In honor of two very special animals I write this last blog for 2018.
For those following Facebook you will have read Joe’s story.
Joe, a massive, elderly male baboon who allowed two humans into his private space. Joe was part of the Hippo Haven wild troop and of them all he had the nicest character. He was the largest and would often be seen with a huge entourage of young juveniles under his protection. He was like the adored grandfather; his special friend was Yogi the baboon whose life we saved. See earlier blog, Yogi was carrying a poachers’ snare tightly wound around his stomach, which would have killed him, had we not managed to remove it.
On the 18th September Joe came in to the home area obviously unwell. Swollen genitals and a stooped back, a slow walk with hunched body posture. I put him on a course of antibiotics. For a week this seemed to help. His genitals returned to normal, but he was still so sore. He stopped roosting in trees, instead sensibly using our open gazebo to rest his head up on the wall. There I would surround him with chairs to protect him from predators at night. He ate from my hand and became so accustomed to hand feeding that he allowed me to sit with him while feeding. Thanks to Rowena Spacey, a lovely UK lady, we could buy him extra expensive fruit, vegetables and biscuits in Chiredzi, the nearest town, 2 hour drive from home.
We thought we were winning but it was not to be. In October he climbed a tall tree by the house and could not get down, his body was just too stiff. I managed, after spending the entire day sitting below the tree holding oranges, to eventually coax him down but it was obvious his tree climbing days were coming to an end. He would then lie down a lot under our bushes and so I feared for his life at night. With predators such as lion, leopard, hyena and wild dogs in our immediate area, Joe was too vulnerable.
On 17th October I managed to get him to follow me into one of our open-plan garages. Here he would be safe, but I could open the gate and let his family in to interact with him during the day, as by now he could hardly walk. He then stopped walking altogether so we would clean him under his bottom. A wild baboon who could so easily have hurt me badly allowing me to clean his bottom like a baby, and continue to feed and give him water by hand.
For a while he seemed relatively content but we knew he had a wound under his bottom, which was not improving with him sitting on it. A bed sore was developing. I put him on another course of antibiotic and on November 4th he walked again around the garage. He was extremely stooped but for the next 12 days he could shuffle around, but he was not fit enough to be let out into the wild. I did not have to clean him during that period as he moved his body around the garage.
Then we discovered he had caught lice and he was simply covered in them. Jean-Roger was in South Africa at the time, so I contacted him and he brought back a bottle of Ivomec. This did the trick, killing all the lice. He also produced very clean stools so it must have helped to kill off internal parasites as well.
Yet he was still stiff and then his legs suddenly lost all feeling. He had movement in his arms but nothing in his legs. We began a course of massage treatment, massaging his legs every day using turmeric paste as an anti-inflamatory. He accepted two humans rubbing his legs, this incredible baboon, as he knew we were trying so hard to save him. During all of these weeks Joe would not give up: he would lip smack at the female baboons, call them in his very deep voice, and generally be alert and look around at all times.
Then at the end of November I felt he was not having much quality of life, and a colleague in the north of the Conservancy, Jessica, came down with the idea of darting him, so that then Jean-Roger would have been able to shoot him. This was abhorrent to both of us, as our love for Joe made it very hard for Jean-Roger to consider shooting him, and I knew it would scar Jean for many years to come. Jess like us could see that Joe still wanted to try, and he was still eating and drinking. Also it was not a good day for darting as too many obstacles presented themselves and we all decided that fate was telling us not to help him move on.
Then two days later he stopped eating and on the night of December 2nd I felt Joe had had enough. He was showing me in many ways that he was tired and not at all at peace. I asked him to leave us so that Jean-Roger would be spared having to use a gun. There are no vets in our area so it was always pointing to Jean having to do this.
The following morning December 3rd I awoke at 5.am and knew he was no longer with us; I felt it deep inside of me. Jean-Roger checked him at 6a.m and came back to wake me up: I told him Joe had gone before he told me. Joe’s last gift was to leave us and not make Jean do the unthinkable.
Joe touched so many peoples’ lives on Facebook, many who perhaps did not realize that a baboon, like any animal, is a sentient being, with the same sensitivities we possess, if not in some ways superior to our own way of being.
They, for a while, stepped into the life of an amazing example of what a male baboon is like and looked into Joe’s eyes and saw what a baboon really is.
We shall never forget Joe and we thank him for teaching us so much more about baboons.
I thank everyone who helped with Joe. Rowena Spacey UK, Dr Kevin Lenahan vet extraordinaire, Claire Powers vet of the same mold both of the UK, Lynette Johnson in South Africa, a lady who has lived her life for baboons, Care South Africa for all their advice, Romi Sloan for her Reiki treatments of Joe and myself. Shalini Bosbyshell USA animal communicator, Oephebia UK animal healer and communicator, Jessica Watermeyer and her colleague Amy. Plus everyone on Facebook who cared about Joe.
Love to all Karen and the hippos xxx
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
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”
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”
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
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.
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.
