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 2006,
and the first half of 2007 have been very exciting times
for us at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre.
Highlights have included the launch of our Education
Programme; our CITES accreditation; and a very successful
fundraiser in London. Most recently, we have just launched
our brand new website.
Our plans for the remainder of 2007 are primarily
focused on further extending and developing the education programme;
a continuation of our breeding programmes; more focus on our efforts
to raise funds through the adoption of animals; and general fundraising
to bring in much needed cash flow to support and sustain the many
animals who are housed and cared for at the Centre.
In an effort to conserve our environment by being mindful of un-necessary
paper wastage, we have elected to focus much of our marketing in
an electronic format. The quarterly Cheetah Chat will now be distributed
via e-mail.
We are delighted to announce that our new website has gone live.
With a new web address, www.hesc.co.za,
we are confident that you will find the site informative,
enlightening and inspiring. We welcome any feedback
you may have to make this electronic medium more user-friendly.
Send your comments to: info@cheetahresearch.org.za
The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre has provided sanctuary
to two lions and a tiger found in appalling conditions after being
abandoned by a travelling zoo in Portugal.
The rescue mission, a joint initiative by Animal Defenders International
(ADI) and the Hoedspruit Centre, was successfully concluded when
the animals arrived safely at the Centre on 02 February 2007.
 The
cats reached their safe haven after a cross-continental flight from
Portugal to Johannesburg, a five-and-a-half-hour road transfer to
the Hoedspruit Centre and months of negotiations to obtain the necessary
permits to bring them to South Africa.
The rescue of these animals is the latest collaboration in a series
of missions conducted over the years by the Hoedspruit Centre and
ADI.
Says Lente Roode who travelled to Lisbon to escort the animals
to Hoedspruit “We are thrilled about the synergistic relationship
that has evolved between Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre and
ADI over the years. Finding like-minded organisations who share the
vision to protect and rehabilitate wildlife species enables us to
pursue our objectives as preservers of the environment and its inhabitants.
“
 The
animals were also accompanied on their journey by Jan Creamer, ADI
chief executive, and Professor Dave Meltzer, the Hoedspruit Centre’s
chief veterinarian and manager of the wildlife breeding programmes.
The cats have been released into the ADI Rescue Centre
on the premises which was sponsored by ADI and built
in 2006 to accommodate their rescued animals. Click
here to view incredible footage of their release.
For further information and images, please click on the following
link: www.hesc.co.za/conservation3.htm
 The
Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) has received accreditation
from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as a captive breeding operation of
the species Acinonyx jubatus (cheetah).
The accreditation, granted in August 2006, makes it one of only
two centres in South Africa registered to breed the species classified
by CITES as an Appendix 1 (endangered) species in many African countries
and vulnerable in South Africa.
Professor Dave Meltzer,
Chairman of the HESC, says the accreditation endorses the conservation
credibility of the Centre which is widely acclaimed as one of the
leading private research and breeding facilities for endangered species
in the country. The Centre was established in 1989 and since it opened
to the public in 1990, 229 cheetah cubs have been born there.
Commenting on the captive breeding policy of the HESC, Prof Meltzer
explains: “From the outset, the HESC has focused on the breeding
of cheetahs in captivity with a view to releasing the animals into
the wild. This was done to combat the anomalous situation under which
the animal was classified as Appendix 1 (endangered), but was also
regarded as vermin in the pastoral farming areas of South Africa.”
Read more about CITES here: www.hesc.co.za/CITES.htm
Acclaimed environmental journalist and TV host Michelle Garforth
and her team visited the HESC in October 2006 to film material for
use in her programme Wild Ltd which was screened on SABC 2 in January
2007. The programme filmed was aimed at investigating the plight
of wild dogs which are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The programme showed four wild dogs that had escaped from an adjacent
reserve being darted and taken to the Hoedspruit Centre where they
were provided sanctuary until they could be returned from whence
they had escaped.
The king cheetah born at the HESC in mid-winter last year and named
Michael after His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent,
has grown into a fine youngster. Eight months old already,
Princess Michael now displays the typical king colouring
and markings and can be seen romping playfully with
her companion in an enclosure at the centre.
More recent births at the Centre include three African
wild cats, two black-footed cats and two blue cranes.
All are doing well.
 Simply
talking about conservation is not enough. Bringing in generous donations
from concerned people or groups for 'the cause' is not enough. Translating
ideas and passions into immediate personal action, as every
dedicated conservationist will agree, is great, but in terms
of sustained conservation it is only just starting to get there.
Unless our leaders of tomorrow - the youth - are made sharply aware
of the need to understand and personally own the complexity
of conservation issues that threaten the planet, we
are lost.
We are pleased to advise that the dedicated schools programme launched
at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre eighteen months ago is
now moving into the second phase of development.
Over the past year-and-a-half more than 1000 learners have
had up-close and personal experiences of the cheetah and
other endangered species during visits to the HESC. Under the management
of the chairperson, Prof Meltzer, world authority on the cheetah
and resident veterinarian together with the consultant educationist
Ted Townsend, the Centre's Education Programme has operated
in association with the South African Environmental Observation Network. With
the generous support of key donors, education experiences have ranged
from experimental and research fieldwork and classroom projects
to hands-on contact with cheetahs.
The Education Programme is presented by qualified rangers and guides
all trained in the basic education skills needed to ensure professional
education input.
The programme falls into three parts: Special Education Events,
Regular Schools Visits and Local School Interventions linked
to the Cheetah Adoption Programme. This means that the Education
Programme covers visits to schools as well as visits by schools and
special groups to the HESC. This means that the Centre has a particularly wide reach
because it caters for schools across the country as well as servicing
and supporting local rural schools.
In all cases, the input and support is educationally designed to
correspond with the requirements of the National Education Curriculum.
This in turn means that there is pull-through to the classroom, a
fact that enhances top-of-mind awareness in both the learners and
the educators.
The HESC Education Programme is a sustainable project and encourages
on-going educator participation that is linked to significant
incentives.
For more information on the education programme, click
here.
The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre is a non-profit organisation
and is totally dependent on donations to maintain the various projects
undertaken in terms of research, relocation, education and rescuing
orphaned animals.
Please become involved in helping the centre to conserve the endangered
wildlife of Southern Africa. Any donation or sponsorship (be it in
the form of expertise, products or money) is most welcome as the
need is great and the resources limited.
Alternatively, why not adopt an animal? Click
here for further details.
 Your
contribution will make a huge difference. THE POWER OF ONE IS BOUNDLESS.
The capacity of an individual to make a real difference to the management
of the planet and its resources is what we, as proponents of conservation
and sustainability of our world’s heritage, depend on.
Registered non-profit organisation: 016-199 NPO
We also have a detailed “wish list” for items that
are always needed at the Centre. For view of this list, click
here.
Those who have made a difference by contributing to the Centre
of late include:
| The late Mrs Gill Parr |
Financial contribution |
| Heidi and Allen Roberts |
Financial contribution |
| Clare Emary |
Financial contribution |
| Dana Nott |
Financial contribution to fund
an electronic collar for a cheetah
released into the wild |
| Mr & Mrs Jack Crowell |
Financial contribution |
And our Cheetah adoptive parents are:
| NAME |
COUNTRY |
ADOPTION DATE |
CHEETAH |
TYPE OF ADOPTION |
| Dr Charles G Garbaccio |
USA |
13/4/2006 |
Sheila |
Full adoption |
| Mr Steven & Mrs Mandy Bracknall |
United Kingdom |
01/10/2006 |
Tiaan |
Full adoption |
| Mr Brian & Arlene Wilkens |
USA |
13/10/2006 |
Tom |
Full adoption |
| Annemieke Romeijn |
Netherlands |
23/4/2007 |
Sebeka |
Full adoption |
| Family Mak VanWaay |
Netherlands |
04/5/2007 |
Makkie |
Full 5 yr adoption |
| Mr & Mrs Hodel |
Switzerland |
May 2007 |
Bjelki |
Full adoption |
On behalf of the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, we wish
all of our donors, adoptive parents and visitors our heartfelt thanks!
 A
promotion by Harley-Davidson in conjunction with Getaway and Wegbreek
magazines at the end of last year in aid of the Hoedspruit Endangered
Species Centre (HESC) generated huge interest and a substantial financial
benefit for the Centre.
The promotion which was aimed at generating subscriptions for Getaway
and Wegbreek resulted in a donation of R54 000 to the HESC and 7
884 new or renewed subscriptions for the magazines. The overall winner
of the promotion won a prestigious Harley-Davidson V-Rod worth R174
000.
Lente Roode was delighted with the donation which will be utilised
to help finance the work conducted at the HESC.
The promotion was initiated by Jos Joubert, a keen nature lover
and owner of Harley-Davidson Menlyn, his wife Elsabe and Stirling
Kotze, Getaway and Wegbreek publisher. Endorsed by the six Harley-Davidson
dealers in the country, the promotion was advertised in Getaway magazine
and by means of a V-Rod purchased by the dealers, painted to resemble
a cheetah and donated to Getaway. Various trips undertaken in the
country on the bike further advertised the promotion.
The Harley-Davidson dealers that participated in the promotion
are Cape Town, Rivonia - Johannesburg, Clearwater - Johannesburg,
Menlyn - Pretoria, Gateway - Durban and Thousand Hills - Pinetown.
If there is something you would like to see in future newsletters,
please drop us a line.
It is only through feedback that we are able to tailor-make our communications
to suit your requirements.
In the spirit of conservation of our planet and its inhabitants,
The Team at The Hoedspruit Endangered Species
Centre
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Snippets
from the Wild