Orphan season is one of the busiest times of the year for our team at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, when we receive a large number of abandoned or orphaned infants that need high levels of support and around-the-clock care. Running from November to March, it coincides with both the vervet monkey birthing season and Malawi’s rainy season, when vegetation and food are plentiful.
Nyenyezi is one of these orphaned animals – a tiny hyena cub who came to us just a few weeks old. She’d been found frightened and alone in the middle of a field, her parents killed or chased away.
No baby animal should be on its own. It was heart-breaking to hear Nyenyezi (‘star’ in Chichewa) crying and calling for her clan when she first arrived at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.
Thankfully, our team is braced for this time of year. We’re working hard to give Nyenyezi the comfort she needs and we’re hopeful that, when she’s bigger, she’ll be able to join our two other rescued hyenas – and finally have a family of her own.
But we need your help now. Our resources are always stretched thin during orphan season as we work around-the-clock – and we’re already receiving calls about other abandoned animals.
Please help us give animals like Nyenyezi another chance at life.
HOW YOUR SUPPORT COULD HELP
£25 could cover Nyenyezi’s next round of vaccinations
£50 could support a week of care for Nyenyezi, including health checks, food and enrichment items
£100 could buy a heat lamp to keep other infant animals warm during critical periods of rehabilitation
£250 could pay for the adjustments needed to make our hyena enclosure appropriate for Nyenyezi