Above: Unable to escape danger or hunt for food, this 

Spotted Eagle Owl would not have survived long in the wild.

Greetings!  

When a Spotted Eagle-Owl (above) was found grounded beside the road between Victoria Falls and the Botswana border, it was clear something was wrong.

Normally these powerful nocturnal hunters lift effortlessly into the air. But this owl didn’t fly. Fortunately, the couple who had noticed the owl on the roadside realised it was injured. They turned their car around, carefully secured it, and drove back with it to Victoria Falls to ensure it received the help it needed.  

At our High-Care Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, our veterinary team immediately began treatment. Since arriving, the owl has been carefully monitored and assessed. Encouragingly, it has already been moved into a larger flight enclosure, where it has begun perching and flying short distances again – an essential step in rebuilding the strength needed to return to the wild.

But recovery takes time. At our Centre, rescue is only the first step.

Every animal that comes through our doors begins a demanding journey of recovery. It can take weeks –  sometimes months – of careful veterinary treatment, specialised diets, and controlled rehabilitation before an animal is strong enough to return to the wild where it plays its role in the ecosystem.

Right now, several animals are still on that road to recovery.

This young banded mongoose is recovering from a soft-tissue injury that affected its back legs, limiting its ability to move. Without treatment, the young mongoose would have been unable to forage or escape predators. After careful treatment and rest, it is already showing encouraging signs. It is feeding independently and responding well to medication.

Injured, but far from defeated — this yellow-billed kite lost a leg after it became entangled in plastic wrapping. Despite this severe injury, with specialised feeding and careful monitoring, it has regained strength and can now fly. It is currently housed in a larger enclosure while we assess its long-term prospects and determine the safest outcome for the bird.

This trumpeter hornbill is slowly rebuilding its strength after suffering a wing injury. Hornbills play an important ecological role as seed dispersers in woodland and forest ecosystems. The hornbill is currently on a carefully managed fruit-based diet while our team monitors its recovery. It is now eating independently and gradually regaining flight strength — small but vital steps toward release.

Wildlife rehabilitation is demanding work — but it gives injured animals a second chance to play their role in the ecosystem. Our goal is always the same: returning wild animals to the wild where they belong.

Your support today makes recovery possible:

> Veterinary treatment and medication

> Specialised nutrition for recovering animals

> Safe rehabilitation enclosures

> The dedicated care needed to prepare animals for release

Wildlife rehabilitation is not only about saving individual animals. It is also about protecting the health of the wider landscape. Every predator returned to the wild helps maintain ecological balance. Every bird of prey that flies again resumes its role controlling rodents and other prey species. Every animal released is one less loss in an already pressured ecosystem.

By supporting our Rescue and Rehabilitation Programme, you become part of every stage of that journey: from rescue, to recovery, to release.

Thank you for being with us on that journey.

Jessica Dawson

Chief Executive Officer 

Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust

VICTORIA FALLS WILDLIFE TRUST

PO Box 159, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe | +263 782 799 006

PO Box 23183, San Diego, CA 92193 | +1 207-307-9803

9 The Clock Tower, Redlers Waterside, Dudbridge Rd., Stroud GL5 3LH, UK

+44 (0)74 76 227 684

www.vfwt.org | info@vicfallswildlifetrust.org