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The ground pangolin is one of Africas most remarkable creatures, not only does it have the longest tongue for its size of any mammal, it also has the stickiest. It belongs to the family Manidae and lives exclusively on ants.
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We gently encouraged the pangolin to curl up
The pangolin is now an impenetrable, armour plated ball
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This harmless creatures body is covered in an array of scales, this almost impenetrable defence protects from most of its predators. If threatened the pangolin will roll into a ball, protecting its head and soft underbelly. Female pangolins give birth to a single young that will ride on the mothers back. A baby will be enclosed in its mothers protective ball should she feel the need to defend herself.
In African culture, it is a great honour to be able to present one's chief with a pangolin.
We had spent four hours meandering through the thick riverine bush, the mighty Zambezi river had disappeared behind us, and as walked inland the hippo's arguments had been silenced by the mid morning heat.
Our search for the wild dogs new den had been unsuccessful, but it had slowly led us into an ancient and beautiful mopane forest. 'Stretch' Ferreira, the legendary Zambezi guide was leading Chatty and I back to our camp when we came across one of Africa's rarest sights.
The truth is that Chatty had spotted the pangolin long before either Stretch or I, Zambezi veterans, had any idea it was there, in fact Stretch nearly tripped over the scaly anteater had it not moved out of his way.
There were two surprising observations about this little known creature, the first was the incredible rattling noise it made while crashing through the bush, and the second was the remarkable speed in which it did this, especially for an animal that moves on only its hind feet, using its fore feet and tail for balance.
When the pangolin had realized it was being pursued it did not curl up into his famous protective ball, it stopped motionless, slowly turning his its tiny head towards us. It was in this position that it watched us for the next fifteen minutes in a way that can only be described as mystical.
As we stood watching this rare and secretive animal, it dawned on me that it had never seen or smelt a human before.
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My child hood was not exactly what most parents would consider normal, from the moment I could walk The Mpata Valley became my playground, my time was spent exploring waterways, hunting for retiles and birds eggs, collecting edible fungi and gorging on wild guavas and sour plums found along the scree slopes of the great granite dwalas around the farm.
The winter months brought some change to my daily activities, hot days and cold nights accompanied by dry winds swept the valley, the mushrooms and streams would all dry and then last of the fruits had been stolen by mouse birds or the local troop of baboons and I had been informed by my mother that no longer could i play outside naked, I would find my nannies Lisa and Gracey insistently dressing me in Oma’s/Gogos (grandmother) hand knitted jumper every morning, despite the change in dress I continued to explore and play in my special oasis with no boundaries just kilometers of virgin bush rich with flora and fauna.
Minders were dedicated to instruct and teach me the ways of the Shona Tribe, I became familiar with their local dialect and learnt to respect the elders in the clan, sit on clay floors and eat sadza,(staple food) catch ishwas (large flying ants) in the evening and make fishing rods from reeds, line from cacti fibers and hooks from special thorn trees. Any aspects of civilization or westernization were of no interest to me, most children grew up cartoons and teddy bears I did so with Anderson Tsabolo and a baby kudu.
Despite this magical upbringing, there was an element of primitive domestication and I mean domestication in the very simplicity of the word, which would stay quite no longer. I believe a trip to Pakistan, visiting my Uncle ChaCha Zulfi was the very reason I fell in love with the humble beasts of burden and this being my simple link to a domestic lifestyle. It was evident that all I wanted to complete my child hood was a donkey, I was infact given several donkeys’ in Pakistan, but despite a five year olds efforts to export four donkeys’ from Pakistan to Zimbabwe, I found myself at home again with no donkey.
Life continued and the years passed when the family would surreptitiously ask what I wanted for my birthday, and the answer would come again and again, louder and clearer that all I was interested in having was a donkey. Despite my continual efforts I gave up at the age of fifteen, as boarding school, sports, friends and the rather interesting little creatures with blonde hair and ever growing mammary came of interest to me.
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It was not until my 18th birthday, when my brother Forbes asked what I wanted; I jokingly said a donkey and the conversation continued as normal. A month later on my return from boarding in the south of Zimbabwe I was told by Shortie Machaka that Boss and Madam were waiting for me at the stables, and beyond my wildest expectation, asleep in a stable between my mothers beautiful Arabs horses, was a rural three month old donkey from the communal area of Mudzi near Pk Chiunye’s village. The name given to him by his previous owner was “serious” because the man had claimed that my brother Forbes was very serious about finding a baby donkey, hence the new arrival in the Mavros homestead became know as Serious the donkey.
Life was a little different from then on for Serious, no longer would he have to walk for water or search for grass as he had done all along. His area is renowned for having little water as the Eastern Highlands Rain shadow towers over its expanse, his new diet of imported horse food and perennial springs which watered luscious grass for his appetite was met daily. The groom Luckson soon taught young Serious of rural decent the ways of the white mans horses, and within hours the new life for a once skinny and deprived little donkey was welcomed into a world of sawdust beds, daily grooms and afternoon siestas.
It was not long before Serious had completely adopted this luxurious lifestyle and my childhood dream had finally come true.
The decision came to find Serious a mate when one day we found the young 4 foot rural donkey from Mudzi attempting to mount fifteen hands of prized Arab mare. So once again our tribal friend near the Shona Village of Pk Chiunye was summoned to seek out a pedigree Shona donkey female to accompany Serious, Zimbabwe’s most privileged donkey.
And once again there was a new arrival to the Mavros Homestead, Ring the baby donkey from Mudzi was about to meet her prince charming, and charming he was, as not even two years have passed and she has given birth to their second baby, just a week before my twenty second birthday.
The Mavros family are now the proud owners of four special donkeys’ raised and breed on the farm, Serious the Dad, Ring the Mother, Seringga their first born and Ringo Star their new baby boy.
Benji Mavros
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