Tuesday 21 June

We returned to work after our wonderful weekend safari.  Here we found that there has been a problem over the past week with some turtles.  A man running a Chinese restaurant in Lilongwe was found to be breeding turtles, which is illegal, added to which he was obviously causing the turtles great distress as most of them were dead.  The only one found alive was transported here last week, while the would-be breeder was arrested.  Unfortunately the turtle did not do well - he put on weight overnight the first night when he was placed in a large container with water, and it was assumed this was because he was very dehydrated. But he refused to eat. Of course, it is very difficult to tell what is wrong with a turtle.  Their shell is very protective, so it’s not possible to check for inflamed internal organs, or an internal injury that might be the result of abusive treatment. After consulting marine experts, it was also felt that a failure to eat could be related to trauma, shock, or just fear of us.  It was decided therefore that as he is a Malawi turtle his best chance for survival was to be released back into the wild.  He was taken to Liwange National Park and released in a small pond there where his species of turtle thrive, but was found dead several days later.

We have now received another 3 turtles, from a different source this time, and we are adapting an enclosure for them.  It has a good sized pond, and the larger and middle turtles seem to be able to climb in and out as they wish.  The smallest hasn’t climbed out yet, that could be because he can’t or won’t, again perhaps fear of us.  So today we have been building a slide of natural local stone that he will be able to climb on, and a bed of sand to entice him to rest.  They have a good diet of fish and snails, with access to all sorts of wild insects growing in the plants around their enclosure.  We are considering putting someone on turtle observation, which has to be the most tedious job in the world!  We want to see that the little one can get in and out, and that they are all eating.  And obs would have to be done via a hole in the bamboo fencing so they are not frightened by our presence.  I am happy to say that I am trained for lion obs, so suspect someone else will have the happy task of watching this lot.

Meanwhile, Yanni is continuing to enjoy caring for Bird, who has left his little box several times and hopped around his enclosure.  He is now usually found inside his box or perched on top of it, the lord of all he surveys.  His look is still terrifyingly severe, and as he has grown he has become more able to struggle and fight off the vet who wants to weigh him to check he is putting on weight.  His aggression is of course a very good sign, as if he were to become humanized he may approach a human/humans after release and so be killed or captured for sale on the illegal pet market.  He is due to learn to fly soon, and we think he is possibly gearing up to it - so maybe soon we will see him jump down from the box and give it a go.  Once he can fly and so keep himself reasonably safe, we can look at places he can be released.  I know that with monkeys we gradually introduce them to a troupe of monkeys of the same species, and once their relationships have stabilized within that troupe, and they have learned appropriate social and browsing behavior, they can all be released together.  I doubt that can be done with the eagle, however, as they tend to live either alone or in pairs, so we await with bated breath to hear what can be done.

Bird