Lilongwe Wildlife Trust look back on 2022 successes

Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT), responsible for running Malawi’s only wildlife rehabilitation centre and a key campaigner in Malawi’s fight against wildlife crime, takes a moment to look back on their successes in 2022. With more animals received than ever before through the doors of the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, donations are now more important than ever. Generous donors can now see what a difference they have made last year.

A total of 158 animals, including 39 pangolins, were received and cared for by the team at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. Veterinary care, nutrition, and rehabilitation were provided to injured, trafficked and orphaned wildlife from across Malawi.

The Wildlife Emergency Response Unit (WERU) responds to a large number of calls each year for animals in need, many of which have been injured from snares, traps or bullet wounds due to poaching or human-wildlife conflict. In the past year WERU has treated elephants, pangolins, bushbucks, servals, jackals, baboons, hyenas, vervets, roan and zebras. Of course, no animal is too small for the team, so they’ve also rescued hedgehogs and a microbat!

The ever-challenging ‘Ophan Season’ has been a huge success with many animals now thriving. The term ‘orphan season’ is often used in reference to vervet monkeys and, to a lesser extent, baboons. The primate orphan season is between November and March, which generally coincides with both the vervet birthing season and the rainy season in Malawi which brings significant growth in trees and food sources. Baboons see an increase in births during this period too.

Of course, all animals can end up orphans if things don’t always go to plan. One such animal is Nyenyezi the hyena, who is now in the care of the rehabiliation team at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. Thankfully, he has been growing fast – along with his appetite! The next step is to start introducing him through a fence to the other resident hyenas, Leo and Milo.

All of these success stories wouldn’t be possible without dedicated volunteers that come to work with the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust. The team run a placements programme in which you can help with everything from sanctuary work, veterinary medicine and wildlife research. Find out more here.

For more details on the recent success of the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, and to find out more on other projects, take a look at Lilongwe Wildlife Trust’s news & blogs page on their website here.