Greetings!
This year, the Rescue and Rehabilitation team at VFWT has been called into action time and again to save wildlife in distress across Victoria Falls and the surrounding areas.
Almost every week, we respond to urgent reports of animals caught in wire snares, injured by vehicles, electric fences, poisons, or harmed through conflict with people and domestic animals. Others arrive as victims of the illegal wildlife trade. The list is long and the work is incredibly demanding for our small team.
The sad reality is that without rapid intervention, many of these animals would not survive. Worse than this —they would suffer unnecessary pain in their last hours.
From bushbuck to pythons, baboons to vultures, ground hornbills to hedgehogs, our team has rescued and rehabilitated an extraordinary range of species — treating injuries, easing suffering, and returning animals safely to the wild wherever possible.
In 2025 alone, we have removed over 28 wire snares and foreign bodies from animals including warthogs, lions, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, baboons, zebra, wild dogs, and multiple antelope species.
One case this year involved a specially protected African Wild Dog. After three unsuccessful attempts to dart the snared animal — wary, mobile, and already weakened — our veterinary team finally succeeded on the fourth try. The snare was removed, the wound treated (below), and the rest of the pack, including curious pups, remained calm throughout the operation. When we later followed up, we were relieved to see the wound healing well.
Sadly, stories like this are far too common.
Every snare we remove, every animal we treat, and every life we return to the wild depends on having the right equipment, medications, and trained personnel ready to respond at a moment’s notice.
Your year-end gift today will help us:
- USD 25 — contributes vital funds for urgent, life-saving veterinary care for every emergency call-out
- USD 100 — helps us safely immobilize an antelope, allowing us treat injured or snared individuals
- USD 200 — provides milk for a month for small ungulate species like duikers and bushbucks.
- USD 500 — provides veteriniary support drugs like anti-biotics, vitamins, anti-inflammatories for rehab cases
- USD 1000 — assists with darting a rhino (these missions often require expensive helicopter time)
Would you like some kiwi fruit with that blueberry?
One of our recent patients clearly enjoyed the VIP treatment during his stay at our High-Care Rehabilitation Unit. This black-collared barbet arrived with a broken wing and couldn’t feed himself.
Thanks to expert veterinary care (and a very attentive room service menu), he made a full recovery and has now been released back into the wild. Barbets are notoriously hard to tell apart, but we’re fairly sure we spotted a familiar face near our office block soon after – and if it was him, he seems to have settled in nicely… possibly with a new friend. Their diet is mostly fruit, with insects and nectar on the side.
Did you know?
The red plumage of black-collared barbets ranges from vivid scarlet to soft salmon-pink, with a rare yellow form occasionally appearing.
Your year-end gift today will help ensure we can continue this vital rescue and rehabilitation work into 2026.
Thank you for standing with us to protect the wildlife that makes Victoria Falls so extraordinary,
For Wild Africa,
Dr. Harley Peacocke
Veterinarian
VICTORIA FALLS WILDLIFE TRUST
PO Box 159, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | +263 782 799 006
PO Box 23183, San Diego, CA 92193 | 619-602-1725
9 The Clock Tower, Redlers Waterside, Dudbridge Rd., Stroud GL5 3LH, UK
+44 (0)74 76 227 684
Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust | PO Box 23183 | San Diego, CA 92193 US
