Wendy's Release Back into the Wild

It's been almost a month since Wendy first joined the Ubizane family. A month of loving scratches and tummy rubs, of being spoiled with hand fed grass and mixed veggie buffet..

After becoming used to the area from the safety of her Boma, the time finally arrived to release Wendy back into the wild. Emotions were bitter sweet. While this had been the joint goal of CROW and Ubizane from the beginning, it also meant that we would have to say goodbye to one of the newest members of our family.

On the morning of the 23rd of December 2013 we were joined by members from CROW. After some discussion we chose to release our dear friend near one of the dams on our reserve. Wendy seemed to agree with our decision as she confidently and quickly explored her new home. 

Even with all the excitement Wendy was not one to forget her manners. She shared a tender good bye with her adoptive father Tiaan and Estie Allan from CROW.

Everyone headed back to the Lodge after a successful release but there were still concerns that Wendy had grown too attached to people as Warthogs are known to be exceptionally loyal animals. Our fears were soon quelled when we all saw how comfortable she was during a recent visit to her new home on Christmas day.

We at Ubizane are so thankful to CROW for giving us the opportunity to aid in the re-integration of this beautiful animal to the wild. 

Having a part in such an amazing story bought back so many memories of our beloved Tiban.(http://www.ubizane.blogspot.com/2012/12/final-farewell-to-tiban.html)

We wish Wendy all the best in her new home and rest assured, we will keep you all posted on any sightings of this beautiful girl.

Welcome to the family!

Ubizane has lately established a close partnership with CROW (Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife) and we have opened our arms to a warthog and two Spotted Eagle Owls to join our family.

CROW came to investigate the Ubizane premises to make sure it would be a happy safe environment for released animals and we were approved as a safe haven for wildlife! After much planning and organizing, CROW released two Spotted Eagle Owls at the end of November in our aviary. This is where we will nurture the two beautiful owls, like we nurtured our Barn Owls, until they’re big and strong and can be released into the wild.

      

It was an interesting day with the Spotted Eagle Owls almost being twice the size of the Barn Owls and we weren’t sure how the four owls would bond.  For the first day they stared at each other and did not know what to do. After the second night they started competing for the territory and we decided to divide the aviary in two to give the two species their own space.

We are happy to report that the owls are living happily in the aviary and we are waiting for the wonderful day we can release them successfully into the Fever Tree Forest of Ubizane.

            

We also had the pleasure of welcoming a female warthog into our family named Wendy.  This intriguing character was found in November 2012 after being abandoned by her mother in another game reserve, being only 1 ½ weeks old. CROW took her in and hand raised the little warthog with love and patience and asked us if we would release her at Ubizane.  After having a similar situation at Ubizane where we had our dear Tiban who we found as a baby, abandoned and almost drowned after heavy rains, we knew we could not say no.  Tiban was successfully released into the Ubizane bush in December 2012 and we are very proud of this wonderful story of a baby warthog fighting against all odds and surviving. We were excited to hear about Wendy and now the day has finally arrived! CROW released Wendy into an enclosure which is meant as Boma for her at Ubizane where she will get used to the environment and then eventually go into the bush and live a happy life back where she belongs. CROW, along with a camera crew who have been filming her rehabilitation process, released Wendy into Ubizane’s care.

 Wendy has a personality as no other with a love for bananas and mielies (corn cobs)!  She adores a good tummy scratch and enjoys being fed some luscious green grass by the hand so she can give you some loving while you feed her.

The warthog will be let out of the boma each day to graze and get to know the area and climate. She started to walk around on Saturday and slowly but surely she explores a little bit further each day before returning to her ‘safety zone’ in the boma. When she is ready we will let her roam freely into the bush where we’ll hope to see a very happy ending to this story!

The Spotted Eagle Owls will be a lengthier process as these Owls are still young and need more time to grow strong and comfortable in the area. They also need to still learn to hunt and excel their predator instincts which might take a lot more time than anticipated.

Thanks go to CROW for choosing Ubizane and letting us be a part of the conservation efforts. We are so happy to have these magnificent animals, Wendy the warthog and the two Spotted Eagle Owls joining the Ubizane family in their rehabilitation process! Welcome to the family!

For more information about CROW you can visit their website, http://crowkzn.co.za/

Keep updated with the latest news about Wendy and the Spotted Eagle Owls on our blog and our Facebook profile (https://www.facebook.com/ubizane.wildlifereserve)

Birds of a feather...

For those of you who followed our Barn Owls story, you might be dying to hear how they are doing.  Our little chicks are all grown-up and starting to gain the birds of prey instinct that we so diligently have tried to expose them to.  

We see this when they receive food.  Whenever we start feeding them they start hissing and stamping their feet aggressively.  This is a sign of dominance as they would usually take the mice that they catch and beat them on the ground with their claws until they die.  This is a very gruesome way of killing but we must remember that these are wild birds of prey which can become just as violently aggressive as a predator such as a lion.  They also swing their heads from side to side to try and intimidate those around.  It is a very interesting process to watch as they brutally attack their food without mercy.  And yet they do it so gracefully and beautiful that it’s hard to look away. 

They have become more beautiful by the day and now look like fully grown adult Barn Owls.  The only difference is that they are a little smaller in size than a fully grown owl.

 They have much fuller rounder faces now with that perfect heart shape

All their down has gone, now it’s only the beautiful brown, grey and white soft feathers that remain.

On your next visit to Ubizane, feel free to ask us about the progress of the owls!

Final Farewell to Tiban…

For those of you, who have been following our Social Pages, you might have seen that our beloved rescued Warthog, Tiban was recently released into the great big world of Ubizane; where 1200 hectares of wide open space awaited him.

But, Tiban being his usual lovable attention seeking self had other plans...  

Tiaan dropping Tiban off in the Bush 

The Pienaar family had to face the inevitable heart breaking goodbye, as they bid their final good bye to Tiban, who had since day 1 become part of the Ubizane family. Tiaan then took Tiban up to one of the dams on the reserve, and dropped him off. Overjoyed by the over-sized puddle of water, Tiban was soon wallowing in the mud, and hardly noticed Tiaan driving off. 

  

Tiban enjoying the mud at the dam

But, yet again Tiban was one step ahead of everyone else and shortly after Tiaan’s return to the Lodge; Tiban came trotting down the parking area towards the Reception area. After his usual friendly but boisterous greeting to the staff, Tiban then bee lined for the General Managers office desk, where he lay down.  After much convincing and a lot of patience, Tiaan managed to coax Tiban out from the desk and away from the lodge.  

Tiban making his way to the lodge, after he was released

Tiban on a one way mission through the lodge

In his happy place, Tiban revisited one of his favorite places, under the GM's desk

 A week later a second attempt to set Tiban free, was more successful. Whether it is because he was dropped off on the far side of the reserve, or because this time he finally realized that there is a whole wide world waiting for him.

It has been over a week since we released Tiban, and even though we miss his cheerful face and bubbly personality, and the fact that our hearts stop for a little while when we see a warthog close to the lodge. We realize that he is where he belongs, and our ultimate goal of releasing an orphan warthog back into the bush has been achieved! 

When it rains, it pours!

It is has been a rather dry winter here at Ubizane, The parched grasslands scattered with dry tufts of grass and the sun baked roads wait in anticipation for the first rains to quench a seasons thirst and settle the  ever accumulating dust; that seems to creep into every possible space.

On a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, the entire Ubizane had mixed emotions towards the arrival of the rain, elated with the thought of no more sporadic veldt fires breaking out and the prospect of the scenery turning green over night but at the same time feeling quite limited, as we had planned a beautiful  boma dinner for our guests that evening. 

Over the last 3 days we fully grasped the meaning of when it rains it pours! The constant rain seemed to have no end (Not that we were terribly upset about it, as the reserve needed it badly) day and night it continued to come down in buckets.

The Ubizane landscape seemed to have reached its capacity, with +/- 150mm of rain fallen in 2 days! The roads around the reserve proved to be every Warthogs dream; with a slippery mud puddle on every bend. The seasonal Mzinene River that snakes through the farm has also begun to flow, for the first time since last rainy season, the small bridge crossing over the river was submerged as the water gushed over it. After a cautious crossing we made our way to the fence where the strength of the flowing water had clearly proved too much for the wire fence; the wire buckling as the water swept past it.  

Partially soaked and with an odd splatter of mud here and there, we made our way back to the Lodge, as we approached the area where we last saw the female ostrich on eggs we found ourselves on the edge of our seat! For according to our calculations, the eager hatchlings should be arriving any day now!

Our excitement soon turned to fret, as we saw the eggs abandoned and partially submerged in a puddle of water, and both mother and father nowhere to be seen! After much consideration and discussion, we decided to remove the eggs and attempt to incubate them ourselves.  So be sure to keep an eye on all our social media pages for details on the 9 Ostrich eggs! 

Rehabilitating Tiban:

If you have been following Ubizane Wildlife Reserve’s Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts, you will be somewhat familiar with the story of Tiban, our rescued Warthog. For those of you who are new to the Ubizane family, Tiban was found along our fence line when he was just a few weeks old and weighing less than a kilogram, abandoned by his mother he was a bundle of nerves and  very wary of humans. Tiaan, one of our General Managers managed to rescue him and bring him back to the lodge, where the hand rearing process begun. 

At 11 months old Tiban is now maturing into a healthy, boisterous male warthog, and we have decided to begin a rehabilitation process, so that he can eventually be released back into the wild where he belongs. 

Due to warthog’s extreme sensitivity to poor grazing conditions he is being kept in a large enclosure until the rainy season starts again. 

Tiban is constantly taken for walks in the bush to give him as much exposure as possible to the outside conditions, as well as opportunities to graze in his natural environment. As soon as Tiban seems comfortable enough in his natural environment, he will be taken to a central area of the reserve, away from buildings and people and released to fend for himself. 

 Tiban has become part of the family in more ways than one, with his friendly grunts and mischievous games; and as much as we would like to keep him forever it was always our intention to release him back into the wild; where he belongs! His cheerful little face, and trail of muddy hoof print will forever be missed here at Ubizane, but he will never be forgotten, as he touched each and everyone’s heart in his own special way.  

Out with the old and in with the new:

At Ubizane Wildlife Reserve, we are constantly improving our image, in order to make your bush break or holiday as spectacular as we possibly can!

For about a month now we have been busy re-thatching our rooms at Tree Lodge, room 1 to 12 have all been given a revamp, due to them taking a real beating from the weather and of course the ever mischievous monkeys.

The continuous movement and displacement of the old thatch has stirred up quite an interest among the Ubizane wildlife. The ever watchful female Ostrich has also chosen Tree Lodge rooms 1 to 12 as her new favourite hang out, safely guarding the new heap of thatching grass. As watchful as ever and giving her unofficial seal of approval on the new rooms.   

The Mischievous Monkeys always seem to be in a million places at once, but thankfully the excitement of re- thatching the rooms have kept them away from the Tree Lodge restaurant, for now anyway.

The uplifting of the old weather worn thatch has disturbed a few ecosystems I’m sure, and this provides a tasty snack for this tricky troop of monkeys.

In the distance a sounder of warthogs are also drawn to the hive of activity that is taking place at the Tree Lodge rooms.

During the re-thatching process, the Ubizane staff goes through every single room with a fine tooth comb, from top to tail ensuring that the standard is no less than faultless. Going the extra mile to ensure that we provide the best possible experience for you and your loved ones on your bush break.