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Over the years Chipembele has become a wildlife refuge for orphaned and injured animals. With full authority from the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) animals are reared and then rehabilitated to the wild as soon they are ready. None are ever kept as pets.

Animals that have been successfully reared or nursed and rehabilitated at Chipembele include: warthogs, vervet monkeys, yellow baboons, bushbucks, squirrels, scrub hares, a Sharpe’s grysbok, a hyena, a pangolin, a serval and a variety of birds.


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The most successful animals to have been reared at Chipembele have, without doubt, been warthogs. Although they return to the wild very easily, they also return regularly most days for a mud bath or drink of water and the females bring their latest babies. Roxy, a warthog who was raised from a 2 week old baby in 2004, went on to have 3 litters in consecutive years, but was very sadly illegally shot on Christmas Day 2008. Her daughter Ruby from 2 years ago took on Roxy's tiny orphans in addition to her own 2 babies. Amazingly, they all survived and in October 2009, she gave birth of another 3 babies and they stayed together as a large family group of 9. Ironically however, a year to the day after Roxy was killed, Ruby was taken by lions. A reminder that life in Africa can be tough, harsh and unjust as well as joyous.

An orphaned buffalo, Elton, came to Chipembele in 2008 when he was just a few days old and spent a year being reared there until a suitable place for him was found to continue the long process of his rehabilitation to the wild. He was taken to Liuwa Plains National Park in Western Province, where he joined a herd of semi-wild buffaloes from an island in Lake Kariba. The project is being managed by the Africa Parks Foundation, who aim to re-introduce buffalies to the Park. Unfortunately, the 19 buffaloes are inbred, so it is hoped that Elton will one day mate with the females and help increase the genetic diversity of the herd.

3 young orphaned elephants have also been reared at Chipembele for a month each before being translocated to the Elephant Orphanage Project in Kafue National Park. Chamilandu, Chudoba and Tafika are now a family group and are under a carefully managed rehabilitation scheme that aims to facilitate their natural rehabilitation to a wild herd in the Park one day.

Orphaned Animal Update
December 2009


Ebony was brought to us in November 2009 as a 2-week old orphan with a broken leg. Children in a local village had killed his mother for stealing mangoes from the trees in their village. He sat screaming in a tree in the village for a day and a night, abandoned by the rest of the troop who were unable to care for him and who were driven to move on in the eternal search for food. An older boy finally snatched Ebony from the tree and in doing so snapped his leg bone in two and then they all began playing with him. Fortunately he was rescued by the Forestry Officer's wife who insisted her husband find some transport to bring him the 18km to Chipembele.
Later, a British doctor working in the local clinic confirmed my diagnosis of a broken femur and advised it was best not to splint as it would be unlikely to hold and may set in a position not suitable for the monkey.

And so we left it and waited. Ebony was quiet but not seemingly in pain and after a few weeks the leg bone amazingly healed by itself. He now has full mobility (though as he spends a lot of the time in the house with me I sometimes half wish he hadn't!). He now has a friend, Nzombo, who is a few weeks younger and was again seized from a group of children who were playing with him and no sign of the mother. The two are inseparable and very happy together. When they sleep they hug each other tightly and Nzombo sucks on Ebony's ear like a dummy. It is hoped they will be rehabilitated to a troop in the wild any time after weaning which is around 6 months old. Nzombo was named after the place where he was found, Chinzombo, meaning the place of the wild rose tree.

Also in November two tiny bushbucks were brought to us by ZAWA from the town of Chipata, 180 km away. The story behind them being orphaned is not known. The 6 year old daughter of the ZAWA Ecologist named the first, a male, Bambi and we named the second, a female, Honey. Bambi's eye was injured and she had a badly infected cut to her ear but after a few weeks of medication all healed up perfectly. Fortunately our two Jack Russells happily accept the orphaned animals that appear in our lives and they all play together in harmony. It is a joy to watch. Molly in particular is very maternal and mothers them.

After a month of continual milk feeds in the cage they were released, knowing they wouldn't go far, to take advantage of the wonderful fresh green vegetation that is growing in abundance now the rainy season has begun. They stay in the bushes close to the house and let us know when they are hungry for milk by bleating like  a lamb under the windows! They will slowly rehabilitate themselves tot he wild but will probably stay in the area, just like Sprite who we reared in 2002. She is totally wild but comes to the house every day for rest and water (and a bit of fuss and attention!)

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