RITA MILJO: AN INDOMITABLE SPIRIT

The evening of Friday 27^th July 2012 saw the end of an era.  A pioneer and legend in conservation, Rita Miljo was the first person in the world who managed to rehabilitate Chacma baboons and reintroduce them, as troops, into the wild - a feat which was regarded as impossible.  She died in a horrific blaze which destroyed her flat above the clinic, a house and much of the sanctuary she had built in the bush in the Limpopo province. 

            Born in Germany in 1931, Rita fell in love with Africa where she and her husband settled in the 1950's. Tragically, her husband and only child, a daughter, were both killed in a light airplane crash.  

            It was a chance encounter with a baby baboon not long afterwards that changed her life, setting her on a course which was to shake the foundations of conservation in South Africa. Travelling in South West Africa during the bush wars, she came upon a baby baboon, mascot to a troop of soldiers, who had been left for dead in a dustbin. Rita established that the little baboon was, in fact, only suffering from a massive alcohol overdose. A qualified pilot with her own aircraft, she managed to smuggle him over the border and back to her farm outside Phalaborwa.  And so the Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) had its beginnings in 1981 with Rita claiming ever afterwards that Bobby( as she had named the little baboon) was actually the founder of the facility.

            Initially dedicated to the care, rehabilitation and protection of injured and orphaned indigenous wild animals, CARE soon specialized in the care of Chacma baboons, actively pursuing their rescue, rehabilitation and release.  It was the only facility in Southern Africa that accepted orphaned or abandoned baboons and offered them long-term care.

            They kept coming in – orphaned babies whose mothers had been shot by farmers, traumatized laboratory baboons whose release had been negotiated - the unwanted, the maimed.

    Where they could be rehabilitated and released in troops, this was done.  Others were to live out the rest of their lives without fear in large outside enclosures.  

            From the start Rita was engaged in virtually a war situation with the singularly hostile Nature Conservation officials who were determined to shut her down, baboons being classified as 'vermin' and therefore to be shot on sight. Who can forget the occasion when the feisty lady stood with a loaded shotgun between her baboons and the officials who had come to confiscate them?  The officials thought better of it and hastily retreated.

            But it was only the start, with Rita being hounded at every turn.  On one notable occasion she rushed to Mpumalanga to save the life of an orphaned baby baboon and bring him back to CARE. She was hauled before the Court where the prosecutor asked her: "Why do you waste your time on problem animals like baboons?"  Rita's reply: ¨Who are you to tell God he should not have created baboons?" had the magistrate struggling to hide a smile.  She was acquitted from the charges of moving the baby baboon without the necessary permits as she 'had acted out of necessity."

            In time the officials learned to respect (even admire) her, but the next obstacle that was thrown into CARE's path was the "destruction of original genes" dogma – it was alright to kill baboons in any way possible but if one wanted to put a Free State Baboon in touch with a Transvaal baboon, one committed the ultimate Armageddon – the destruction of their gene pool, their being considered different sub-species. "How convenient that God knew there would be four or nine provinces in South Africa," retorted Rita.

A task team of young American students was assembled by Pretoria University to go into this gene research. Rita invited some of their members to C.A.R.E. She asked the students: "Where do you obtain your blood samples to be absolutely sure that you have the right blood source for your studies?" She was informed that they just asked the guys from Nature Conversation and got sent a bag full of baboon ears.  Rita was met by a flood of emotions and tears when she offered them a knife and told them to go and cut off as many ears as they needed from her baby orphans.  "I have no idea where this particular study ended," Rita wryly informed me.

But she did afterwards travel to Pretoria to have a word with Professor Peter Henzi, the then leading primatologist in South Africa. Not long after, the taxonomy of the Chacma baboon was changed and all baboon "separate" species, from the Chacma in the South through to the North African Hamadryas baboon now became sub-species.

There were lows, such as when she was called to the hastily abandoned secret French Laboratory in the bush at Hazyview.  A dying baboon quietly handed over her baby while looking  straight into Rita's eyes as if imploring her: "Please look after my baby."  This affected Rita so much that she had to seek medical assistance. But the remaining baboons were later relocated to CARE and a proud moment was when Madiba himself attended their eventual release back into the bush.

            From 2010, when the telephone lines would permit, I had several long distance exchanges with Rita, in connection with a book I wanted to write.  During our last conversation  she described how she had partitioned off half of her lounge for her beloved Bobby. Now both old, they would share many Woolworths ready-meals, which Bobby loved. Was it prescience or Rita's famed black humour when she concluded:  "And so we sit, two oldies staring at each other as if wondering which one of us will be the first to go."

            And then the shocking news that she and Bobby had succumbed together in the horrific  blaze, the cause of which is still under investigation.

            I am reminded of Rita's words to me: "How many millions of creatures, animals and humans, never have much else in their lives – just an existence. The human species have created illusions for themselves, they call it HOPE. And if there is nothing to hope for in this world – there will be happiness in the next.  Mr. Dawkins calls this the God Delusion.  I wonder whether animals also have their own delusions called Hope or does their happiness consist of the presence of the moment only?"

            Hamba Kahle, dear friend. 

 

 

First published in Bolander by Beatrice Wiltshire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RITA MILJO - AN INDOMITABLE SPIRIT

At around 20h00 on Friday 27th July a giant in conservation circles, Rita Miljo, died tragically in a fire which destroyed her flat above the clinic and much of her rehabilitation centre

in the bush in Limpopo province. She was often referred to as the 'Jane Goodall of baboons.'

 

Rita was the first person in the world to form baboons into troops and reintegrate them into the wild -  a feat which had been considered impossible.

 

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

 

A full article in celebration of her life is to follow shortly.

 

Hamba Kahle, dear friend.

PITY OUR LITTLE LEOPARD

 

 When the first Europeans arrived at the Cape, the plains and mountains were teeming with wild life, including large mammals. Today few species remain and the Cape Leopard has made the TOPS (Threatened or Protected Species) listing, due to the threats to this species.  Part of this can be attributed to the fact that more than a million animals are sport hunted in South Africa every year with more animals reputedly being shot in the Eastern Cape, home of the pristine Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve and World Heritage Site, than in any other province - according to the Patterson report. This rugged mountain wilderness area, relatively untouched by human development, is a domain in which this unique little Leopard (half the size of the other African leopards) has survived. So too, it has found refuge in the remaining wilderness of the Cape fold mountains.

                Although their diet primarily consists of klipspringers and dassies, with porcupines, duiker, other antelope species and rodents making up the rest, leopards are known to kill sheep, where available and left unguarded. In retaliation leopards, as well as jackals and caracals, are sometimes killed by farmers by being shot or caught in cruel gin traps or through the use of the 1080 poison, banned in the USA and Europe, and hunted with dogs. The unintended consequences are that many innocent animals are also killed, causing a serious disturbance in the eco-system.

                In view of the endangered status and dwindling numbers of the Cape Leopard, two conservation bodies, the Cape Leopard Trust and the Landmark Foundation, have been at the forefront of finding solutions by engaging in research involving the installation of cameras with movement sensors as well as fitting trapped leopards with GPS tracking systems before releasing them back into the wild.  Education of farmers regarding non-lethal methods of control is on-going and many farmers, both locally and abroad, are able to manage these systems pro-actively, with good results, through the use of Anatolian Shepherd dogs and Alpacas.  Livestock protection collars, herding techniques, other technology aids and kraaling the animals at night is also effective as well as employing herders.

                The feud which has been raging for years between sheep farmers and hunters, conservation bodies and provincial officials, culminated in a Wildlife Forum held on 11^th June this year,  but representation excluded some very knowledgeable environmentalists, who have been vocal against Cape Nature's culling practices of predators. From the start the farmers made their intentions very clear – they wanted a blanket permit for each farmer to decide for himself how to combat predation in any way he deemed fit, while the conservationist/animal welfare contingent was very unhappy about the draft protocol drawn up by Cape Nature with the Predator Management arm of the farming industry.

The draft was criticised as it could re-introduce paramilitary hunt clubs such as Oranjejag in the Free State during the apartheid years, which allowed bands of farmers to invade any farm where a predator was suspected to be hiding and to shoot on sight, with or without permission of the owner. Shooting from helicopters and from the backs of bakkies in specially designed chairs, using spotlights and rifles with telescopic lenses and silencers are employed in the hunts.  Recordings of animal sounds are also used to lure predators. This, together with the barbaric and environmentally ruinous use of gin traps, poisons and hunting dogs to hunt jackals, leads to the unintended deaths of many innocent victims and a disturbance of ecological systems, creating havoc in the natural order. 

                Every non-lethal method of control put forward by the environmental and welfare lobby was rejected by the farming industry, with unconvincing reasons.

                There is a dispute between Cape Nature and Dr. Bool Smuts from the Landmark Foundation regarding the amount of animals killed. Cape Nature admits to issuing 400 permits for the period of six months on condition that the farmers gave regular feedback on the amount of predators shot.  This worked for one month and then the report- backs dwindled away, so that in the end farmers only admitted to killing some 300 animals.

 But in fact Cape Nature, in correspondence in Bolander's possession, admitted to granting 490 permits, each permit allowing 5 caracal and 5 jackal to be destroyed per day, per permit holder for a full 6 months period. According to Dr. Smuts, this would bring the figures killed over a six month period to 894,250 animals rather than the risible figure of 300 admitted to. 

So how does all this impact on the Cape Leopard? The issue of permits is at present the subject of a court case that Dr. Smuts has launched against Cape Nature and the Provincial administration, thus causing him to be banned from attending the Wildlife workshop although, as a registered NGO working in the field of predators, he clearly had locus standi.  

Says Chris Mercer of CACH:  "Unless the farmers become more open to change, negative perceptions against the industry will spread and farmers – along with our wildlife heritage - will be the losers."

PORCUPINES - A PRICKLY ISSUE

 

Do porcupines really shoot their quills? This erroneous belief seems to have been around a long time, possibly perpetuated by childhood story book illustrations.  The truth is that, if attacked, the little animal engages in some formidable posturing, erecting its quills, which are quite loosely attached and lets its enemy's teeth sink into them. The attacker ends up with a mouth and throat full of painful barbs, as our own Jock of the Bushveld experienced.

                On browsing through the gift- and curio shops, it becomes obvious that porcupine quills are increasingly being used in the manufacture of various commodities relating to the Afro-chic fad. And don't be misled by the shop owner's assurance that the quills were 'picked up around the farms.'  The quills you see are usually obtained by killing the animal in the most inhumane manner by clubbing to death, hunting with dogs or the cruellest of all, using gin traps, the latter banned in more than 90 countries – but not in South Africa.

The species has definite positive implications within a biodiversity context and porcupine research scientist Christy Bragg has written scientific papers referring to them as 'ecosystem engineers.'  According to her, 'studies show that productivity and diversity of plants within porcupine diggings can be many times higher compared to outside their diggings.  They not only increase bulb diversity (which has important eco -tourism implications) but also contribute towards an increase in the diversity and germination of annuals, shrubs and grasses.' This was all as Nature intended.

                Going back in history, one learns that porcupine populations were inherently stable as there were

no urban or agricultural impacts on them.  This stability was brought about by a self-regulating mechanism determined by population density and predation.

Then arrived the most destructive predator of all – the human being, which saw the natural balance disturbed and the start of human/animal conflict.

With an increase in agriculture and urban development, coupled with a concomitant decrease in natural habitat and predator species such as big cats, jackals, etc. this vegetarian animal turned to the ready food supply afforded by agricultural practices. With their strong incisors, porcupines were able to bite their way through agricultural fencing. In arid regions their keen sense of smell caused the thirsty animals to locate and bite through PVP water pipes, often positioned below ground level.

But this problem is not insurmountable. After discussion with farmers in the affected regions, Grant McIlrath of the Meerkat Conservation Project in the Karoo , suggested that farmers should raise their piping above ground level, perhaps on the farm fencing, to prevent porcupines from getting to them.  Letsie Coetzee, Section Ranger from the Tankwa National Park, suggests that in other areas, where PVP pipes could be damaged by the sun, the problem appears to be solved by burying the pipes deep enough in the ground. It all depends on the area and its particular problems and needs.

Be that as it may, a tipping point was reached when porcupines were classified 'vermin' and 'problem animals' because of their perceived detrimental effect on farming activities.  This classification led to large scale mortalities through hunting, trapping and poisoning.

Their fate was sealed when consumption of their meat entered into the equation and some game lodges now have porcupine steaks on their menus. Opportunistic farm stalls began introducing the public to the quirky commodity of porcupine quills, thereby putting an economic value on them.  This led to an exponential increase in demand and killing to supply the quill trade.

Occasionally, however, some ethical farmers would contact conservation organisations,  requesting help in removing problem porcupines, but this was not the norm and the fact that it is happening less frequently, is put down to the destructive impact the quill industry is having on porcupines. It appears that the animals are now being targeted specifically for their quills.

Because of their classification as vermin, porcupines were not afforded protection through either national or provincial conservation legislation. This was further compounded by the fact that little was known regarding their distribution and population. So while commercial exploitation of the species was taking place on a large scale, it was happening in a vacuum of scientific data on its effects. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW,) through their Think Twice campaign, highlighted the plight of the porcupine within Southern Africa and the threat placed on them by commercial exploitation. 

In order to address this problem and as a result of public pressure,  the government drew up draft Biodiversity and Threatened and Protected  Species Bills and called for input in the matter from stakeholders. In the subsequent Biodiversity Act, the porcupine has now been listed a 'protected species,' which by definition means 'an indigenous species of high conservation value of national importance that requires national protection.'

Because of the Government's policy of 'sustainable usage' however, this new classification does not mean that they are no longer hunted or trophy hunted. It merely means that they may be 'used sustainably.'

There has been an exponential increase in the number of quills being supplied to the market and no documentation to trace the source or extent of each transaction – a person can deal in porcupine by-products without having to obtain a permit to do so.  So there is no control over this random hunting and killing of porcupines and no means of accountability.  Exports thrive.

Meanwhile our indigenous porcupine continues to be trapped (including use of the inhumane gin trap) and then shot or clubbed to death, as well as hunted with dogs. The latter method is cruel to the dogs as well, because of collateral injuries. Such is the result of the commodification of sentient beings.              

               It has been pointed out, also in the Farmer's Weekly   (4 August 2006) that 'no farmer/wildlife programme has much chance of success without input from the kingpins in the debate namely the farmers.' This is so as, apart from a few isolated eco-friendly farmers, it is mostly the farmers who have been encouraging their labourers to hunt porcupines both for their meat and their quills.

                And it is all so unnecessary.  When we asked one of the biggest exporters of quill products whether these quills could be manufactured synthetically, the answer was a resounding 'no.' However, the

Inter-Continental hotel at the O.R. Tambo airport sports an eighteen metre long sculpture, all made of synthetic quills, hanging in the atrium of its Quills restaurant. So the only thing keeping this cruel trade going is the retail industry.

                The next time you are browsing through gift- and curio shops, don't be tempted to buy an item of beauty made up of porcupine quills. By doing so, you are actively supporting a cruel and unethical, consumer driven trade and could be assisting in the demise of the porcupine.  A relevant, recent example would be the indigenous porcupine in Italy, which was considered a delicacy and hunted extensively within its range until it became extinct.

                We can do without the lamp shades, jewellery, picture frames and even glass coasters made up of porcupine quills, but our environment cannot do without our little eco-system engineers.

 

 

THE JOY AND TRAGEDY OF POTBELLIED PIGS

        Humans appear to have a fascination for small animals that can be held in the palm of one's hand and so potbellied pigs were introduced into the United States in 1985 and promoted as the perfect house pet.  Correctly, it was claimed that they were easier to house train than dogs and did not carry fleas but, in the interests of sales, essential information was omitted.

The average 'tiny tea-cup pig' weighs 80kg pounds on reaching adulthood so it was not long before they were abandoned, much like puppies purchased on a whim at Christmas time. They can also become extremely aggressive and, following their natural instincts, root up carpets as well as your garden. This craze has now reached South Africa and is already creating a problem for animal welfare societies country-wide who have to deal with the consequences of  their being dumped as they reach adulthood.  

            It does rather seem as if the new about-to-be promulgated animal by-laws do not make specific provision for pot-bellied pigs as pets regarding their limitation per household, as is the case with cats and dogs, leading to unintended consequences. A question directed to Mr. Alan Perrins, CEO of the SPCA, regarding whether these would fall under the classification of farm animals or pets, elicited the brief response: 'semantics.'

 According to Cora Bailey of Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) they have been dealing with this problem in Gauteng for some time.  People are dumping their formerly cosseted 'tiny teacup pigs' in townships, to be slaughtered in whichever way people see fit. 

Clearly there is a serious gap in the by-law here.

 

The Noble and Human Pig

Winston Churchill said: Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, but pigs treat you like equals.

Pigs resemble human beings in many ways.  Like dogs and other animals, they share many of our feelings - compassion, fear, their need for companionship and intelligence.  They are able to solve problems and have been shown to excel at video games that would be hard for a young child, and sometimes perform better than primates.     

                 Karl Schwenke points out in his 1985 classic, In a pig's eye: "Pigs are gregarious animals.  Like children they thrive on affection, enjoy toys, have a short attention span and are easily bored.  Much like children, piglets do not develop in a normal way when they are deprived of the opportunity to engage in play." They are at least as intelligent as dogs and have been known to rescue their owners from drowning.

                They also dream and see colours like us. It is now recognised that they know when they are going to be slaughtered.  Like dogs they are individuals.

                The one big difference between pigs and dogs is the way we treat them.  We play with our dogs, take them for walks – we rarely do the same with pigs.  It is difficult to understand whey they receive such a raw deal.

                George Orwell's classic novel, Animal Farm, is generally considered to be a political fable about totalitarianism and Russia.  However, as Jeffrey Masson points out, Orwell saw it in another light, explaining in a preface written for the Ukranian translation, that the story came to him when he saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, abusing a carthorse. 

He was struck with the force of a revelation "that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat" and proceeded to analyze Marx's theory from the animals' point of view.

In the beginning of the book, as Major tells the animals on the farm, "No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth."

And so, as farm animals, pigs now live in a world that has become very far removed from nature – where the purpose of their existence is almost entirely defined by their death or exploitation, where animals are seen as objects and have to earn their keep along the world view of "if it pays, it stays."  We confine pigs in factory farms in sheds where they are constantly impregnated, and where they stand on slats, not even able to move around. As piglets, their tails are docked without anaesthetic.  And in the end, like the old horse in Animal Farm, their fate is the slaughterhouse.

But a visit to the Rustler's Valley community, near Ficksburg in the Free State, demonstrated again the symbiotic relationship between human-  and non-human animals where the pigs' keen sense of smell and natural inclination to root is used to the benefit of all.

The Rustler's Valley community practices permaculture, a sustainable way of agriculture, which is about "caring for the environment so that the environment can care for us.  The use of pesticides and other chemicals are dispensed with by the inter-planting of crops with herbs that heal the soil and keep away harmful pests. In working with nature, mechanical devices are dispensed with. New veggie patches are prepared by making use of  "pig tractoring."  A sty is erected over a patch of veld which is to be cleared.

The pigs then root to their hearts' content, clearing the ground of unwanted vegetation and spreading manure to feed the soil. As such, everybody's happy and the community is able to live off the land entirely.

 

               

 

DO WE LEGALISE THE TRADE IN RHINO HORN?

The poaching of rhinos is escalating exponentially and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species           (CITES) is currently being asked to legalise the trade in Rhino horn.

Proponents for the lifting of the ban argue that rhino numbers have increased due to rhino farming and that legalizing the trade will stop the poaching. But will this be the case?

                 Retired Lawyer Chris Mercer of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting points out that any scheme to legalise the trade in rhino horns rests upon the assumption that governments can be un-corrupt, efficient (doing things right) and effective (doing the right thing). He cannot imagine a shakier foundation for a legal trade in rhino horn. To remain in power some African governments  buy patronage, he says, and corruption is therefore endemic.

This statement seems to be borne out by a recent international comparative study of conservation and environmental issues by Yale University and the UNEP which placed South Africa 124^th out of 132 countries, thus reflecting badly upon South Africa's ability to conserve its natural resources.  Coupled with the fact that China, the main user of rhino horn for 'medicinal purposes' is increasingly getting a foot hold in Africa, he paints a bleak future indeed. 

Rhino breeders like John Hume, feel that the answer is legalization of the trade and the continued breeding of rhinos

in captivity in what Mercer described as factory farm conditions. Using a purely economical argument which disregards the fact that rhinos are sentient beings, Hume's ume'sHvision is that we "breed enough rhinos to supply the market with horns that come from live, breeding herds of rhinos and fill our game reserves and wilderness areas with horned ones."  This will not only serve the ongoing demand for medicinal purposes but also cater for hunters. He openly boasts: "The horns which I've removed are stored in banks and have increased in value like no other asset owned by myself."

                 But this vision is debunked by Michele Pickover, author of Animal Rights in South Africa, who published a well researched document on the issue.  She points out that when considering the legalization of the trade in Rhino horn it is important to look to the results of lifting the ban on elephant tusks as a result of similar arguments, that elephant numbers had increased sufficiently and legalizing the trade would stop poaching.  In fact, the opposite occurred and what we learned from the elephant ivory trade is as follows:

                Cites is an international agreement signed by 175 governments, including one of the world's major markets for illegal wildlife products- China.  After several years of polarised discussion and debate, CITES in 2008 granted China approved buyer status in the controversial sale of stockpiled ivory from Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. 

The argument was that a legalized, controlled trade in specimens of naturally deceased, managed and culled elephants could be used to flood the market and thereby lower demand, so reducing illegal trade and easing pressure on wild populations of endangered species.  Two years after this stockpile sale took place, environmental investigations revealed that, far from flooding the market with legal ivory to reduce demand, the sale of the stockpiles simply fuelled the demand for illegal ivory, spurring a massive increase in the poaching of elephants. Up to 90 per cent of ivory on sale came from illegal sources and prices had increased. The illegal ivory simply got laundered onto the market under cover of the 'legal' ivory.

Turning to rhinos, the species that has already teetered on the brink of extinction once in the past 30 years is once again facing a total onslaught. The current crisis has an added dimension not seen before – the involvement of organized criminal syndicates in countries which are neither range states nor major consumer markets.  This suggests the demand for rhino horn is currently at an all-time high.  What the ivory issue has taught us is that a legalized trade can never be properly monitored or regulated because the principal markets for rhino horn, including China, have failed spectacularly to fulfill commitments and has been abysmal at implementing an ivory regulation and control system.  If China cannot implement a control system designed specifically to address the problem (while at the same time satisfying demand) how on earth can it even be considered a suitable candidate for introducing a similar system for rhinos?

The organization TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), formerly in favour of legalizing the trade in horns, have now done an about turn and concurs with Pickover's views.

There is a battle ahead – the illegal trade in wildlife and their by-products is an industry worth billions, being second only to the illegal trade in drugs.

 

 

Beatrice  Wiltshire