Mules are vital to the poor communities of the High Atlas mountains where most villages are situated at an altitude of more than 5,000 feet and are unreachable by any vehicle. This coupled with poverty across the area, means that communities rely entirely on working animals to do the work of trucks and taxis.
Around 500 mules are used in the villages to provide transport, carry heavy loads of supplies up and down the steep mountain tracks, as well as support the work of local people who act as mountain guides for tourists. These mules toil for hours daily, carrying holidaymakers, luggage and camping kits.
SPANA is helping these hard-working mules by sending a mobile clinic to visit Imlil, one of the largest villages in the High Atlas’s Toubkal National Park, each month to provide the mules in the area and from the surrounding smaller villages with free veterinary care and new equipment.
Throughout the year the mobile clinic team closely monitors the health of each mule brought in for treatment and awards it points according to how well its owner has seen to its welfare.
Mules which have been awarded the most points over the year are then selected for the Best Kept Mule awards and can win prizes in categories including Most Improved Mule, Best Driver and Prettiest Mule. Winners are given a small financial prize and also a bag of barley to feed their animal.
SPANA chief executive Jeremy Hulme, who was in Morocco visiting the charity’s centres last week, gave out prizes to award winners. He said: “The mules in the Atlas mountains provide the local communities with their entire infrastructure. They work as delivery trucks, tourist taxis and transport in and out of the villages in incredibly harsh terrain.
“By holding the Best Kept Mule competition each year and offering small financial prizes as incentives, we ensure that owners take care of their mules all year round and are encouraged to visit the SPANA mobile clinic each month so that we can monitor the welfare of their animals- and treat them if necessary.
“The competition also helps to raise the status of the mules in the community and has developed a healthy rivalry amongst local people as to who has the best cared for mule.”
To find out more about SPANA’s work in Morocco click here
