A Plea for Help and Donations from the Orphaned Animals of Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage in Zimbabwe

Africa Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage is a Sanctuary for sick, injured & orphaned animals of Zimbabwe, Southern Africa.  Based on the outskirts of Bulawayo, we have just celebrated our 30th Birthday.  'Chipangali', meaning Open Friendly Country, was set up in 1973 by Vivian & Paddy Wilson & continues to be run by this wonderful couple to this day, together with their son Kevin, his wife Nicky & a staff of around 40 Zimbabweans. 

An entirely barren 20 hectare piece of land saw the start of this great venture & since then a lot of hard work, dedication & determination have gone into building this wildlife haven.  Chipangali has overcome all the many obstacles laid in its path over some extremely harsh years & is currently home to over 250 animals, birds & reptiles, including leopard, lion, cheetah, hyaena, birds of prey, antelope, crocodile, the endangered black rhino & wild dog, & many more besides.

But day to day living in Zimbabwe is now becoming an increasing strain on one & all. It has been a struggle for a long time of course, but Chipangali has always managed to work through each situation with strength & determination. But we have reached the point where we need to ask for financial assistance from our good friends, the animal loving public.

Tourism is pretty non-existent, so we are having to rely heavily on our local impoverished population for financial support, which is simply not enough. Our own Government quite unbelievably offers us no support.

Electricity charges have just risen by a staggering 400%, just in the last month alone, which has come as rather a horrific surprise to the Wilson family, as well as to the nation as a whole.Telephone charges have just doubled, again this past month alone.These increases are not new; they have been occurring on a regular basis for many months now always without warning.