WORLD WORLDWIDE AFRICA ZIMBABWE - ANIMALS - ANIMAL SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL - Drones are helping to save countless wild animals.

View this email in your browser A drone is badly needed to search for and save a snared hippo before it’s too late.  Please help by making a donation now! Share Tweet Forward Share Dear friends Somewhere in the Zimbabwean wilderness, a mother hippo is struggling to survive as a brutal wire snare cuts into her face and jaw. If she dies, her calf will be orphaned and left to fend for itself in the unforgiving wilderness, likely being killed by predators or caught in a cruel snare like the one threatening her mother’s life. Our team is ready to save her – but she can’t be found. Credit: Zambezi Conservation With 400,000 hectares (around 1,500 square miles) to search, our team is struggling to find the hippo before she dies from her wounds.  Please help by making a donation now! Our partner, the Zambezi Conservation Unit (ZamCon), spotted the hippo and calf from their boat as they patrolled the Zambezi River. Unfortunately, the noise of the boat’s motor spooked the animals, and they disappeared into the undergrowth before the team could get to them.  Hippos may be large animals, but they can quickly disappear in Zimbabwe’s thick vegetation. Once they vanish from sight, it can be incredibly hard to find them again without high-tech tools like drones. Snares such as these pose a risk to all wildlife. Credit: Zambezi Conservation From what our team could see, the snare is tightly wrapped around her upper jaw, causing severe and potentially life-threatening injuries. We are still searching for her, and unless we can find her soon, we have to assume the worst. Without a drone, we do not know how many more animals are slowly dying right now from snares laid by poachers. Please help by making a donation now! Snares are simple yet deadly wire contraptions that poachers use to trap animals in the wild. After snagging an unsuspecting victim, snares cause severe injuries that often only kill the animal after days or weeks of suffering. Credit: Zambezi Conservation Unfortunately, locating snared animals can be incredibly difficult. Injured wild animals, in their fear and desperation, are known to retreat into dense vegetation.  In the fight to save Zimbabwe’s wild animals, we must do everything in our power to protect them from relentless poachers. Zimbabwe is a country rife with corruption and poverty, a deadly combination for the animals. For poor locals, the high price of ivory, lion pelts and other animal parts prized by foreign markets can be too great a temptation to ignore.  Very few organizations are fighting to safeguard Zimbabwe’s majestic wild animals. Our partner is one of them – but its resources are limited.   With your help, we can purchase a drone and save many more snared animals. Please help by making a donation now! What is needed for the animals is a state-of-the-art drone to cover a much wider area, providing a bird’s-eye view to quickly spot injured or at-risk animals and rush to the rescue.  Even better, thermal and night-vision capabilities will enable the team to see animals in the dark, while easily spotting poachers who are lurking in the bushes so they can send an anti-poaching squad to apprehend them. Drones provide a bird’s-eye view to quickly spot injured or at-risk animals. Credit: BesJournals Every day that our team goes without a drone means more defenseless animals will be left to suffer – and more poachers will get away. Please help us raise $12,000 (around £9,700) for a vital anti-poaching drone by donating as generously as you can today. Vulnerable animals are counting on you. Saving animals and the planet, Campaign Director Animal Survival International P.S. Please help us fund a vitally important anti-poaching drone for our partner in Zimbabwe, so we can urgently save wild animals from poachers and other life-threatening situations. Any amount you donate will make a difference!  Please help by making a donation now! Subscribe to our newsletter! Banner credit: Zambezi Conservation Please share this appeal with your colleagues, friends and family. Share Tweet Forward Share