What's Up Bracebridge Gravenhurst June 2010 - Whatsupmuskoka ...

Humanitarian gets a little help of her own6 June 2010 www.whatsupmuskoka.comSteve Inniss donated a Strida bike to Lisa McCoy who travels throughoutCambodia providing assistance. It is the lightest folding bike in the world.By Dianne Park ThachGravenhurst resident Lisa McCoyknows how important a bike is tosomeone living in a developing countrywho doesn’t have access to or can’tafford transportation.McCoy, the executive director of AMine Free World Foundation, whichdistributes bicycles to rural children inaddition to providing education andvocational support to land mine survivorsin Cambodia, has distributedover 300 bicycles to date. Of those, 120were sponsored by Rotary Clubs inMuskoka and Orillia.“It was five area Rotarians last winterwho sent over money for the first fivebikes when I sent an e-mail plea onbehalf of five kids who desperatelyneeded a bike to get to school,” shesays, explaining how the project cameto be.Despite the hundreds of bikes shehas given to rural students to help themget to school, McCoy doesn’t have abicycle of her own to facilitate travel.That’s about to change, thanks to thegenerous donation of Steve andCatharine Inniss of savedbybikes.com,a company that is the exclusive distributorof Strida bikes in Canada. A Stridabike is not your regular bike, saysSteve.“It’s the lightest folding bike in theworld at 22 pounds, and it’s the fastestbike to fold up as it only takes five seconds.And it’s the only bike that rollswhen it’s folded up, so you don’t haveto carry it,” he says.It’s designed in the UK, ergonomic,By Andrew HindThe Muskoka Wildlife Centre, aninteractive learning park home to animalsin need, has a new resident, a graywolf cub known as Eve.Eve was born in captivity at a zoo. Thepack she was born into was in the midstof a dispute over who would becomeleader of the pack. Unfortunately, thelitter of cub were killed. By the time zookeepers intervened to rescue the cubs,only Eve was still alive.“Any animals born in captivity cannot be released into the wild, but Eveobviously could not be left there and wasremoved to be reared by us at the centre,”explains Jody Gienow who, alongwith her husband Dale, owns and operatesthe centre south of Gravenhurst.“She was only two-and-a-half weeks oldwhen we received her and had to be bottlefed every three hours, around theclock, with a puppy milk replacer. Shewas in very good physical conditionexcept for a wound on her tail, probablyfrom a wolf grabbing her at one point.”The Gienows have extensive experiencecaring for troubled wolves.Throughout their combined 40 plusyears of working with wildlife, the pairhave cared for over six dozen wolves.Muskoka Wildlife Centre does not rehabilitatewolves for release into the wild.Rather, the animals it receives, for variousreasons, cannot be re-released.Occasionally, they get asked to helpwildlife rehabilitation centres treatinjured or sick wild wolves. Dale, forexample, was most recently involved in aand features a greaseless chain. McCoyknows the monetary and practicalvalue of the donation, and was amazedwhen she received the news.rescue effort in northern Ontario where apack of wild wolves were found to have avery bad case of mange and had lost all oftheir hair. Dale’s job was to tranquilizeand restrain the animals for treatment,and to assist in designing the holdingfacility for the pack while they recovered.“I was just in awe when I got ane-mail saying they were going to donateone to me for getting around thevillages and around the city in Cambodia,”says McCoy, remembering themoment.Steve says they have received numerousrequests throughout North Americafor a bike donation for various causes.Being an active volunteer throughoutMuskoka, Steve had heard aboutMcCoy’s work. One night, Catharinewas chatting with McCoy at a meeting,discussing each others’ ventures.“Lisa was very excited about our bikebusiness, and Catharine was thrilledwith what Lisa was doing,” says Steve.“So then I thought, ‘I wonder if shecould use this kind of bike somehow?’”The versatility of this bike hasMcCoy excited for her return toCambodia in October. It can go on theairplane with her checked baggage, andeven on a bus.“They can even go on the back of amotorcycle, and in Cambodia,everything goes on the back of amotorcycle,” she laughs.She’s anticipating some double-takesas she travels with her Strida.“They’ll never have seen anythinglike this before, and it’s going to be anovelty for them as well. I’m sure I’llget some interesting reactions whenI start my six-month term this comingwinter.”Wolf cub makes the move to MuskokaThis wolf cub named Eve now calls the Muskoka Wildlife Centre home.Photograph: Sandy LockhartPhotograph: courtesy of Muskoka Wildlife CentreThe Gienows intend to incorporateEve into their award-winning liveanimal outreach team for the summerwhile she is young. She will travelwith the centre’s educators and helpdispel myths about wolves. She willslowly be assimilated with the centre’sother older wolves.“This new puppy is the first of a newgeneration of wolves at the MuskokaWildlife Centre,” explains Jody. “She isnow six weeks old. We had her at thevet for her first shots and found outthat she has a herniated umbilicalchord and will require surgery in thenear future.”Anyone interested in helping Eve cansponsor her through the centre’s wildchild sponsorship program on theMuskoka Wildlife Centre’s website.The sponsorship involves covering theannual food and normal veterinarycosts of an individual animal. Participationin the program helps to alleviatepressure off the centre’s very strainedbudget and makes it possible to expandexisting enclosures and provide homesto more animals in need.Thanks to the Muskoka WildlifeCentre, Eve was saved and will nowenjoy a long life and serve as a valuableeducational tool.