CERCOPAN

Category: Cercopan, Communities, Life, Nigeria, Rescued neglected bush dog | Date: Sep 14 2009 | By: cercopan

  As many of you may remember, a few months back we rescued a bush dog, Ticky, from appalling conditions in our host village Iko Esai.  She was found under a broken umbrella in the pouring rain, covered in sores and being home for a vast number of parasites including ticks, fleas and worms.  She was too weak to even stand and we discovered the reason was because she had been removed from her mother before she was ready to finish nursing.  Sylvain, our mona research coordinator, gently carried her back to our camp along the difficult 30 minute bike journey, through flooded rivers and with thunder crashing around our ears.  It was there we began to nurse her back to health and she started her new life as our camp mascot, surrounded by love and care.

Ticky being nursed on her first night at Rhoko Camp, after ger initial rescue 

 In our last ‘rescued dog’ update we announced she was firmly on the road to recovery and we are pleased to say she has now finally reached her destination!   Her patchy fur has fully grown back and all her wounds are healed.  She has put on plenty of weight, with a big belly hanging around her spindly little legs!  Her true character is shining through and she is excelling at her guard dog duties, taking her cue from our older camp dog, Simon.  Perhaps her bark isn’t quite as threatening as Simon’s, with its squeaky tones intermingled with low growls, but she is always on the lookout for passers-by.

  Her strength has grown even more and now she runs around camp, following us to our huts and playing with us in the grass.  She still tries to play with our older dog, Simon, but he has decided he’s a bit too old for these games and tries to find a quite spot where he can continue to be a grumpy old man.  I think he also gets jealous, as he’s a big dog and is unable to climb onto anything comfortable like a chair (although he was caught having pushed into Sylvain’s hut and asleep on his bed once)!  Ticky, on the other hand, has found one of our cushioned chairs particularly comfortable, and has become an expert at climbing up various small boxes to get on to it!

Ticky; patch-free and chewing the clothes of our volunteer, Sylvain.

The other week our camp manager, Richard, bought back some tasty treats from the city for our guarding duo in the form of two large bones.  Both are nearly as long as Ticky herself and she struggles to get a good bite with her small mouth.  For some reason though, which ever bone she is gnawing on is not as tasty as the one Simon is chewing, and so she always tries to muscle in on his!  He’s not too pleased about this but is showing more tolerance as the days go by!

Ticky trying to get her little mouth around such a big tasty treat! 

  In addition, we have begun general training with her.  She understands ‘sit’ even if she doesn’t always follow the order, and we are trying to teach her ‘stay’, as she regularly tries to follow us in to the forest.  Our favourite one though, and I think hers is ‘paw’, where she lifts up her paw to shake hands.  Perhaps not as practical as ‘sit’ or ‘stay’, but much cuter and it is becoming a very popular welcome with our visiting tourists!

By Amy Baxter, Mangabey Project Coordinator and temporary Office and Finance Manager

Tags: Cercopan, community, Conservation, Cross River State, dog, Iko Esai, Monkeys, neglected, Nigeria, rescued, volunteers

4 responses so far

Category: Cercopan, Rescued neglected bush dog | Date: Jul 26 2009 | By: cercopan

Two weeks ago, the CERCOPAN camp staff visited our host village, Iko Esai, for an evening a way from camp.  Whilst having a quiet drink in the local bar two members of the group returned having seen a small puppy in bad condition hiding under a broken umbrella.  Upon inspection we realised this puppy was in a very awful state and close to death.  She was covered in wounds and blood, and was responding very little to the activities going on around her.  The CERCOPAN staff acted quickly, finding and speaking to the owner and arranging for the puppy to return to our camp to be cared for.  She was carried carefully in a jacket for the difficult 30 minute motorbike ride to camp, through rain and flooded rivers.

Upon arrival to camp we were able to better assess the condition of the dog and begin work on improving her welfare.  The poor thing was covered in sores and a vast number of parasites including ticks and fleas.  She was also painfully thin and extremely dehydrated.  She lay quietly as we treated her wounds and cleaned her up.  Four of us sat around her, all armed with a pair of tweezers, picking off the vast number of ticks, many of which had congregated in her ears.  The conversation with her owner had revealed that she was taken from her mother whilst still nursing and thus had grown weaker and weaker due to lack of food.  Over the coming days she was fed mainly on milk and biscuits.  We have built her up to more solid foods including rice and her now favourite dish, fish.  Our veterinary nurse came to visit her, treating her for endoparasites, such as worms, and giving us helpful advice on her further care. 

She has grown in strength over the last weeks and we get more and more excited every time she achieves new goals.  When she first arrived she was too weak to stand but in a few days we saw her little head peeking out from over her box as she stood up on her own for the first time.  She took her first steps, although wobbly, and is getting more and more inquisitive about her new environment.  She frequently tries to jump out of her box now (something we only allow when there is a volunteer to keep an eye on her) and is forging a friendship with our older camp dog, Simon, who has been particularly lonely since the passing of his camp companion Jami.

Since her vast improvement we have negotiated with her owner and come to an agreement that she will be better as a camp dog where we can continue her much needed care.  We have not decided on her official name yet although there have been many suggestions including; Wormy, Patchy, Ticky Waka Waka and Samo (local language meaning ‘Thank You’.  However, the most commonly used is Ticky, in memory of her first night and the long hours spent using tweezers…………

Tags: abandoned, africa, animal, Cercopan, cute, dog, neglected, Nigeria, rescued, saved

5 responses so far