Reblogged from old website:
This update for our website is long overdue but with all of this correspondence, I have to be careful that I don’t end up spending more time writing than actually physically being out in the bush with the hippos, and helping them in their daily lives.
Some of you, reading about the Trust for the first time, may ask how people like myself and Jean-Roger help wild animals without interfering in their environment and the natural order of things.
In the case of the hippos it is self explanatory. Had I not have raised the funds and fed in situ these hippos way back in 1992, not one single animal would be alive today. 47 calves have been born from an initial nucleus of only 13 animals. Those 13 hippos were the only ones to survive a horrendous drought, which saw the death of thousands of wild animals. They survived because I fed them in the bush for over ten very long and stressful months. Many other animals ate at the feeding station for the hippos.
Waterbuck feeding at the Hippos sandwich of hay and game pellets during the drought
At that time the area was mainly private ranching lands for cattle and the odd safari setup, but we were camped above the riverbank as my husband is a geologist. I could not sit back and watch the hippos and the animals in our area die. So I intervened, saving the last 13 hippos in the Turgwe River. I found 7 carcasses of hippos that had left the river and later starved to death. Other hippos that had lived here disappeared, but the 13 that I gave food and water to, made it. In fact two conceived during the feeding program and one of those calves born in June 1993 is Tembia, the bull up at the Majekwe weir pool.
Crooked Tooth, bull who died in the drought and Karen measuring him
Tembia lives with his family of six hippos in the river 3 miles (5 km) upstream from the Turgwe Hippo Trust. His area is heavily poached and is one of the places we concentrate on sending our game scouts and going there ourselves regularly. This is so we can find and remove the snares that the poachers set to kill any animal, which can be from as large as an elephant to a tiny grysbok.
Tembia and some of his family at the Majekwe weir.
Left to right Tsakus and baby Anna, then Ronnie and Tembia at the back
After saving the last hippos’ lives, I formed the Turgwe Hippo Trust, a non-profit organization, and since then so many things have occurred.
2011 was a joyful year for hippo births as a total of 4 calves were born. So far in 2012 two more baby hippos have been born. A young female hippo normally gives birth every three to four years, while an older cow will take a bit longer; sometimes up to five or six years can pass before she has a new baby. We have quite a few young mothers and so calves are being born on average every four years.
Baby hippo BonBon
As these hippos are free and wild, they can come and go and often juvenile hippos of both sexes will leave the Turgwe Trust pools and move away to other pools or to two other river systems within this wildlife Conservancy. Although this large area of over 3,200 square kilometers of bush land was designated as a wildlife area back in 1994, we did unfortunately get affected by the political turmoil in Zimbabwe which commenced in 2000. This saw the center, eastern and western boundaries illegally invaded by settlers who in actuality were sent to this wildlife land to poach, and only for that purpose. Then under the guise of land invasions the people killed thousands of wild animals for the bush meat trade.
Snared impala
Waterbuck with an arrow stuck in the neck which killed it
Those dreadful years, between 2000 and 2006, found our lives turned upside down. From a peaceful existence with wildlife, doing man-management projects and school education tours, or taking safari tourists to meet the hippos, we found ourselves under the daily pressure of violence, mobs, and intense poaching that happened to anybody living on the land in Zimbabwe during those awful years.
At this moment, thankfully the violence from politically motivated agendas has ceased and all we have to deal with at present is the poaching angle. Plus of course any natural environmental issues. In 2011 between us and the scouts we found over double the usual amount of snares. A hundred percent increase, but at least we know that those 400 odd snares were removed from the bush and destroyed, so they can never kill or maim a wild animal again.
Alongside deaths we were hit by another problem in March 2012. The nearby safari outfit that lends us two game scouts helping us on patrols would not be doing this any longer. They had sent all of their scouts on a training course, including the ones that come to us, as we normally had two, changing every two weeks. At the end of the course they decided that it would be too much hassle to split the trained groups of scouts, so we must find our own scouts.
The reason this was such a hard-hitting event was that, because on our side of the river we have illegal settlers, it is not unusual for the game scouts from across the river (this included the ones that came to us) to get into cahoots with them. Since 2005 when we had the first 2 scouts lent to us after some extreme, politically motivated violence towards us, hardly any of the scouts from that property have remained working there. This is because it is so easy for them to be tempted to poach and be illegal, just like the settlers.
So we used to change the scouts every two weeks to stop them becoming too familiar with the nearby people. Now all this has had to change. We would need to employ at least 4 men, so that 2 could go home monthly on their days off and 2 could work. We would have to hope that the incentives we give, as well as our daily supervision, would keep them from moving into the wrong partnerships with the poachers.
Three of the new Turgwe Hippo Trust scouts. Chengetai, Albert and Herbert
All of this is yet another stress, both mentally and financially upon the Trust. For legal purposes the safari camp has agreed to pay for 2 of these men and have them under their jurisdiction, but the scouts are fully under us for employment. We will have to pay for the remaining two, as well as pay for bonuses, uniforms, etc. The Safari camp will help out with 2 of the men’s uniforms, but will not supply boots.
Karen Paolillo, Hippo Haven, Save Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, May 2012.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
