Malawi wildlife and conservation organisation, Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT), have been soldiering on during the coronavirus pandemic. The team continue to combat wildlife crime, rehabilitate vulnerable and injured wildlife, and educate communities on the importance of conservation.
Recently, they have been looking back on their internationally recognised TV documentary ‘Malawi Wildlife Rescue‘ and how the animals in the spotlight are now doing.
As Malawi’s only wildlife rehabilitation centre, the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre was in the limelight earlier this year on international TV as a six-part documentary series captured the inspirational day to day dramas of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust. The Wildlife Emergency Response Unit (WERU), Lilongwe Wildlife Trust’s field team that rescue Malawi’s wildlife on a daily basis, witnessed some fascinating sights and their encounters left audiences wanting to know what happened next. So where are they now? Well let’s take a look…
An orphaned baboon, elegantly named Doodle Bob, was only six weeks old when he arrived in the caring arms of LWT. The first episode saw Doodle Bob nervously introduced to his foster family, which took several attempts and timed interactions to slowly familiarise him with his family-to-be. Doodle Bob is now well integrated with a larger troop. He is well liked and spends most of his time with adult mate Batista!
In episode 2 of the documentary, the WERU team were responsible for collaring a young female cheetah in Liwonde National Park. Cheetahs were reintroduced into the park in 2017 and have been closely monitored by African Parks (who manage Liwonde) and LWT ever since. The young female cheetah was one of the first cheetah cubs to be born in the park in 20 years. Incredibly, since installing the tracking collar, she has now had her own litter of three cubs!
Episode 4 saw Usiku, a male hyena, in captive care. When animals spend too long in captive care, they become dependent on humans and lose their social interaction skills that they rely on in the wild. This sadly means Usiku is not able to return to the wild. But, aiming to give every visitor a fighting chance of a happier future, Usiku made an epic trip to Zimbabwe in 2019 to be integrated with another captive hyena. Both hyenas are enjoying their new-found social life!
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