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Young
Murray is Growing Up Fast!
At the
beginning of February a young Blue Crane arrived at African
Dawn. Murray as he came to be known, was found alone on a nearby
potato farm by the owners and unable to fend for himself came to
stay with us at the sanctuary. Blue Cranes grow to around one
metre in height and it seems like Murray has grown up
overnight! We have twelve wild Blue Cranes at the sanctuary
although they are now very rare in the Eastern Cape and only
25,700 are left throughout South Africa. Murray has always had
a weak left leg due to a previous break and so has wobbled
around the sanctuary for the last few months, picking off
insects and trying to steal meat from the prep room. He was
moved out to the aviary where he enjoyed taking in the scenery
and following people around but unfortunately he discovered a
fondness for eating tortoises so was banished to another camp!
Murray now has most of his adult coat but still has his fluffy
baby head. |

Murray putting
his foot in it |

Percy and Murray discussing the meaning of life |
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Jackals released back into the wild.

A few months ago we
received some black backed jackals. A male and one female were
brought into the sanctuary and another three females followed
soon after. All had been orphaned and so the two sets of
siblings were introduced and lived together. Plans were
underway to build a new enclosure for them at the sanctuary
however it was decided that as they had not had much human
interaction and therefore were not tame, it would be possible to
release them back into the wild. Jackals are scavengers and
tend to live in pairs but they also hunt for their food, going
out in packs. On 29th April, Percy and nine
volunteers drove the jackals to the release site in the
mountains and after some reluctance at leaving their box and a
bit of confusion over being released after being in captivity,
they ran off to start a new life in their natural environment of
open woodland. |
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The Backpackers has a makeover

New volunteers to the
sanctuary will be impressed with the new facilities. The
backpackers recently received an overhaul with a new tiled floor
and afresh coat of paint. Some of the beds have been removed so
the bedrooms are more spacious and the place has been brightened
up with traditional African artwork by our resident
artist. Volunteers have also been busy building a new self
contained entertainment area. We hope to have the lounge
completed by the middle of May so that volunteers have somewhere
private to relax in the evenings and on their days off. The
lounge will be a cosy place for volunteers to watch DSTV, put on
a movie or play games if they still have a little energy after a
hard days work. The cabin will also have a basic kitchen for
volunteers to make drinks and snacks after the shop and
restaurant close. |
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Egrets invade African Dawn!
On 21st
February African Dawn received eighteen new residents. After
complaints about the noise and mess being made by Egrets nesting
in a Blue Gum tree next to Jeffreys Bay Primary School,
municipal workers cut the tree down leaving a number of Egrets
and two Herons without a home. Children at the school were
traumatised by the sight of the many distressed and even some
injured and dead birds, and so the principal gathered up the
birds and along with some of the students brought them to the
sanctuary. Three of the birds died shortly after arriving at the
sanctuary but the remainder are all healthy and are now living
happily among our other Egrets and Hadedas. |

Percy with volunteers
and children from Jeffreys Bay Primary School |
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Elusive Vulture pays us a visit

Staff at African Dawn
couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a vulture flying
around above the sanctuary at the beginning of April. The
Hooded Vulture is found only in the extreme North Eastern part
of South Africa and throughout Zimbabwe and Mozambique so has
flown a long way from home to visit us in the Eastern Cape, over
1000kms from its usual habitat. This cheeky vulture is also
extremely camera shy and has managed to elude several
photographers who have made a special trip to the African Dawn
to capture the bird on film. As many of our animals including
the cheetahs and Lynx are fed meat on a regular basis, the
sanctuary is practically a free for all restaurant for
scavengers, and other birdlife not common to the area have also
flown in for a piece of the action. Marabou Storks, found only
on the eastern coast and up into Mozambique and Zimbabwe have
also been frequent diners at Restaurant African Dawn. |
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Rare White Lynx born at the Sanctuary

In early
February, one of our lynx was found nursing two kittens. The
new mum and her offspring were moved to an enclosure of their
own and a week later, she gave birth to two rare white kittens.
White lynx are extremely rare and the colour is caused by a
genetic condition. Unfortunately white lynx are notoriously
weak due to the recessive gene and the two kittens died within a
couple of days. The remaining lynx are fighting fit. We will
be keeping a close watch on the mother and any future litters to
reduce the high mortality risk common with white kittens. |
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That about covers the
highlights from the first few months of the year, but African
Dawn and its inhabitants is forever changing so who knows what
is to come! |