A close call for Nobel

Nobel the donkey was trapped and quickly became dehydrated after falling into a hole. Find out how SPANA Botswana came to the rescue.

Donkeys are notoriously inquisitive and can be known to wander miles away from their homes. This was very much the case with Nobel when our team discovered him in rural Botswana.

A local farmer notified the SPANA Botswana team when he heard braying coming from across a field. On closer inspection, he found the donkey stuck in a narrow gap in a quarry. In his pursuit of good grazing, it appeared that Nobel had stumbled into the tight spot, trapping his legs.

His owner, who relies on Nobel to pull his cart to and from market, had let him out to graze during the night. The following day, he was very worried that Nobel had not come back to the farm for feeding.

In direct sunlight, without shade, Nobel had become weak and dehydrated, and would have collapsed had the SPANA team not been able to act quickly. The team arranged for a winch to carefully lift him out of the hole. Although he suffered minor grazes to his tail and was in need of food and water, he made a speedy recovery once the team treated his dehydration.

After transporting Nobel home, they spray-painted the SPANA phone number on his neck using non-toxic paint, so that the donkey’s owner would know who to contact in future should his donkey need help again. Thankfully, with SPANA’s help, the donkey was saved just in time and serious harm was avoided.

SPANA is working all over Botswana to treat thousands of sick and injured donkeys, like Nobel – helping to improve the lives of working animals and their owners.

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