Against the Snare : Saving an Amaganyane

Against the Snare: Saving an Amaganyane

There are some days in conservation that never leave you. This was one of them.

It started with a call. Our guiding team had spotted trouble: a wild dog, alone, caught in a snare and

fighting for her life. In an instant, everything else stopped mattering.

For the Grace Foundation, this call carried a weight beyond the ordinary. Wild dogs are known locally as

Amaganyane, the very name carried by our Anti-Poaching Unit, the team that rises each day to defend

these animals and the wild places they call home. A wild dog was in danger Amaganyane would answer.

The guiding team moved quickly, radioing the location to the conservation team. On the ground the

Amaganyane APU pushed through the bush with one goal, find her before it was too late.

What they found stopped them cold. The wire had cut almost all the way through her trachea. Only a

sliver of tissue and bone still held her head in place. It was the kind of injury that makes the danger of a

single strand of wire impossible to ignore, showing in the most brutal terms what a snare can do to a

wild and living thing.

But she was breathing. She was alive. And as long as she was alive, there was a fight left to fight.

The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust joined the team in the field. Together, working against the clock in the

open bush, they administered antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, set up a drip and stitched the wound

with everything they had on hand. It was raw, hands-on, unglamorous work - the kind that saves lives.

But it was clear she needed more than the bush could give her. With the support and permission of the

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), the decision was made to move her to

the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust rehabilitation centre, where she could receive specialised,

round-the-clock care.

Then came the waiting. The days that followed were uncertain, but slowly, she began to recover. And

then came the news we had been hoping for, she was ready to come home. The wild dog was brought

back to Matetsi Private Game Reserve and, today, was successfully released back into the wild.

She was a little wobbly, understandably still coming around from the effects of the drugs. But she was on

her feet. She was free. After lingering for a while, she headed straight for the Namakwa pan for a drink of

water.

From there, she made her way towards Nungu Road before turning east and heading towards the ridge.

Her direction gave us hope that she might be making her way towards the Zambezi National Park perhaps, if we are lucky, in search of her pack. We watched her disappear into the bush, carrying with

her a story that could have ended very differently.

For now, we will keep watching for as long as she remains on Matetsi Private Game Reserve. We cannot

know what lies ahead, or whether she will find her pack, but seeing her walk away from us and back into

the wild was a moment worth holding onto.

No single person saved this wild dog, no single organisation did either. It was a chain: guides who spotted

her, Amaganyane scouts who reached her, hands that treated and stabilised her, the Victoria Falls

Wildlife Trust team who cared for her, support and permissions that were granted by ZimParks, and a

vehicle that carried her to safety. Every link held.

Our gratitude runs deep to the Amaganyane APU team, the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust and ZimParks,

whose trust, expertise and permission made this intervention possible.

There is something quietly powerful in an amaganyane being saved by Amaganyane.

Our Anti-Poaching Unit bears the name of a species famous for its loyalty, its cooperation and its refusal

to leave one another behind. On this occasion, that meaning was not symbolic.

It was lived.

Why We Keep Fighting

The war against snares is relentless. Every snare removed from the bush is one less threat waiting in the

grass. But the truth is that animals will continue to encounter these silent traps until the fight is won for

good. This wild dog is a reminder of why the work continues. She survived an injury that should never

have been survivable. She was given a second chance. And today, she walked back into the wild.

And we will keep watching.

For the wild dogs. For the wildlife. For the people who protect them.