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Giving Back |
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Equus Survival Trust Action Alert --
Fire Ravages Bahamas Abaco Horse Preserve
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On the island of Abaco near the Treasure Cay area of the Bahamas he 8 remaining Abaco Barbs left in the world are fighting for their lives. Recent fires swept through their sanctuary destroying preserve fencing, vital equipment, and burning natural food sources and just barely missing the horses who managed to keep ahead of the fires. If these precious few are wiped out, the Abaco breed faces total extinction. |
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Word of the fires reached Victoria Tollman, Executive Director of Equus Survival Trust, a nonprofit equine conservation organization. "The Abacos are part of the Eastern Colonial Spanish group of horses that include the Banker Wild horses, the Florida Crackers and the Carolina Marsh Tackys," says Tollman. "They are part of our Colonial Heritage in the New World. Arkwild, Inc. is one of our Associate Member Organizations and is dedicated to the preservation
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of the Abaco Barbs. Increasing human encroachment and harassment has led to a drastic drop in population and destruction of habitat for the Abacos. Even on limited funds, Arkwild has been making a difference." |
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Arkwild co-partnered with the Government of the Bahamas in 2003 and created a designated preserve area.
Four years ago
the four remaining mares were put back in their normal habitat along with a stallion in hopes of increasing the tiny herd. The three remaining stallions were awaiting funds to begin the next expansion of the preserve... and then fires broke out. Tollman immediately contacted Mimi Rehor, director of Arkwild and manager of the daily operations for the Abacos, for a status on the situation. |
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Photographer copywrite-
Arnd Bronkhortst, Netherlands. |
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Mimi wrote:
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We have finally located and confirmed the horses are ok, but we've lost a lot of fence. And my truck died. I guess we pushed it too hard; it was never meant to be a fire truck. |
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For now, the fires are still burning (over a month now) but the area is "toast" and just can't burn any more. There are green patches left, and the horses seem to relish the dried forage which has surprising nutritional value, so for the moment they have no needs. |
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We've lost so much time and the two men and I are exhausted. We fought the fire five times, only to have it break out again. At one point one man and I went for 55 hours straight. I've been told that while our efforts seemed futile, we actually did keep the temperature of the fire down and prevented greater damage. And, in fact, it's possible to actually see different results of hot vs. cooled fire damage. For details and photos, please see the updated web site http://www.arkwild.org. |
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Photographer copywrite-
Arnd Bronkhortst, Netherlands. |
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Photographer copywrite-
Arnd Bronkhortst, Netherlands. |
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We are getting an estimate of how much fence we need, not to mention the labor involved. I have an interim vehicle but today it blew its starter, so if anyone out there would like to donate a 4 wheel drive, standard transmission pickup truck (diesel preferred, 4 cylinder, hatch in rear window -for guard dog transport) that would be a welcome relief. We can offer tax write off via our U.S. charity Arkwild, Inc. |
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Also, gas is nearly $6 per gallon and manpower is needed so general donations for labor and fuel costs would be much appreciated. |
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As for fire equipment, we could use two more backpack sprayers, a drag plow for our tractor (to keep the fire roads clear- a local contractor has said he could provide a bulldozer for a week for $4000.00. This would cover just his fuel and travel expenses!) Could use two 50-gallon water bladders, another 12v water pump or two (burned one up, have one back up). A small trailer with a several hundred gallon tank and gas powered pump would be wonderful, est. $2000. And so on. |
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This covers a broad range, from not so expensive to expensive, but we need whatever anyone would wish to support. Naturally cash donations would be the most helpful as we could put the money to the top priorities first like fence replacement, truck replacement and road clearing...
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We can arrange shipping via an airline, a friend with a plane and one of the local shipping companies who could carry big, heavy items should we be fortunate to receive any of those. |
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Victoria, it would be wonderful if the Trust can get people to respond. I am touched and encouraged. |
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Best regards,
Mimi Rehor, Director,
Arkwild, Inc.
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Photographer copywrite-
Arnd Bronkhortst, Netherlands. |
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
The simplest and most immediate way to make an impact is to make a tax-deductible CASH donation.
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Arkwild is a 501(c)(3) and donations are US tax deductible.
Phone: 242-367-4805 (solar powered) 9 - 5 daily or leave message
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This EST Action Alert was sponsored by the Equus Survival Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit equine conservation organization. www.Equus-Survival-Trust.org
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Read comments or post your own comments to this article at the bottom of this page. |
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Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved. The above article is the property of the Author and may not be duplicated or redistributed in any way without permission. |
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