fluid beauty of movement changed, she was still very much part of things-an example of loyalty and somehow responsibility. Jordan's wild dogs are WONDERFUL pets, brave, clever, loyal, and it is a real shame that because they do not have a ' fashionable', breed name they are less in demand than the poor creatures that flood in from puppy mills because of their BREED NAME and are often even if they survive their handicapped past, totally unsuited to our weather or the domestic situations in which they are landed.

Another sad episode was the batch of Cheetah cubs. They were intercepted by customs officials and sent to us by the RSCN to take care of. They appeared to do well for a couple of days, eating ravenously and chirruping like birds. There were four of them, and had been brought in two apiece in plaited rope sacks. They were cold and terrified (it was still winter) when they arrived but we were fortunate in having (again thanks to Vier Pfoten) a team including a big cat vet here at the same time as the cubs, and their collective concern from day one was that these four were much too young to be weaned. Cheetahs are in great demand as exotic pets for they are relatively easy to handle and 'safe', but they are also highly endangered and they are very FRAGILE internally, for all their speed and elegance. These little ones were no exception, and succumbed one by one to stress and lack of immunity. The last one died during the visit of yet another expert who did all humanly possible, including an operation at HCAW whose director and staff were truly helpful. The little cub had by then been fighting to survive for ten days, and was revived three times, causing real heartbreak and a sense of "what did we do wrong", but the post mortems of all showed the same thing-the cubs had suffered from very long-term stress and lack of immunity and had no chance. More recently, a good friend in Kuwait contacted me in search of help/advice for a cheetah cub which he had rescued and had as a pet. Sadly this one did not survive either in spite of many experts' assistance and cohesive input, and again the verdict was that these creatures must simply NOT be weaned too young, they have delicate systems made for THEIR lifestyles and the minimum chance we as humans should concede to them is a good START, enough time with mother to be strong, develop well and be confident enough to face the world without her-not stuffed into a shop or a zoo or circus too young, scared bewildered and already PHYSICALLY compromised.

Among the most dramatic patients at New Hope were two Bengal tiger cubs who were again confiscated by customs authorities and delivered to us by the RSCN, cramped together in a small wooden crate and reportedly intended (illegally) for a local zoo. They did have papers and were apparently siblings bred in a zoo in Syria. We named them Voovoozella and Shaballala- Vier Pfoten had again kindly agreed to home them at Lionsrock and as the World Cup was much in our minds when they arrived, South African names seemed suitable. Voovoozella's was particularly apt as in spite of their small size (yes-they were TOO YOUNG TO BE WEANED - AGAIN) both had unbelievably resonant deep roars and while the male was more inclined to trust humans after realising that we were not going to intentionally pressure or intrude on them, the young lady had clearly decided that humans were not creatures she wanted anywhere NEAR them-and indeed she would growl if any of us had the great honour of a friendly look from Shaballala, or the temerity to stroke him with a cautious finger through the bars- and having had the human offender back off apologetically she would then go over to her brother and cuff him or tell him off.

The two of them seemed to be doing well enjoyed swimming in their little pool, grew big and played and reassured a third tiger who was rescued from a local zoo in a state of dehydration malnutrition and great stress. They were due to leave for Lionsrock in early February, CITES permits done, and Aramex again kindly assisting. Then Shaballala began to walk strangely, as if he had a back problem. A vet from Germany flew over to see him and took blood tests which showed that he had suffered from some infection but he apparently responded to medication which our selfless vet Zein travelled by car to and from Beirut in one day just to obtain for him as it was not available here. We became very sanguine , but he relapsed and became in a very few days much weaker and unable to move much behind. Vier Pfoten once again rose to the occasion and altered their plans, obtaining permission for him to go to a specialised clinic in Germany. The two nights prior to departure, he had evidently been moving in and out of his night room ,and the MORNING of his departure he was on his feet walking, albeit weakly on his wasted hind legs-we were overjoyed.

Shaballala arrived in Austria and travelled to Germany. Sadly although he arrived safely, the news was not cheerful. The special scans showed tiny breakages in all his limbs, his pelvis, one in his spine. How could he have improved, and walked? Apparently tigers DO -they are floored by the first pain but struggle and appear to improve-then they collapse again with a new breakage...and what is the reason???? Large strong creatures like tigers, and also elephants, NEED ENOUGH MOTHER'S MILK to be viable adults; otherwise their system turns on itself and extracts calcium FROM THEIR BONES, however much we supplement from other food. He was weaned too young, and he didn’t really have a chance. The clinic in Germany were very kind, considerate, and understanding, and they let him go peacefully with our permission last night.

What does one say? How many more animals are we going to snatch and smuggle and breed in unsuitable conditions to satisfy our blind selfishness? Even I not so long ago, would have been thrilled at the thought of a cheetah as a pet, for example-and I say" even I", not because I am especially bright but because I actually HAVE tried to consider "the other", a little more, be it human animal or mineral, of recent years. But these creatures need to live THEIR lives, not just fulfill some silly image or whim of ours- our 'coolness', or 'majesty', at having SUCH a pet! Human beings far from home want to go back-even ones who have emigrated for whatever reason-they can be wealthier, healthier, freer, and mixing with others of the human RACE who speak the same language-but HOME is HOME. What makes us think that these creatures can be content in zoos, bullied in circuses, stared at with no privacy- exercised when it suits US? That is aside from the ghastly abuse of tigers and rhinos and other species for aphrodisiacs and folk remedies -hyenas are in demand for some part of their bodies to be used for WITCHCRAFT for goodness' sake!!!

It is time we realised that we are NOT in any way enhanced as individuals by these practices-we in fact are smaller, poorer, in our foolishness and arrogance. On behalf of brave Shaballala the little tiger who had to give up his dream of freedom in a big open sanctuary with his sister for the hopefully greater freedom of whatever tigers become after they leave their physical bodies, and who wanted to leave a message of hope for his species and ALL hunted persecuted and misunderstood BEINGS the world over- we in PAF do urge everyone to act, DO something-not just sign a petition, wear a T shirt, and forget about it until someone else touches you with a sad tale or photograph. Sign the petitions, wear the T shirts by all means, but we must all do MORE for the future of the creatures, this planet, and our own humanity, because what is being done is wonderful but IT IS SADLY NOT ENOUGH.

For those who love Disney's version of Tigger ... wake up or you may well find that you have no way to show your children the majesty and beauty of a tiger ....because Tigger may really become "The only ONE"!!!!!!