Ms Kate and her little sister all set for the royal wedding of her namesake

Bea with Ms. Kate get ready at the Animal Orphanage

A little more than 6 months ago we named this little new born baby bongo “Ms Kate” at the Animal Orphanage.

She has since stolen all of our hearts with her beauty and totally loving personality. The royal wedding fever has not missed the slopes of Mount Kenya, so Bea, Fundi and the keepers are organizing a “feast” for all the animals to celebrate!!

No better time than this to let your imagination run wild and make a donation towards a free future for these beautiful creatures.

Here is an article published in the March, 2011, edition of East Africa’s Destination magazine, written by Juliet Barnes.

“In the vast savannahs of Africa there is a dimension of time and space that is an echo of our own beginnings and which reminds us that we were not born initially to live in the concrete jungle” -William Holden

Snakes Suffer Too

Poor old puff adders – nobody likes them. I felt a shard of pity when I heard that they’re supposed to live in hot, dry areas, but nowadays they’re being found on the forested slopes of Mount Kenya. Like us, snakes are victims of climate change. I looked at the stuffed puff adders, amongst many other specimens at The William Holden Wildlife Foundation

Education Centre: The African monarch is more palatable because it’s beautiful, but actually it’s also poisonous – other butterfly species mimic it so they don’t get snapped up by predators either. Nature is indeed a stage for a myriad of miracles. However this intricate ecosystem on Africa’s second highest mountain, also a World Heritage Site, is – as the puff adders prove – under very serious threat. William Holden Wildlife Fund Education Centre.

This Centre inspires school children (aged 11 and up), from all over Kenya, irrespective of background, to think about conservation. It’s not open to the public, although representing Destination I was hosted by Administrator David McConnell and shown around by Michael Ng’ang’a, Educational Coordinator. This conservation guru imbues these youngsters with knowledge and wisdom, his lectures tailored to age and background. This unique educational experience is mainly conducted in the great outdoors, supplemented with talks and films in the impressively stocked library/ lecture theatre.

Day groups combine activities at the Centre with visiting the nearby Animal Orphanage. The more comprehensive three day programme adds in campfire discussions and quizzes, treasure hunts around the nature trail, a game drive in the Centre’s four wheel-drive vehicles (including the popular six-wheeler), a weather station visit, and activities like tree-planting, cleaning up litter, or dismantling snares. Older kids climb a hill, studying vegetation zones and the uses of indigenous plants. Groups bring food and bedding, otherwise the entire experience, including cooking facilities, washrooms and spacious dormitory tents, is free.

Animal Orphanage residents

However this is no frivolous picnic on Mount Kenya; alcohol and cigarettes are banned, and groups must partake in the programme. Before leaving they clean up. Afterwards they’re expected to write up their observations.

My kids did the three day visit and came back preaching conservation. They’d stroked a baby bongo and met llamas (No way! I thought. Ha! Perhaps we should listen to our kids…) Like the other 10,000 plus youngsters who visit annually, or benefit from the Centre’s outreach programmes, they learned valuable lessons to carry with them into adulthood in an ever challenging world where the destruction of natural resources is spiralling our planet into crisis.

Recycling and Conserving

This was about the only two days in the year the WHWF wasn’t fully booked, so it was relatively quiet, apart from the shouts of red-chested cuckoos from the treetops. As we toured the attractive, well-maintained buildings and grounds, I learned about combatting climate change (which we can all do at home) and Mount Kenya’s crucial importance. Nature is artfully designed to work in harmony, but bring in one factor and it all goes amiss. A sign in a glade on the nature trail directs you to open a door to see the environment’s greatest enemy. You find yourself gazing in a mirror!

Energy from Biogas

First we toured the wetland that recycles all the camp’s waste water, emerging in the last pond having been cleaned by plants and filtered through stones. I was shown a simple biogas plant converting llama dung (more on llamas later) – although cow dung is better – into cooking gas. One parent expressed much gratitude after his daughter forced him to make biogas at home. Every youngster also makes an eco-friendly briquette: gently squeezing and moulding a ball made of soaked sawdust, waste paper, dry grass, leaves and charcoal dust, then dried into a cheap, slow-burning fuel alternative that emits minimal smoke. Michael invented his own briquette press.

Then there’s a solar water boiler – a black kettle hung in a reflecting cone, tilted to catch the sun’s rays; a bush fridge and solar box oven. Youngsters also learn the importance of composting, separation of waste and recycling.

The nature trail winds through unspoiled forest alongside the clear, glacier-fed Nanyuki River. There’s information on everything from soil quality to climate change. All groups plant a tree and harvest seeds for the nursery, taking seedlings back to school. They’re also shown organic farming: there are trout ponds, ducks, geese and rabbits and vegetable gardens with space and water-saving examples in sacks and tyres. Across the fence denuded land beside Kaloleni village reminds us of this forest’s fragility: we’d seen butterflies, birds, monkeys and two rare, wild black river duck. The other side of the fence supports nothing.

Movie Stars and History

Stefanie Powers and Rana

Actress Stefanie Powers is the driving force behind the WHWF Education Centre. Best remembered co-starring with Robert Wagner in Hart to Hart (which earned her five Emmy award nominations), she’s still starring, mainly on stage nowadays. Stefanie’s nine-year love affair with actor William Holden kept her close to Kenya. A year after he died in 1981, Stefanie opened this Centre on land donated by the Hunts, fulfilling Holden’s dream. In her autobiography One from the Hart, she writes: “I see his legacy in the animals he helped to preserve and the people whose lives he bettered.”

Holden’s love affair with Kenya began when he first visited in 1964. He met a fellow big game hunter, Don Hunt, well known in America for his children’s educational TV show. Both realising the importance of protecting Africa’s animals, they bought land and founded the Mount Kenya Game Ranch in 1967 – the first in Kenya. Don also met his future wife, German-born Iris, in Kenya. Heavy poaching in the 70′s prompted their rescuing and translocating of many vulnerable species with the blessing of Kenya’s first President, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. The ranch offered safe sanctuary, while surplus stock were exported to zoos in the USA and to other African reserves. When Iris’s house and bedroom became too full of rescued creatures in need of expert care, she started the orphanage.

Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy

In 2004 the Game Ranch became the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. Separate from the WHWF, albeit working together side by side, this 1,200 acre sanctuary is still home to Stefanie Powers and Don and Iris Hunt, as well as 1,500 animals – some 28 species. Reserved for the breeding and rehabilitation of wild animals, it’s not open to the public.

We drove around in the evening light, watched over by Mount Kenya’s peaks, the glaciers elusive behind a shifting wreath of cloud. There’s only one white rhino left after “big muma” was machine-gunned by a gang hell-bent on getting her horn.

Happier news was the golden-eyed, white zebras; early British explorers reported these ghostly creatures on the Leroghi Plateau near Maralal. Later a couple more were sighted on Mount Kenya and zoologists labelled them Albinistic Sports.

As poaching escalated, the Hunts captured the four remaining white zebra from Leroghi and moved them to their game ranch where they bred well. Now over 100 have now been released on the mountain and future plans include releasing more up north.

There are non-indigenous, rescued animals too: two pygmy hippo who yawn for a cookie from Iris, an elderly zebroid (horse-zebra cross) – one of the original pack animals used on Mount Kenya and South American llamas. These crazy-looking creatures (I just love the toothy stare), woolly relatives of our camel, were originally donated by Don’s brother and have bred so well that 12 have been donated to Kenyan universities in the highlands. Amongst their many uses, they are wonderful pack animals, used for scaling the high Andes. The kids at the WHWF Centre actually get to walk with them!

The Animal Orphanage

Iris Hunt with orphaned baby zebra

Some released orphans return, like the caracal who has been released three times – now being prepared for release further away. Karen the bushbuck, whose mother was eaten by a leopard, has been resident for six years: she leaves to find mates, but returns to her comfort zone to give birth.

Karen and her two grown babies, who haven’t left yet either, were happily playing chase with a baby bongo in the evening sun. Other animals, like the monkeys, are released in family groups. Meanwhile they’re breeding: a Colobus nursed her baby and a Pattas monkey restrained hers from coming too close to us. Patricia the ostrich looked on as I met the world’s first “mangaboon.” A crested Mangabey, confiscated in Zurich, made friends with a baboon and this was the result! Things that wouldn’t happen in the wild happen here: three cheetahs, abandoned cubs who were hand-raised, ignore the Mount Kenya Hartebeest. Romeo the porcupine tolerates Matata, half-whitenosed monkey and half-Sykes, who steals his food. The bush pig wants a scratch. Sokoke wild cats mew for their dinner. The whole place takes on the slightly surreal feeling of an incredibly cosmopolitan, blissfully happy boarding school.

The Bongo Project

Don Hunt with Bongos

I met Kate, a beautiful young bongo, named in honour of Prince William’s engagement. William Holden called bongos the “stars” of the Mount Kenya ecosystem. A big, dark male, with impressive horns, wanders by. Fundi says he’ll grow to over 450 kg. “Aren’t they beautiful?” Iris echoes my thoughts. “They used to be all over Mount Kenya…” I notice her pendant is painted with a bongo.

Back in the 1970′s, after studies indicated a drastic decrease in bongo populations, 20 animals were sent by the Hunts to the USA to breed. In 2004, when bongos had become officially endangered, the first group arrived back home. After settling back in they bred successfully in special designated areas within the conservancy, slowly encouraged to become wild again. Several years later this was named one of the world’s top ten Most Successful Conservation Projects, focussing worldwide attention on the importance of Mount Kenya.

Now there are over 80 bongos, with the first group ready to be released back into the Mount Kenya forest. Don’s vision is to have 400 wild bongos back on the mountain in ten years time.

Classroom at WHWF

Money Matters

At the WHWF Centre a plaque acknowledges donors – including Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Martina Navratilova, Paul Newman and Robert Wagner. The orphanage has “tiles” displaying similar. Youngsters in Kenya, whether from private or government schools, benefit from their generosity. Iris assured me that these outfits are transparent – true music to any Kenyan’s ears: every cent of every donor dollar goes back in. “William Holden”, Iris smiled, “used to be sent off to do a film when we needed a new tractor.” They pay their Kenyan staff, but everyone else (international staff) does it for love. But why is it always up to foreign donors? Kenya is surely reaching a place where we are able to give back – to join in protecting our natural resources. Isn’t it time we gave back to our priceless natural heritage?

Click Here to make a Donation Online

Outreach

The WHWF Education Centre also runs outreach programmes for rural schools and communities. Their Bongo Outreach Programme targeted 61,000 people in 2009: many didn’t even know this endangered antelope existed.

David took me to two of the five government schools where the WHWF have built libraries and kitchens. At Guara Primary it was heartening to see the spotless building housing offices, a lecture hall and a library with the emphasis being on conservation. Wathituga Primary had an older, more established library, creatively decorated with maps, charts and posters. They also had a kitchen with an innovative environmentally friendly cooking pot.

Facing the Future

Flying back to Nairobi, via Loisaba and Samburu, I had the chance to see the desperate drought below. A former lifeline, the Ewaso Nyiro River, fed by Mount Kenya’s streams had dried up. Here was a horrifying reminder of the importance of educating the next generation so they can endeavor to repair a frail future.

Useful Info

Getting There

The Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, Animal Orphanage and William Holden Wildlife Fund Education Centre are situated beside the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club. Urgent assistance with funding is required.

Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy
Tel: +254 62 32788 / + 254 20 239 7751
Website: www.animalorphanagekenya.org
Donate: donate.animalorphanagekenya.org

Accommodation:
Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club
Tel: +254 20 226 5000
Email: Kenya.reservations@fairmont.com
Website: www.fairmont.com

Visit Destination magazine

Prince William proposed to his long time love Kate Middleton and she gracefully accepted to become his future Queen of England.

Newborn Bongo: "Miss Kate"

We named the beautiful little antelope ‘Miss Kate’ in honor of the future queen of England.

‘Miss Kate’ will remain here in the safety of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy until she reaches breeding age and her own suitable “Prince” can be selected.

It is hoped that together they will one day roam free and raise their own young in the wilderness of the Mount Kenya Forests where their ancestors once roamed.

Please support our bongo rehabilitation program.

Miss Kate is growing quickly

You can join our international family of friends by becoming a member of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.

You can even adopt your own live bongo or any of our needy animals to sponsor their care and release.

All donations are used solely for the care of the animals. That is our pledge!

The Founders and Trustees of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy have pooled their recourses for more than 40 years to save the flora and fauna of Mount Kenya for our future generations.

Please join us!

www.animalorphanagekenya.org/donate

A charitable Kenyan Trust and a registered U.S. nonprofit Corporation

A mere few days away from prominently displaying your find under the Christmas tree it becomes painfully clear that you’ve left it too late again – or did Father Time play tricks on you?

Suddenly, on what was supposed to be an idle weekend, you are faced with the familiar dilemma: another CD but which one did you buy last year? …a box of chocolates then but would someone else revert to the same emergency purchase?

Or, wait, how about a lasting gift of life…..to show you care, make a difference in the lives of our countless orhan animals waiting to be returned to their ancestral home: The African bush.

Here’s how it works:

For the young-at-heart who forever wonder whether there’s a Father Christmas after all

* Adopt a homeless animal

I am a young Sykes Monkey

I am a very active Hartebeeste

I am a very rare Bongo Antelope

I am an adorable Bushbuck

Honor a loved one with his/her very own tile on our famous “Wall of Tiles”

* Friends and Wildlife Guardian Permanent Tiles

Tile for our Platinum Friends

* Annual membership for the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.

A lasting gift for children – Father Christmas makes him/her…

* a Godparent …to one of the “Lion King’s” furry friends

* a Bush Baby …(up to 12 years) a permanent tile bearing baby’s name

Bush Baby Tiles for the very young

What will we do with your donation? Every animal in our care will receive its favourite treat for Christmas – you make it possible!!!

Jack Colobus an his Christmas Treat

HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!

Your heart is with us but your purse won’t comply – download our free Christmas story…

Stately even after a mud bath

Noah – once bright chestnut colored, his coat darkened with age. Almost black at the end, Noah’s presence, like that of his famous namesake, was synonymous with continued life.

At the age of 3 he presented us with his firstborn, Karen, and over the years several brothers and sisters followed. Interestingly, in his prime, Noah seemed to have had a knack to add girls to his brood. In later years, the boys followed.

His offspring made him the proud grandfather of 14 adorable Bongos, every single one adopted by well-wishers from around the world. Did old Noah sense how much joy his amber-eyed family with their unmistakably big ears brought to everyone?

Some of his progeny have become famous in their own right: “Obama” whose namesake has since become President of the United States, “Hamsini” (ki-swahili for 50) marks the 50th bongo birth at the Conservancy and a true milestone, and a girl named after the special day she was born on, “Valentine”.

Noah was always one for "the girls"

During his retirement Noah received special attention from his caregivers who understood the complexity of his age and ensured that his last years were comfortable. His home in the safety of the Conservancy looked out on Mount Kenya and the virgin forest where some of his offspring are being conditioned for release to the home of his ancestors, Mount Kenya.

Noah and pregnant Msituni

In the wild, nature knows little “retirement”: to ensure the wellness of the herd, the old and the weak instinctively leave the group to face an uncertain death alone. They mostly fall prey to predators even before a natural death. Survival of the fittest – an intrinsic force of nature ensures that the herds are kept strong and healthy in order to multiply and thrive with no “burden” to slow them down or endanger their young. In captivity, receiving ultimate nutrition and care, Bongos have been known to live up to 19 years.

Noah's Progeny

Noah was bred and born at the Mount Kenya Game Ranch under the watchful eyes of the Hunt Family. He was, at first, a shy and weak calf, and it was soon apparent that his mother’s milk had dried up. Kevin Hunt (Don’s son) took him home where he thrived under the care of Lydia, his wife. Feeding him on her own formula the little fellow not only thrived but grew into one of the most handsome big bulls ever seen.

As the “posterboy” for bongo conservation he became the famous envy of many a hunter, zoo directors and animal buffs from all over the world came to admire him.

Noah remained with us until the end of his life. He is sadly missed by all who met and knew him. His genes continue on, visible in his very handsome progeny.

Noah was immortalized long ago when he was chosen to adorn the official poster of our Bongo Repatriation Programme.

Become a member of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Noah, the “posterboy”, is yours for FREE as a desktop background image.

The Hartebeest is often referred to as the clown of the plains. We like to think the Mount Kenya Hartebeest are much prettier, both in their more russet colour and their longer horns placed close together giving the animal a fashionable slender appearance.

One month of careful preparation for this special moment is coming to an end as the safari-green truck is winding its way across the grassy plains of our Conservancy. Three of these rare creatures already live at the Conservancy. They were rescued in unrelated incidences some time ago.

Here on the slopes of mighty Mount Kenya, these six beautiful creatures unite for the first time., one step closer to the goal of breeding them to prevent extinction. We mark the occasion with a new story for you, one that began at a ranch not far from here.

Early in 2008, the bush drums could be heard loud and clear: “Solio”, a 60,000-acre cattle and wildlife ranch in Kenya’s Rift Valley, allocated 15,000 acres of its land to the government to help them with re-settlement of refugees and other landless people.

The news was significant. Suddenly, the refuge for seven of Kenya’s most popular species of wildlife had become a potential target for poaching. The task at hand was enormous – nearly 3,000 animals urgently needed relocating to national parks and/or private land across Kenya.

Amongst those, and particularly endangered, were a number of Lelwel Hartebeest. Three of these long-legged antelopes easily recognisable by their unique narrow head have now found a safe haven at Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy to join 3 others already in residence there.

Their relocation to our Conservancy recognises our continuous commitment to conserving Kenya’s precious wildlife and gives our resident Hartebeest ladies the chance to produce much longed for offspring. Watch this space for our first baby news!!

In the meantime, why not become a fan of our six original Kongoni? How? Find out here

To us your words are the encouragement and incentive to strive harder towards our goal of beating extinction at the finish line.

Here’s another short excerpt of a recent letter received that we’d like to share:

If a picture tells a thousand words then those taken by your many visitors must fill entire storybooks already.

It’s so incredibly peaceful that it is dangerously easy to forget why “Iris’ Ark” was brought to life in the first place, but it is such a great encouragement to see that the majority of your visitors understand that these amazing creatures live there for so much more a reason than mere entertainment.

Thank you for allowing me to visit the Conservancy and Orphanage. I will treasure those days with Jane and “the guys” forever.

(signed) LILLY

And here is another letter:

I wanted to express my gratitude for Iris Hunt’s story about Mary the Elephant. I recently found this article as I was researching pictures of elephants on the internet for a painting.

When I first moved to Los Angeles a little over a year ago there was a photography show called Ashes and Snow. The photos are large sepia prints depicting the sacred relationship between animals and people. Beautiful pictures of elephants were among the first images I saw. The gallery was dark and full of people and suddenly I found myself crying looking at these elephants. This had never happened to me before and it was overwhelming. The photos of the other animals were also beautiful but every time I saw the elephants my eyes filled with tears. The feeling was of awe, sadness, and joy looking at them. Your story about Mary brought all of those emotions back for me to experience again.

Storytelling has always been important for human beings and good stories are of critical importance as our world is changing. Stories fertilize the imaginations of humanity and give us the freedom and strength to believe that we can accomplish anything. Thank you for sharing your true story, it inspires me.

We have had another baby Bongo. This one was born at the Animal Orphanage where they had moved the mother to give her a safe place for birthing.

She experienced previous difficulty, but this one went fine. Peter Fundi and Bunge were on ‘standby’  but the event passed without a hitch. Mother and young are doing fine!!

This brings our bongo baby count for 07 up to 8 and counting…

www.animalorphanagekenya.org/members

Here’s what he had to say:

I had a look at the green page with the story of the two Brandys. She is too adorable for words.

And the picture of the “injured” policeman is priceless.

As to the previous two babies being eaten, I have heard about this happening in various animals including dogs & the explanation was that it occurs if the young are born with a defect. (We once adopted a baby rock pigeons that had been repeatedly thrown out of the nest by the mother.

Later, when it could fly, it kept colliding with things and we discovered it was blind in one eye.

Denis

Denis is of course a great friend and supporter of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. His famous wildlife paintings include many of our animals and are seen in collections the world over.

More paintings by Denis Murphy

In Kenya, rain is usually concentrated in two brief periods during the year. Oddly, this first half of the year it has been almost one long stretch of rain, denying the usual drought its disastrous effects.
 
Never have we seen so much green for so long.

Fewer animal orphans resulted. The vegetation around us has been regenerated almost overnight. Once again there is plenty of green grass and browse for the animals. The trees look alive and healthy with a new dress of shade-giving foliage.

Here at the Orphanage we used the time to make repairs and improve the facility. The older holding pens have had a makeover keeping in mind foremost the animals’ needs.

Oliver, our boisterous orphaned little Buffalo had to be banned from the general open area. He insists on furthering his fighting skills on what he considers his peers: our human guests!! The result were some cuts and bruises on our very tolerant keepers. He is now earmarked for an early re-introduction into an adult herd so he can rethink his identity before it is too late.

Karen our original bushbuck now has a family of 4. All were sired in the wild. Each time, Karen, a former orphan herself returns to introduce her newborn. She stays and spends time raising the calf in the safety of the orphanage, before she once again leaves for the wild. She makes us all feel proud.
 
Most recently our young caracal cat (African Lynx) has again given birth to two kittens. She was closely watched as she refused to raise her last litter and injured them. This time she devoted all her new learned motherly skills on only one of the kittens, abandoning the other.

Mama Duma came to the rescue and you can read the touching story on this page.

But folks, the BIG news just came with the dawn of this morning May 29th:

We have our first second generation baby bongo born to the “American herd,” a great milestone marking the success in the ongoing project to return the magnificent Bongo Antelope to Mount Kenya. See the article Baby Boomers in the Bush Drums section.

As I write this, unexpectedly as they came, the rains have left us overnight. It feels strangely like typical February days: bright sunshine and a strong gale blowing from the North East… but wait this is almost June, something seems terribly wrong. The mountain stands crystal clear and suddenly almost bare of snow, as if arrogantly backing Al Gore’s grisly predictions. The rivers that border the Conservancy still swollen yesterday, have receded already, a timely reminder of the urgency to preserve what’s left of our environment and all creatures within.

By saving and restocking the Mount Kenya National Park with some of its lost game populations we strive to help preserve the biodiversity of this unique ecosystem.

In those areas set aside for conservation flora and fauna must be considered paramount if we are to save our own kind as a species on this earth.

It is time for man to cease to conquer, but give way to nature to insure our own second place in this chain of earthly survivors.

This month we invite you to renew your memberships to remain part of this important ongoing effort. Your support now will mean so much for so many. Help us to make the future of our last remaining wilderness and the wildlife within less uncertain.

As I look up on this magnificent Mountain in whose shadow I was born I appeal to you to support all the creatures that need your help.

Without the Mount Kenya Animal Orphanage even I would be history!!