RGS London 2026

I have been remiss at writing an update for you as to what has been happening at the Turgwe Hippo Trust in the last several months.  So in a nutshell I will try to fill you all in.

Thanks to many of you, we have managed to stay afloat this year, which has not been easy.  It has been such a hard year and I believe this has been the case for most charities and not-for-profits.  Thanks to some of you, donations came in in January to keep us afloat after we lost a regular grant that we normally received during that month.  Later in the year we asked for help to build a new pan for the animals, which has been built right near the THT headquarters. It is mainly to keep the wildlife safe by having them closer to home.  This enables us to keep an ear out for poachers and for the animals to be able to drink and enjoying swimming right close by to the house.

We also asked for help to build an aviary for the two rescue pigeons.  It is large and comfortable and allows them to fly within it. I am actually considering moving in with them.  As well, at the same time an extension to the one volunteers’ cottage was built to improve the bathroom facilities.

Our last appeal was for help to purchase a new satellite dish setup; as you know we do not have grid electricity here in the bush. All our communications are dependent on an old satellite system and the generator. The present setup is very slow and makes life very difficult to send adoptions and videos quickly.  Plus the new system is uncapped, so will not cost the Trust extra money when often we run out of internet data.  We asked for help to give the Rangers and Silas bonuses for the Holiday Season and you have been there for not only the animals but the people as well. Hopefully the new dish will be up and running in the New Year.

I hate having to bother supporters with appeals, as I know that you all get bombarded by such like in your in box all the time, but sometimes we cannot keep going here on our own steam.  Without you, things would certainly stop.  So I salute every single person who has helped the Turgwe Hippo Trust this year.  I am hoping with every ounce of me that I will not have to ask for so much help next year, but at this moment our rains are not good at all. If they do not improve it could be a drought and then I will need a lot of help to feed all 22 hippos, as well as any of the other wildlife in the areas the hippos utilize.  I am still hoping that a lot of rain is going to fall between now and the New Year. You have to have hope.

We also went over to the UK where I was to give a hippo presentation at the Royal Geographical Society, Ondaatje Theater.  This was the third time I have spoken there about the hippos and all that we do at the THT.

People who had attended the other two presentations told me that this one was the best yet, which made me very happy. I had been sick with malaria one week before the event and was really worried I would not be able to talk.  What a relief it was to receive praise and speak for nearly two hours to people who really appeared to love what I had to say and felt inspired by it all.  You can purchase a video link of the talk on the website at https://savethehippos.info/product/london-event-2023/.

I will return for another presentation and this time it will not take 6 years as hopefully no pandemic will get in the way.  Jean-Roger and I also got to take an 8 day break in Sardinia while over in the UK, which was absolutely wonderful as it was our first holiday in 6 years.

I have saved the best news to the end as there have been a lot of bad things during 2023 and I will be very happy to go into 2024 with a lighter heart.  I though believe in trying to focus on the positive and find hope in every situation.  I am very happy to say that Penguin publishers South Africa, along with Struik Nature have published the sequel to A HIPPO LOVE STORY.  My new book HIPPOS, A MONGOOSE AND ME will be available as an eBook in late January and a hard copy hopefully by February 2024, as well as on the Turgwe Hippo Trust website and Amazon. 

It will be available for all South Africans at Loot@co.za as a preorder now,  rush to this Loot Site

The book launch will actually be on line and you can register to hear me talk about the book on WORLD HIPPO DAY, February 15th, which is very appropriate.  To register to hear the talk, go to this link https://bit.ly/41rmRc3

This book is a series of short stories about some of the wildlife, including of course the hippos, that have made a deep impression on me during the last 3 decades, and some of the adventures that we have had here as well.

Feel free to use the link below to read an extract from the book :

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/penguinbooksblog/extract-hippos-mongoose-and-me-karen-paolillo

Then the last bit of extremely welcoming news and which makes my heart so happy is we that we now have, thanks to the talk in London, three well known Patrons for the Turgwe Hippo Trust. 

Every one of them is an accomplished actor in the UK and an animal lover.

Dan Richardson:   actor, producer and animal advocate

Peter Egan: actor, animal activist and ethical vegan

Mark Bonnar: actor and a man who cares for hippos, thanks to his sculptor father Stan Bonnar.

Stan Bonnar on left, hippo sculptor and on right the sponsor for the hippo presentation Ian Wilkie, Director at Leviton, Glenrothes Scotland.

So we end 2023 on a very uplifting and happy note and we really do thank every one of you for making most of this possible by being there for these hippos.  With love to you all and huge hippo hugs.

Karen Paolillo, all the Turgwe Hippos and the other wild animals.  Xxx

https://turgwetrust.org/donate-to-help/

To buy tickets please follow the above link and select the donate in £'s. Donate the amount for the number of tickets required and Karen will forward them to you.

Hear about feeding wildlife especially the Turgwe Hippos and many other wild animals in severe droughts where they all would have perished. Presented by Karen Paolillo the founder of the Turgwe Hippo Trust.

Watch video footage filmed from trail cameras in situ at the feeding areas during the 2024 drought. See unusual and interesting footage of various wild animals that fed during that 10-month period. Hippos, Elephants, buffalo, warthogs, wildebeest, zebra etc.

Meet Anthony Martin CBE, of the AVM Foundation.

Watch 15-minute film created by Actor, Filmmaker and Producer Dan Richardson. Filmed on site in Zimbabwe in July at Turgwe Hippo Trust.

Meet Actor and Animal Advocate and Auctioneer for the evening PETER EGAN, After Life, Death at a funeral, Downton Abbey, Chariots of Fire and so much more from stage and screen. Also meet Actor Mark Bonnar, Shetlands, Napoleon etc.

Donate to a cause that helps not just the Turgwe Hippos but any wildlife in the area. Protecting them from poaching, sport hunting, and natural events such as droughts and floods. People that step in every single day to keep them all safe and alive in the wild.

Purchase one or both books, A HIPPO LOVE STORY or HIPPOS A MONGOOSE AND ME published by Penguin South Africa, written and personally signed by Karen Paolillo; memoir and stories about living and protecting hippos and other wild animals in a remote area of the African bush for over three decades.
Purchase ‘Legacy of Love’, a book that celebrates the relationship between animals and actors, artists, photographers, animal charity founders; this includes the Turgwe Hippo Trust.
Purchase the 2027 Turgwe Hippo Trust hippo calendar presenting some of the hippos of the Turgwe River or the 2027 wild animals calendar. Images for both calendars by Karen Paolillo.
Join all of us for an inspiring evening learning more about the hippos, one of Africa’s iconic species, and helping to protect the Turgwe Hippos to continue their wild lives in the south east lowveld of Zimbabwe within the Turgwe River.

Auction items:
1)Stay for 2 people with Karen and Jean-Roger at Hippo Haven, headquarters of the Turgwe Hippo Trust in Zimbabwe for 9 nights, which can include 2 nights in the Gona Re Zhou National Park at a rustic bush camp where you pay National Parks for that experience. Jean-Roger and Karen Paolillo will personally drive you there (2 hours from Hippo Haven) and bring and prepare the food.This does not include air tickets to Zimbabwe or travel by courier service Harare to Hippo Haven and Return. (5-hour drive).Jean-Roger and Karen Paolillo will pick you up at the entrance to the Conservancy which is 70 kilometres from Hippo Haven and return you to the boom at the end of you stay , where you will be collected by the Courier service.

Accommodation in Harare at your own cost, the Paolillo’s can suggest hotels and guest lodges. Dates this is available at this moment are between June to end of September, date to be arranged with the Paolillos by end of November 2026. Winter months in Zimbabwe i.e. cooler nights June to August. August and September hotter around 30 degrees in August in daytime but it can go as high as 36 degrees in September, climate change notwithstanding.You may be lucky enough to meet Max hippo, the Turgwe Hippo Trust house hippo if he is still visiting the house in 2027.

Value of Stay at Hippo Haven, Turgwe Hippo Trust Zimbabwe £3700

Transport Harare to boom and return to Harare 900km. £800 to be paid by winning bid

2) Oil Painting: - by Zimbabwean artist ANT FYNN
CHITAKE

CHITAKE This is one of several paintings I have done of Zimbabwe’s Chitake Springs, one of the wonders of the wildlife world. The Chitake river bed itself is sandy and dry for most of the year, flanked on both sides by cliffs gouged out by the river over hundreds of years. On top of the cliffs the iconic towering baobab trees, perhaps a thousand years old, add to the grandeur of this gem of wild Africa. A spring wells up and is the only water for many miles. When myself and my family camp here the best times are when we are alone – just us with no noise other than those of a wild world that pays no attention to us. On the occasion of this painting the Cape Buffalo herd of over a thousand has not yet arrived, the lion pride of over 30 individuals is waiting patiently in the shade of the giant baobabs, and the elephant have ambled up for their midday drink. Small numbers of Impala are left after the main herd has finished drinking, Helmeted Guineafowl have arrived, and huge numbers of Cape Turtle Doves are milling around, drinking as fast as they can, then leaving in a flash of wings before the Lanner Falcons strike. This is raw untamed Africa at its best and a paradise for me as an artist.

Value of Chitake £3700 Ant Fynn

Framed size 26”x 36”

3) Pastel painting includes frame approximately 24 x 38 inches by British artist RICHARD SYMONDS

Richard Symonds passion and commitment to wildlife spans over 20 years.
He has held a number of exhibitions and auctions in and around London including Christies and Sotheby’s and his work can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide.
In 2006 Richard hit the headlines with his life size oil painting of an African bull elephant which sold for a staggering $100,000 to a private collector. With a large donation from that sale going to the Born Free Foundation. Richard has always pledged to himself that whilst making his living from his wildlife art it only feels right to balance his success with giving back to the wild by raising funds through the sale and auctions of his originals and prints.

Value of LION by Richard Symonds

£3500

Framed 24”x38”

4) Framed embellish print size 658mm x 365mm Image size 450mm x 150mm HIPPO by British artist GARY HODGES

I've known about Karen's dedication towards hippos, warthogs and other creatures living locally to her area for a few years now and am happy to help through my art whenever possible. So when she contacted me recently about her latest event being organised for the Turgwe Hippo Trust, I chose this special framed print for her auction at the Royal Geographical Society. Having the THT patron, Peter Egan as the esteemed auctioneer will surely help as he's one of the good guys, involved in many wildlife charities.

Besides 'Hippo' being an embellished print, which means I have personally added many thousands of new pencil strokes over many hours on top of the print making it more dynamic and quite unique. It becomes much closer to an original drawing and this particular copy has also been co-signed by two shining lights of the conservation world, Dame Virginia McKenna and Rula Lenska.

I've been fortunate to have witnessed serene scenes like this many times over the past 36 years, in Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon, Botswana and most of all in South Luangwa, Zambia where hippos abound in their thousands.

Value of HIPPO by Gary Hodges £845 unframed

Size 45.5cm x 15.5cm

5) Bespoke silver hippos by Zimbabwean silversmith and sculptor of Luxury brands PATRICK MAVROS
6) One-off stoneware hippo 45cm long x 24cm deep x 29.5cm high by UK artist SUZIE MARSH

Suzie’s animal sculptures have gained great acclaim over the last 35 years and she now has a loyal following both in the UK and abroad. She has undertaken many private and business commissions including sculpture exhibits for a museum in Taiwan and two public installations, one of Nelson the Seal at Looe Harbour in Cornwall, the other of Police Dog Finn at Layston Court Gardens, Buntingford, Hertfordshire. Her work reflects her love of animals and her fascination with their character and form. She often produces work to aid animal charities close to her heart and this has taken her to the Animals Asia bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam as well as the Turgwe Hippo Trust in Zimbabwe. In recognition of her own four cats who double as artist’s models, Suzie is also a keen supporter of Cats Protection. Her initial work is in clay and her originals can then be cast in bronze resin and/or foundry bronze. All of her work is suitable for the home or garden.

Value of stoneware HIPPO Suzie Marsh £2000

Weight 10kg 45cm long x 24cm deep x 29.5cm high

She is a one-off original sculpture made in stoneware clay.

7) Hippo Sculpture by Zimbabwean Gift C. Rusere

The Turgwe Hippo Trust does its best to promote indigenous artists by suggesting to guests and volunteers which markets to visit. In Gift’s case many of the Trust’s volunteers have purchased his work as his talent shines through in the details and accuracy of the shape and look of the wild animals he sculpts.

We so look forward to meeting you all and hope you have a wonderful evening with us.

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