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ZCTF Report: Appeal for Tatenda
Following the appeal circulated for funds to put towards a reward for the
capture of the criminals who gunned down the 4 rhino, Amber, her almost
full term unborn calf, DJ and Sprinter at Imire Safari Ranch, the
following is a thank you letter from John and Judy Travers of Imire:


IN MEMORY OF AMBER, DJ AND SPRINTER

Imire Safari Ranch  What is man without the beast? If all the Beasts
were gone man would die from
great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts soon
happens to man.
All are connected". - Chief Seattle
Imire Safari Ranch, would like to thank each and every one of you, who
without hesitation, have put your hands deep into your pockets, to help us
find the culprits to the murder of our four beautiful  Rhino.

The response has been overwhelming, we never thought it would get to this.

The cry for justice, the need to protect and cherish what is left of these
already endangered animals , has affected so very many people, all over
the world.

The letters of concern, of condolence, of reward have helped us all on
Imire to realize we are not out there in the wilderness on our own. Its
been extremely heart warming and therapeutic to share your understanding
of our need to protect the few rhino left on our planet. To know of the
joy the Imire Rhino have brought to so many people, its been wonderful.

Thank-you for all you have donated, however large or small, we hope it
will bring the perpetrator to sentence. The carrot is big.

We have set up a new Account, it's a Trust run by Steve Turk. Any monies
that have been put into the Zimbank a/c will be transferred tomorrow. This
is for Zimbabwean Residents.

Details

DatVest Nominees

Stanbic Bank,

Parklane

01 4000 481 860

Imire Black Rhino Fund.

For Foreign Donors

We are close to registering Imire Reward Fund with a Charity known as

Conservation Zambezi, based in the UK. The Rhino's original homeland ..the
mighty Zambezi.

As soon as the finer details have been completed we will inform you all.

I'm so very sorry we haven't been able to get back to each of you
individually, we will in time, I can assure you. It's just that life has
been in a bit of a turmoil of late, and together with no power, even less
telephones, and a computer that will not send off photo's, we have been so
slow in thanking you all.

All monies are to be dealt with by the Trusts.

Of course if we don't find the culprits, all your money will be returned
to you.

We feel very strongly that National Parks must play an important role in
this vital search. We have a meeting with them tomorrow, hopefully they
will do the posters with the National Park emblem, and be responsible for
the distribution of the Reward Posters.

Tatenda is great, very happy and settled in his new home, joining his new
family whenever he can.He loves his walks with the dogs and PigglePoggol
the warthog, he is beautiful.

 What a privilege it is to be his Mum.

Thank-you, again from us all on Imire, and from us all in Zimbabwe, for
your support and wishes to find the perpetrators of this evil crime of
destroying what isn't ours anyway, the Black Rhino.

We will keep in touch with you all.

Yours sincerely

John and Judy Travers



APPEAL FOR TATENDA

Judy Travers has now become the substitute mother of Tatenda, the little
rhino who was left orphaned by the tragedy at the age of 6 weeks.

MOTHERLY LOVE

Keeping Tatenda alive is not just a simple matter of filling a bottle with
milk and feeding him. The milk he needs must have the same components as
his mother's milk. Without this, he will die. He also needs glucose water,
vitamins and teats. Not only is this extremely expensive, but after
numerous phone calls, we have found that some of the nutrients required do
not seem to be available in Zimbabwe. Tatenda goes through a lot of teats
because he chews them and so far, we haven't been able to find any.

In order for Tatenda to stay alive, he requires the following, every month:

  a.. 60kg skimmed milk powder with NO fat.  Any fat in the milk will kill
him. b.. 24kg glucose powder
  c.. 3 litres Datvitamin syrup - the same type given to children
  d.. 3 litres Pentavita citrus flavoured syrup
  e.. Lots of teats - about 10cm long
Please, if anyone can help with any of the above, with funds or just by
telling us how we can obtain these things, we would be very grateful. Our
contact details are at the foot of this report. The black rhino is an
endangered species and we cannot stress enough how important it is to keep
Tatenda alive.

The glucose powder is available in Zimbabwe but we don't know how long
stocks will last and we have so far only been able to find 3 x 200ml
bottles of Datvitamin syrup. We have been told that the fat free skimmed
milk powder is only available in New Zealand. If anyone knows where else
we can obtain it, please let us know as soon as possible. With regard to
the Pentavita syrup and the teats, we have phoned numerous outlets and
have not been able to find them.

The ZCTF team has been visiting Tatenda at Imire and we cannot adequately
describe what an incredibly beautiful and perfect little animal he is. For
a truly unforgettable experience, we encourage everyone who is within
driving distance of  Imire, to go and meet him while he is still a baby.

MEETING TATENDA

A word of warning though, having lost his mother, Tatenda tries to suck
anything he comes in contact with, for example:

Arms and especially knees

He is particularly partial to knees so don't disappoint him by wearing
trousers.


MAIN ATTRACTION

Although Tatenda is currently the main attraction at Imire, he is by no
means the only attraction. You will witness the amazing sight of an
elephant who thinks he is a buffalo and has become the leader of the herd.
Under the circumstances, the buffalo probably didn't have much choice in
the matter. When a buffalo calf died, this elephant dug a metre deep grave
in the hard dry earth, pushed the little buffalo into it and covered the
grave with soil.

You will also have the privilege of being able to touch fully grown
elephants in the wild. You will be able to have lunch at a beautiful site
in the game park, overlooking a dam, whilst watching the elephants
frolicking in the water.

Anyone wishing to visit Imire should phone them in advance to give them
the chance to prepare food, refreshments and game drives for you. Their
phone numbers are 022 2354 or 022 2094. For those who would like to stay
for a few days, they have lovely chalets and a swimming pool and their
prices are very reasonable. The turn-off is on the Mutare Road, just
before Marondera if you are travelling from Harare. It is well sign-posted
so you can't miss it. Please help to save Zimbabwe's remaining black rhino
population by supporting them.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Tel:               263 4 336710
Fax/Tel:        263 4 339065
Mobile:          263 11 603 213
Email:            This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website:        www.zimbabwe-art.com
Website:        www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
 

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