Those odd but fun moments..*

Dear readers.

It's not always easy to remember the moments we had with the animals and so I say thank goodness for a camera. Here are some of those moments you won't want to lose...

 Kisses to all!

Experimenting is fun!

Dear readers.

So we have been put to work on enrichment projects for certain animals in the wlc and it got me thinking about the cubs, although they aren't one of the animals on the list. So I was thinking of ice lollies like they do in the pictures on the internet when  you type in enrichment. I couldn't do a cake like the one picture indicated but we do have ice trays to use.

 So I called in one of the first years to help and see what we do so he can use it in his portfolio of evidence. First we took only blood but soon realized that it only turns into a soft freeze, not a solid. So we collected blood from the meat that we cut up for feeds, mixed it up with water and froze it in the ice tray. For better handling we inserted a piece of fat string so we could move it around without touching the ice because it melts very fast upon touching.

They enjoyed it so much and our experiment was a success!

News to use or lose..

Dear readers.

There have been quite a few new things going on at the wlc. One of them being our new classroom for meetings and class for the 1st years. It's very spacious and very well set up for lectures.

In the animal archives.. The two warthogs we have, Tinkerbell and Peter, were set free to go with Porkey our local in the wlc. They know him since their arrival and we trust  he will show them the ropes on the farm.

Also, our new babies are doing just great. We received a 2 day old Waterbuck but unfortunately it was not strong enough and it crashed during the night. We still have gizelle the black impala, Houdini the kudu male, a kudu female and an nyala male that is very small in size.We feed them during night duty at 9pm and we do another check during the night on the sable and the rest of the animals in the wlc.

They are very sweet at this age and we take special care when it comes to hygiene with them, because their immune systems are very weak. We do still stimulate some of them but things are looking good.

The first years have been a very big help when it comes to doing things in and around the wlc. We started with a spring cleaning project in the building so everything had to be removed, cleaned, and placed back inside the cleansed building. We sprayed the building inside with S.O.S which is a sterilizer and this also gets rid of the flies.

 This is Gunther spraying the S.O.S in the prep area.

 All the items that needed to be removed and cleaned before getting placed back in their rightful places.

Lisette, one of our new 2nd years, sweeping out the clinic after the items have been removed.












Now we can strive in our work in a clean working environment. Thanx everyone for the hard work!

The little things in life

Dear readers.

So the first years are coming along nicely and we are going to be teaching them how to go into the cages and the do's and don'ts about each animal. They have been very helpful around the wlc and they are very energetic and ready for work.

They have started with helping us with the preparation of food and meats, packing the storage rooms and cleaning up all around after working.

In the meantime we have moved Lex to her new enclosure and she is absolutely loving it! We built a cage outside thewlc with a dam for her and some hills for her to climb on. We had to prepare the cage first so we burnt the old branches and drove away the wasp and bee nests.

So now that the cage is ready we had Sieg and Lauren let her out of her old cage and walk her around to her new cage. She did this very well considering she was on lion walks when she was still a cub and not much since then. She loves chasing the birds in the mornings and she did get a shock to the snout when she tested the electric fence.

New additions*

Dear readers.

We are quite busy at the wlc at this time with all the new animals coming in but luckily our first years have started and so we have 6 extra people that can help us.

Gizelle:

This is a very special animal as it is a black Impala. She is very expensive and unfortunately we don't get to keep her but we do get to rehabilitate her. She came in very weak and at a very young age but she is doing splendidly now.

Romeo:

He came in at two weeks and he is a red heartebees. We had a drip on him and we took a blood sample, he had very low blood pressure as well but he is running around now giving us a run for our money and doing great!

ZENA:

She is our little teddy bear at the wlc. She is a gemsbokkie and she is very sweet hearted. She welcomes all our new animals like the kudu and the impala and makes them feel at home.

The 6 little princesses..*

Dear readers.

 Their mothers were first time mothers and they got nervous. They did not have enough milk to provide to all the little ones and so we must ween them and then they can go back as meat lovers.

It's very interesting to see how their personalities come out and how they challenge each other.
MISHKA:

She is the smallest one with the biggest ego! She tests the bigger ones, that's why she has a lot of battle scars in her face. She also has what we call a lock jaw and a very bad temper. We lock her up in a separate cage when we take guests in  for a lion interaction because if she gets something in her mouth, be it you clothes or your finger, she does not let go no matter what! Poison in a bottle...

MIARA:

 

She is Mishka's other half. She is the sweetest little one but she still has the tendency to go for your face. When we feed them she needs to go into the cage with her food because she eats the slowest and so the others want to take her food from her. She knows the drill and when we go in with the food she already waits inside the cage for you to place her food and close her up safely.

SIERRA:

She is one of the cute ones because she loves climbing on top of you and giving you hugs. How we know the difference between her and Sahara is she is a very light color on the tummy vs Sahara's darker fur.


SAHARA:

They will be staying with us and made used to Lex so when they are 8months old they will go in with Lex and form their own pride.

SHILOH:

She is one of the older ones, by two weeks, but very sweet and loving. As they are older they are much more playful so caution is expressed when playing with them. They might think it's playtime but for us it kind of hurts a lot!

TOSCA:

She is the oldest female cub we have in the cage and how we know the difference between her and Shiloh is that Tosca is a darker lion vs Shiloh's lighter fur.

CODEE:

Codee is our only male lion on the farm. He is a new addition and he is a white lion. He is a special situation though as his brain does not function 100% as it should. This means he is unpredictable and unstable. He was the runt of his family and he is the size of a 4month old lion but in reality he is 6months old.