Je Vous parle toujours de mes preferes, les félins, mais il y a beaucoup ´autres animaux au park.
Ales éléphants jouent avec le tuyau d'arrosage :
http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eOTHkOeBlM5YV3mWzAYYMTksAYMwuNUUFIbx5SosSm6c=m18
Je profite des ce récapitulatif de l'année sur le site "safarivolunteer.com" pour vous donner une idée de ce qui se passe ici dans les autres équipes.
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As we are faced with the reality that another year has sped by, now is the time to reflect on all the lessons we have learnt, adventures we have had, and roads we have travelled in 2015 - and what a rollercoaster it has been!
This year our puppy dog family grew as Princess became a permanent resident at the volunteer house, and Ajax moved in afer being poisoned and requiring urgent treatment. Sammy and Daisy were abandoned at the new farmhouse before construction even began, with Daisy soon giving birth to 4 puppies. Luckily almost every volunteer group embraced the new members of the household and the dogs are now very settled, healthy and happy! Sadly Jock, Moby and Ollie were moved to the temple as they became aggressive towards Thai people and volunteers found it too hard to keep them safe from retaliation. This coming year we hope to make good ties with a network of temples in order to help with the street dog crisis in Thailand.
Cub team were kept busy with the 'chocolate leopards', Hershey and Snickers - balls of energy that require a dedicated team to keep entertained - Sadly Khaleesi the lion died in November due to renalfailure, a loss that hit us all hard. With the total redevelopment of the Cub Nursery it is hoped that a better standard of hygeine for the cubs will improve their overall health, although no lion could ever replace Khaleesi, we all hope that lessons are learnt from her passing.
Big Cat Team really took on a life of it's own when Autumn became Volunteer Team Leader of Big Cats at the beginning of the year. As awareness of the Big Cat Team grew, the team was soon full and renovating the Big Cat Garden, Toast the temminks cat's enclosure and adding new toys to all the Rescue Retreat enclosures! In October, Marla took over Autumn's position, and with the main constructions now complete, focus has reverted back to refining training, observing behaviours and bonding with the Big Cats. We are excited to see how this team evolves in 2016, and to creating new areas for the cats to explore and destroy!
Bird Team suffered a great loss this year with the death of Bird Keeper, Mr Yow at the beginning of October. With no Thai staff available to take on the responsibility, volunteers were called upon to help with cleaning, feeding and enrichment of the 9 Bird House Macaws. In just over a month we transformed the area into a macaw playground, with countless enrichments and lots of branches to explore. All the night time enclosures were gutted and remade, and the old perches outside were torn down and replaced. We have now handed back responsibility of this team to a temporary Thai staff member who is doing a great job at maintaining a high standard of cleanliness, and actually plays with the birds, who will now shake your hand if asked in Thai!
Rescue Retreat Team has had their best year yet. As we are almost at the end of 2015, every enclosure is starting to get dry leaves added to increase the foraging timeof the monkeys (great enrichment!) and the enclosures have all received a fresh coat of paint, giving the Rescue Retreat a more loved feeling! With the addition of the 'Jericho Garden' where volunteers can relax wth the birds in hammocks by the lake, you would think that productivity would come to a stand still but nothing could be further from the truth! Enrichment goals of 5 enrichments per animal, per day, have been achieved consistently and volunteers are hard at work creating an enrichment book to record all their great ideas! Dua Lek the stump tailed macaque also joined us in September, a mirror image of King Kong! At the beginning of the year the Thai government requested Dobby the gibbon, Raj the pig tailed macaque and the two jackals, Harley and Quinn, be moved to a government breeding center, and unfortunately there was no way we could protest the decision. We will keep you all updated with news as we get it!
Bear Team really got off to a good start when Maddie pushed for daily enrichment and to triple the size of the Sun Bear's enclosure. Sadly Hong Hong the elderly female bear succumbed to old age in December, despite recovering well from an abscess in her side. Daily enrichments are still being made for the bears, with plans for a retirement home for several of the elderly bear coming into fruition in time for the new year.
Safari Team enjoyed a great year with lots of births (and placentas for the lions, but that's another story!) and the old flooring in the stables getting repaired, making morning cleans much easier! The 'Salapong Tour' has kept it's winning formula with visitors now able to experience it as part of their Package. Salapong's English speaking skills have improved so much, he has now started regularly coming over and teaching the volunteers how to speak Thai!
Finally, the news you have all being waiting for, the Elephant Team. Due to the sensitive yet strong minded mahouts (elephant keepers), developing activities for the elephants can be a very hard job indeed. Several volunteer team leaders stepped up during the year to ensure the elephants got daily enrichment, but it wasn't until Rai returned from a trip to the UK that progress really started to be seen. The elephants can now be seen every morning grazing in the fields or jungles for several hours, and enrichments vary from the standard rice balls and frozen fruit. The mud bath is built, and the elephants go bathing every day. There is still a lot of work to be done with this team, but we are certain that the dedication of volunteers will ensure improvements in all areas here!
2015 - what a busy and crazy year! This year we plan to keep the volunteer blog up to date a bit better so you can all read about your favourite animals. There are a few really exciting projects beginning right now that we will blog about soon, and lots of photos can be found on our facebook which we try to update daily. As the volunteer program enters it's 4th year, I would like to thank each and every one of you who have made this past year possible. It's been our hardest, fastest and strongest yet! I wonder what next year will bring... ?
Posté avec Blogsy
