A beautiful day spent at Bally Vaughan

Environment
It seemed almost criminal that this was my first visit to Bally Vaughan!

It seemed almost criminal that this was my first visit to Bally Vaughan!

Report by Rosie Mitchell

How many times had I driven past the gate on the way to Umfurudzi wilderness area, swearing to make the time for a visit? But the years had rolled by!

So having a visiting relative from South Africa for a brief period provided a perfect occasion to go out there at last and see exactly what Bally Vaughan does and why.

We invited my sister-in-law, nieces and nephew along and they jumped at it — children love to visit Bally Vaughan. They had been several times already and never tire of it.

The animals themselves are absolutely enchanting, of course, and there is also a natural swimming pool and water slide which children love, a restaurant, pretty scenery, crafts to buy and domestic pets to play with too.

Many people interested in animal welfare and environmental issues, myself included, follow Sarah Carter’s excellently written, touching and always amusing newsletter about goings-on at this long established animal sanctuary out on the Shamva Road, past the first toll gate.

Running a place such as this requires huge amounts of hard work, dedication, stamina and endless fund-raising efforts; for expenses are high, need is great, and will never end and nothing is ever predictable!

None of us would wish for wild animals to live in any sort of captivity, but facts of the matter are that, due to all kinds of cruel illegal activities all over the world, there is the need for sanctuaries for animals who have been mistreated and abused, usually born in captivity, who will never be able to fend for themselves in the wild.

For a start, there is a thriving illegal global trade in wild animals as pets — something they just never should be!

Then there are pets that escape, and this too often ends in tragedy as either they cannot fend for themselves, or if up to a point they can, exotic animals pose an ecological disaster in the making, for they are likely to compete with indigenous species and may overwhelm these, upsetting the fine balance of nature.

Indeed, this is exactly the case where families of marmosets living at Bally Vaughan are concerned!

These endearing little monkeys from South America must have been smuggled into Zimbabwe illegally as pets.

They escaped and Bally Vaughan was called in to rescue and keep them. Now, they must be kept very carefully in captivity, as they would likely compete in the wild with our native bush babies.

Not all animals should be domesticated

Mankind has over many centuries bred some animals to the point where they cannot survive without our care — the domestic animals who provide food, clothing and milk for us, those that have been bred as our companions and working animals — cats, dogs, horses, donkeys, mules camels and so on.

But chimpanzees, lemurs, marmosets, meerkats, genets, baboons, vervets, mongooses and so many other wild animals kept as pets by misguided people, were never meant to live with human beings.

Where people have rescued an orphaned infant wild animal and hand reared it to save its life, with good intentions, an animal might become habituated enough to humanity that this might not end in tragedy, the animal might happily live out its days with people.

But so often, wild animals kept as pets, on reaching puberty, become unmanageable.

Having lost their “cuteness quotient” they are now viewed as a nuisance factor and it can all end in tears.

Vaughan’s haven for abused animals

Bally Vaughan provides a safe and humanely-devised home with plenty of space for several lions, all of them with tragic stories of cruelty and abuse, and rescued from illegal lion breeding operations, which have run rampant in Zimbabwe in recent years.

All have been born into captivity and can hence never be rehabilitated for release. All were being kept in the most horrific and cruel conditions.

They will live out their days in the sanctuary, with as good a quality of life as can be given to these unfortunate creatures which should never have been bred by these illegal money-hungry breeders in captivity in the first place — destined for “canned” lion hunting and other scurrilous purposes which have no regard for the welfare of animals whatsoever.

The single exception is where wild animals have been born into the legal, very carefully regulated worldwide network of zoos who make it part of their task to prevent extinction of species.

These programmes carefully ensure that the gene pool is sufficient to prevent disorders of inbreeding.

Bally Vaughan provides safe harbour to both wild and domestic animals which have suffered abuse, cruelty neglect, or otherwise cannot fend for themselves.

It has a strong education programme in place and a volunteer programme too, through which adults come to help care for the animals, while children can do the same as part of the “Young Ranger” programme during school holidays.

The original misfortune of the animals living here thus, is turned to the good, for thousands of visitors come through and learn much about wildlife and the environment and enjoy being able to see these beautiful animals up close and personal, and are able to see for themselves that they are now well cared for.

I heartily recommend a day’s visit to enjoy the animals, scenery, relaxed environment, enthusiastic management, staff and volunteers, and appreciate the really great job being done.

The children will love it, too.

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