A Shark Named Shiva
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Apr 30 2008 | By: admin
In a world of Information, Communications and Technology overdrive, it is very rare that a unique concept can survive for very long without being adopted, or adapted, replicated or cloned and in some cases corrupted. This imaginary space that so many of us have learnt to exist within and become incapable of living without has like everything else the ability to create and destroy. The embodiment of opposites is one of the oldest concepts known to humankind. Shiva is one such deity worshipped by millions in India and elsewhere as destroyer and benefactor. Despite him being considered a God, I can’t imagine anything more human.
In the same space, there is a thin and transparent line between what is real and what is not. Phantasmagoria - a concept invented in the 18th Century to project images on to a wall using a lantern which give you the illusion of a non-existent reality.
“The TV screen makes you feel small…no life at all…”
Picture this:
This is not a shark…
It’s a shark in captivity (for somebody’s pleasure).
And Picture this:
This is not a snake…
It’s a snake in captivity (for somebody’s survival).
And finally picture this:
These are not gorillas…
They are dead gorillas (for…)
FOR WHAT?
We are blasted with images like this all the time. Starving children, bombed villages, dead wildlife, dead people. In Kenya, we have recently become very complacent about the latter compliments of our politicians.
And then there are the living (or once were living) creatures behind those pictures, behind that image that is splashed across your screen. There is life there - tucked away in the matrix of atoms that blasts our sensories. This is the space which the blogger inhabits and the space which I truly believe WildlifeDirect is manifested itself through the vision of Emmanuel de Merode and Richard Leakey.
There are 72 million blogs and more coming each minute that passes by. Just about each one of those little cubicles below has a humanbeing reaching out to connect to some other living creature. We stumble upon one another and stumble upon something we care about and reach out in any way we can to touch that particular thing we care about.
What do you see below?
Yes, there’s a giraffe in the background and the silouette of a person in front. That is the person on the other end of the keyboard desperately trying to upload their blog before the electricity goes or crossing their legs in anxiety hoping the connection does not drop before the post is uploaded. These are the people that the vision of WildlifeDirect is built upon - rangers who get beaten, stoned, and often murdered. It’s in the line of duty - so nothing to be too sensationalist about but there is something just below the surface that deserves a mention; these are also people that have had shadows cast upon them by a brand just like so many in the west to have lost their identity to the corporate cogwheel of capitalism.
I bid you farewell from this particular word document editor but happy and proud to know that I am now also one of those 72 million bloggers…
Stockholm challenge Finalist!!
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Apr 01 2008 | By: admin
Dear friends, we have been listed as finalists in the Stockholm Challenge. The Challenge targets ICT for Development projects globally and is an effort to search for excellent examples of information and communication technologies that show convincing benefits to people and communities, wide impact and proofs of future sustainability.
You can read our project description here.
The prize includes a week in Kista, a town north of Stockholm from 19th - 22nd May. We have to find money to make it for this event so I will have to think about how to do this, but for now we are soooo excited about this. Any ideas on who we could approach would be much appreciated.
Please keep all your fingers and toes crossed for us 
Paula
1m Euros and 1,400 hours to stuff a bear
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Mar 26 2008 | By: admin
I just read this on BBC online and just had to share it.
“Bruno was the first bear to be spotted in the wild in Germany for 170 years but was finally shot dead in June 2006″.
So… the first bear to be spotted in 3 human generations is FINALLY shot dead. What the hell? I thought I was reading rubbish, it’s not April Fools yet is it?….It gets better…
“Museum director Michael Apel said it was “unfortunate Bruno was shot” but it was a chance to attract people who otherwise would not come.”
UNFORTUNATE? THIS IS THE FIRST BEAR IN 170 YEARS SHOT DEAD TO ATTRACT PEOPLE???
It gets even better
The bear is displayed being disturbed by people while stealing honey from bee hives to show his potential danger.
“I think he looks very lively,” Mr Apel told the BBC News website as the finishing touches were put to the display at the Museum of Man and Nature.
The first bear in 170 years is shot dead STUFFED and put on display to attract people, … and NOW HE LOOKS ……LIVELY!!!???
Taxidermist Dieter Schoen, who spent 1,400 hours stuffing the bear, said the display was “supposed to show Bruno neither as beast nor teddy bear”.
1400 hours to stuff a bear… what an important piece of information!
“Bruno had been part of an Italian programme to bring bears back to the Alps but he ventured into Austria and Germany.
The two-year-old bear captured the imagination, inspiring a hunting game on the internet’.
It sounds to me like this bear was doomed from the start. He obviously didn’t read the signs, was an illegal immigrant and he rubbed the Germans up the wrong way creating political friction in this volatile region (this story reads like the Congo)… and damn it this guy was a thief too….read this ….
“But he began roaming close to villages and once appeared outside a police station at a lakeside resort. He upset farmers, breaking into bee hives and eating 30 sheep, four rabbits and a guinea pig.”
So he had to die according to the authorities, but at least we learned a few things ….Apels words of wisdom are “….we should inform the general public about the management problems. If you want bears to return, you have to consider how to remove him from areas where people live” hmm…. I wonder why we didn’t consider this earlier, before we spent 1 Million Euros. Yes folks, Bruno was part of an EU-funded €1 million conservation project in Italy. How many mountain gorillas could you save with that money in Africa?
For more about Bruno go here
Is it just me or does this story really stink? Makes me so mad. Has anyone out there heard anything more idiotic recently? I’m ashamed to be a conservationist with people like these running around and throwing 1 million Euros down the potty.
“Meanwhile, Bruno’s brother JJ2 is at large in the Italian Alps. Bruno’s mother - who is blamed for his savage behaviour - has another three cubs.” Who the heck writes this stuff for BBC?
Elephants in Washington
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Mar 24 2008 | By: admin
It is my last day in Washington DC and time to update you all. Here it all is in pictures.
Directors and friends met for two days and discussed WildlifeDirect progress at Stony Brook University in Long Island at the Turkana Basin Institute. We worked throughout lunch to get the business finished.
Easter Monday is not a holiday in DC though you’d never know from the festival atmosphere. This dog was decorated for Easter and brought out with the hundreds of spectators to see the elephants paraded through the streets.
Ten elephants and tens of horses, cars and circus performers paraded down the streets of the capital. The police were out in force, keeping the public from getting too close, and especially those pesky PETA people and others who are protesting the use of elephants in circuses.
The elephants dutifuly walked in single file, stopped when instructed, rolled their trunks on demand and the crowd got their photo opportunities on a lovely sunny but chilly day. I found this quote here and wish that everyone could read it
“The idea that it is funny to see wild animals coerced into acting like clumsy humans, or thrilling to see powerful beasts reduced to cringing cowards by a whipcracking trainer is primitive and medieval. It stems from the old idea that we are superior to other species and have the right to hold dominion over them.”
—Dr. Desmond Morris, anthropologist, animal behaviorist, author
Seeing elephants in Washington DC is so amazing, they look so calm, so graceful, …. one could easily forget the suffering that these animals have endured in their training. These particular elephants belong to the the famous, or should I say infamous Ringling Brothers. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute — have taken the Ringling Brothers to court arguing that circus life is inherently cruel to the elephants. The case has been going since 2000 and the result, if in favour of elephants will be a watershed for them.
As I watched in awe with the others on the street, little red packages were thrown at me by clowns and scantily clad circus girls ….. they were clowns noses. On the red nose was written ‘Ringling bro’s the greatest show in the world’ . I wondered what the elephants thought about their lives in chains entertaining people across America. Its more like the ‘greatest shame in the world”
The day ended as every day should, relaxed and in lovely company. I met up with some of our most avid readers on the gorilla blog and discovered to my great pleasure that their friendship was started on WildlifeDirect. Now I know even more about the power of community building on the internet. Thank you Lisa, Sheryl and Christine for a lovely evening.
Owen and Mzee moments
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Mar 11 2008 | By: admin
Have you ever had an Owen and Mzee moment? You don’t know what I’m talking about do you?
Yesterday I heard that pygmy hippos have been rediscovered in Liberia. It caught my attention which surprised me because I was only half listening to the BBC that day – the story is covered here, here and on this blog called reasons to be hopeful. The interviewer asked the scientist to describe pygmy hippos and as he talked of it’s diminutive size and perfect hippo shape, a feeling over came me, I wasn’t alone in feeling a massive maternal pang for Owen. Owen you ask?
This is a short walk down memory lane. On the 26th of December in 2004 a baby hippo was orphaned in Malindi when the Indian Ocean Tsunami separated him from his family. The waves had somehow carried him away and he was found five kilometers from the river mouth where his family lived. We rescued him exhausted and sunburned after four days in the sea. He was wild and angry after the local villagers and tourists on the beach rescued him.
We couldn’t return him to the river, it was impossible to know which family he was from, he would almost certainly be killed. So we put him in the back of my covered pick-up truck and I brought him to Haller Park , a restored limestone quarry in Mombasa that I was managing at the time. Though I doubted he’d survive, before I drove off from Malindi, I asked the rescuers, mostly local fishermen, for a name. They unanimously chose ‘Owen’ after Owen Saubion, a tall, blonde, awkward hippy of a guy who was volunteering with the Kenya Wildlife Service. He was the only rescuer who dared to rugby tackle the hippo at a critical moment.
Immediately we released Owen in Haller Park he met a grumpy old giant tortoise called Mzee (whose name literally means’ old man’ in Swahili). What developed next was the most celebrated animal oddity of decades. These pictures illustrate just how close they were.
They spent most of their time snuggled together
When Owen wanted to move he would shove Mzee and mouth his back foot, but when the old tortoise wanted to move, he would push Owen and nip his tail
Stephen Tuei is the animal keeper at Haller Park, he’s worth his weight in gold
Desmond Tutu got a copy for his birthday from Craig Hatkoff, our partner in this project. It was Craigs 6 year old daughter Isabella who came up with the idea of doing a book to explain a relationship that she was asking a lot of questions about. The photographs in the book were taken by Peter Greste, a BBC correspondent.
If you don’t know the story you have to read the book, visit the website and watch the documentary film and read the Owen and Mzee blog which is still maintained but sadly is no longer the voice of Stephen Tuei, the animal keeper at Haller Park .
Owen and Mzee are not together any more because we introduced Owen with Cleo, an handsome female hippo who was in need of a friend. Masumi and I spent a lot of time with Owen and Mzee who became Kenyan celebrities when the book Owen and Mzee: the True story of a Remarkable Friendship became a best seller eventually being translated into 17 languages including Swahili and Braille. We also produced a sequel, Owen and Mzee: the Language of Friendship and various board books for children and plushies. We even made a film that is freely down loadable from their own website Owen and Mzee
Well, I’m not stopping there. I thought that the friendship was extraordinary, but there is still a huge mystery that I’m hoping one day to solve.
We wanted to celebrate the success of the book with Owen Saubion and tried to contact him from information he gave us. Failing that we asked people he knew, nobody had an email address, phone number or address! In fact, we have never been able to find a shred of evidence that he existed yet many people knew him.
One of the other rescuers recalled that the hippo was going crazy as hundreds of people chased him through the inter-tidal pools and coral outcrops to catch him. But he claims that as soon as Owen touched him the hippo instantly calmed down. Another observer noted that he had asked Owen what he was doing in Kenya and he responded, ‘I’m here to help someone find himself’.
I get goosebumps every time I recall my meeting with Owen. He begged us not to use his name but the fishermen were shouting ‘Owen, Owen, Owen’…I had to accept that this was their wish, the name for the rescued hippo would be Owen.
Owen once even visited the hippo at Haller Park a few weeks later to witness the amazing friendship that had caught global headlines, and we took photos of Owen with Owen…but now going back nobody can find a single photograph of this mysterious fellow Owen Saubion! Wierd.
Even though Owen and Mzee are no longer together, I’d still like to find the namesake, are there any private investigators out there? The really wonderful thing about the story is that it has touched and inspired so many children in Africa and America. If you haven’t seen them already check out the hipposodes created by two young American boys
Here are some Owen and Mzee moments that I wanted to share…..
Snake befriends a hamster that was supposed to be lunch
Lion adopting a baby oryx 6 times!Polar bear befriends a husky
Tiger adopts piglets Turns out to be a very cruel tourism attraction!
And other amazing stories are on a blog called Dig your own Grave here
The wonderful thing about Owen and Mzee is that their story has inspired a series of childrens books with real life lessons. We will be telling you more about these projects soon.
10 Mara magnets
Category: Amazing facts, Mara Triangle | Date: Mar 04 2008 | By: admin
I am back at home, close to Nairobi. It’s going to be a late morning to work as my son is not well. I don’t mind the delay, my house in one of the most spectacular spots over looking the Great Rift Valley. My view is awesome, I get to birdwatch with a cup of tea in my hand or just spend hours gazing all the way into Tanzania across smokey mountains.
As lovely as it is here, I do feel a dull heaviness, I’m missing something deeply. The truth is that my heart is still in the Mara. I can’t believe how deeply I have fallen in love with that spectacular place, the people, the wilderness.
So here are my ten top secrets to why I love the Mara
1.The beauty is breathtaking. Can you imagine dressing like this every single day?
2.If you are not naturally beautiful, you can spend the entire day in the spa and blame the mud mask for your bad smell.
3. You can be fat, short, stubby, naked and still be proud… it’s not only about the big cats you know (anyone know who this friendly animal is?)
4. Adorable Asuka aka Mara vet– Her stories will make you laugh and cry, you can’t help but love her (she is the first field person that I have ever met who can get away with wearing cute outfits in the African bush).
5. I adore the small guys - don’t you wish you could just hug them?
6. Siesta’s over looking the world. The Masai live on the escarpment overlooking the Mara - it is a view to die for every morning.
7. Food….the buffet is to kill for. We saw five different predators on our first day!
8. No one minds your spots. One can get ridiculously close to these cheetahs who have world fame in the BBC’s Big Cat Diary
9. Tanning weather all year round. I thought this guy was sick and drew attention to Simon who had a good laugh at my ignorance.
10. You can reserve the worlds best viewing points. Leopards are so secretive that sightings are usually the no. 1 wish of every visitor. Seeing this spectacular chap at close range in full daylight was like dying and going to heaven. Leopards are so lazy that they just sit there ….actually, he slept through most of our encounter and looked up when we started the engine to leave….I snapped this shot just before he closed his eyes and curled up like a kitty, covering his face with a paw. Others were not so lucky. An american family we met had spent days looking for leopard and when they finally did spot one, the kids exclaimed with such excitement (naturally) that it terrified the leopard which took off before they could get a single photo. You can imagine their sweet but sour feelings….I felt a bit guilty showing them this photo.
I actually took all those photographs, recorded podcasts, and video plus so much more in three days. It felt like a dream….you know what it’s like when you first fall in love? Euphoric yes? You feel like you’re the only one feeling it….
Then I met an Austrian lady who so infatuated with the Mara that she leaves her home in England and lives for six months at a time at a lodge in the Masai Mara each year – and she has been doing this for years! There’s no competition, her love for the mara far exceeds mine. I feel pathetic, how can I compete with my three days? My last trip to Mara was 3 years ago! I feel like a little like a mistress - stealing a few moments with the Mara from time to time!
I have to remind myself that I was in the Mara Triangle for work not play, to learn more about the crisis that Kimojino is blogging about, and find new ways to help him and the Mara Conservancy secure the Mara Triangle for the longterm. It’s unthinkable that we could lose the Mara because of a collapse in tourism brought on by politics of a few egocentric individuals who would like to be called ‘leaders’. As Kenyans and global citizens, we all can help the Mara survive the crisis - I hope my pictures and podcasts convince you. Book your flight today … or make a donation on the Mara blog to secure this precious heritage for your next visit.
Lion killer escapes
Category: Amazing facts, Mara Triangle, Podcasts | Date: Mar 04 2008 | By: admin
Last week I spent three days in the Masai Mara and went on patrol with the rangers of the Mara Conservancy to catch 7 alleged hippo poachers that were believed to be in the area. While on patrol we had a few ‘adventures’ and dramatic though amusing incidents. Though I wasn’t there, the five poachers were finally caught two days later with a dead hippo which Kimojino reported here.
This podcast and these photos document an extraordinary and rare incident that I’ve never heard of before and nobody that I know has ever observed a warthog killing a full grown lion! Listen to this new post here
The incident took place during a break in the middle of the patrol – we broke off to investigate a report of an injured lioness and what we found was almost too amazing to be true.
A ten year old lioness, killed by a warthog. She looked pregnant. That’s the broken off warthog tooth. Can you see the tiny wound in her neck? Surgical! Only after we turned her over did we notice the pool of blood beneath her.
The brave Masai rangers couldn’t resist getting a few photos with the slain lioness
Here’s the proud lion slayer in a hole just a meter from the dead lioness. Impressive teeth no?
Being the coward I am I wouldn’t put my head in it’s hole (thank God!) but stuck my camera in and took into one but 2 photos with the flash. She or he didn’t budge a millimeter despite all the noise and flash… we were convinced she/he was dead. Can you see the missing tusk?
Here is the deadly tusk - source of much exclamation and awe.
Though I’m very sorry for the lioness I cant help wondering what the heck she was doing? Putting her head into a warthogs hole??? Everyone knows that the first law of African savanna bush, don’t ever EVER stand in front of a warthogs hole. Now you know why.
I hope you enjoy the podcast
Japan calls off whaling!
Category: Amazing facts | Date: Jan 23 2008 | By: admin
Hello everyone, it’s Paula here again
I have great news - after ten days of harassment, the Japanese are finally so frustrated that they have apparently given up the hunt! I’m struggling to believe that Green peace, Sea Shepherd and others who have been so bold as to board one ship ‘to deliver a letter’, throw stink bombs on to the deck to prevent work for days, gone to court and tried to prevent ships from refueling and just trailing and interfering with the hunting. Richard Leakey spoke about the ethics of whale hunting in his blog earlier.
“Greenpeace said its vessel Esperanza had driven the Japanese processing ship Nisshin Maru out of the hunting grounds after a high-speed chase over hundreds of miles.
Without the factory boat, Japanese harpoon boats have ceased activities, as they have no way of processing their catch”.
Sea Shepherd claim that no whales have died to date. There are some amazing photographs and more stories about this great news here and here
I’m so excited I’m going to break my new years diet and have a burger for lunch!
Big cats and wild dogs
Category: Amazing facts, Lions | Date: Jan 02 2008 | By: admin
Let me start by saying I feel a bit guilty writing this blog as the trouble in Kenya rages. Yesterday over 35 women and children burned to death in a church they had sought refuge in. Thank you all for all your comments. We are all safe, Dipesh has been rescuing friends from Kisumu where over 100 have been killed by police - it’s an opposition area. I’m struggling to focus but will try….
My trip through Botswana in search of new blogs was quite an adventure - and a successful journey.
Botswana is a wild country so we (Peter my partner, Josh my 15 year old son, and I) planned thoroughly… or so we thought … we bought the guide books, talked to ‘experienced travelers’, checked the car, made calls and bookings, wrote endless checklists, did shopping more shopping and even more shopping … for camping gear, food, and gadgets for the 3,500 km trek through deserts and swamps. Proudly and highly organized we took off … but we had one last thing to do…
The last thing we had to do, was buy Botswana currency to pay for the border crossing which absolutely must be paid for in Pula (no not Paula’s, Pula’s). We dashed to the bank and discover that despite the fact that Botswana is an important neighbour, one has to ‘order’ the currency 24 hours in advance. WHAT?????? you can’t just go and buy Botswana currency over the counter of a bank or exchange bureau. And, why didn’t anyone tell us?
We couldn’t wait til the next day, instead we did an extra 6 hours driving to Polokwane with fingers crossed. Polokwane should be familiar to everyone. It’s where Jacob Zuma recently trounced the president of South Africa, Mr. Mbeki at the ANC Party elections causing a major upset, ……or not, depending on whose side you are on. It was BIG because this vote is likely to decide the next president of South Africa – it may well be Zuma, if he can dispose of the small matter of charges of racketeering, tax evasion and corruption amongst others …. But that’s politics, lets get back to wildlife
Josh and Peter in a very civilized camp in Khama
Arriving late in Botswana we drove straight to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary where we set up camp for the night.
“The Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust is a community based wildlife project, established in 1992 to assist in saving the vanishing rhino, restore an area formerly teeming with wildlife to its previous natural state and provide economic benefits to the local Batswana community through tourism and the sustainable use of natural resources”
At Khama I met with Moremi the warden/manager and Ompatile (Opie)
It’s a wonderful place. Some years ago local members of the Serowe community decided to convert this local cattle post into a wilderness area – it had been a local hunting are that teemed with wildlife once. To restore the biodiversity, cattle and settlements were relocated and wild species protected. The government supported the community and assisted with the translocation of 14 white rhino into the Sanctuary. The first four in February 1993, from northern Botswana. Botswana has virtually no wild rhino’s, all wild rhino’s were removed from the wild and placed in sanctuaries for their own security due to poaching for their horns.
All the rhino settled well and soon began breeding. With further translocations, some sad deaths, and many happy the total number of white rhino at the Sanctuary is now 32 plus two black rhinos. This is now one of the most important rhino sanctuaries in Botswana and the landscape is enormously valuable to many other species.
I just had to go check it out. As a community trust Khama is reliant on donor funding which is why they are interested in wildlifeDirect. So I looked up the local warden Mr. Moremi Tjibae and Ompatile Galaletsang who’s initial suspicion at my request for a meeting turned to mighty relief that we were here to try and help. So look out for a new blog about this interesting sanctuary.
From Khama we set off for Maun, it felt like a million kilometers away, but driving these long distances was n0t the toughest part,
Now I know its not wildlife but I HAVE to tell (warn) you about the donkeys
Botswana is the same size as Kenya (about Texas) and has a population of 1.6 million people (vs 35 million in Kenya) and I swear there are MORE donkeys than people over there. Here’s one of them in the Makgadikgadi pans (don’t worry, I can’t pronounce it either) en route to Maun…..I took this photo because this donkey was unique, it was NOT on the road where all the other millions were. They all just stand on the road – as if waiting for something. There aren’t that many cars but the roads are incredibly smooth and almost everyone is challenging the speed limit of 120kph (80 mph),…. We were blaring horns up to a kilometer away and the donkeys just stood there, heads hanging looking dejected… not moving, or sometimes they move from the edge ONTO the roads…resulting in wild swerving, foul language and heart tremors.
It was awful for us and I’m sure the donkeys too - we did only see one dead donkey – but many others had various stages of healing from collisions. I noticed that most donkeys couldn’t move even if they wanted, in Botswana donkey owners ‘control’ their donkeys movements by tying their front legs together. Yes… the poor things can only hobble – and do so at a very lethargic pace.
Nevertheless, the drive and the Makgadikgadi pans were spectacular. Mainly because there were amazing wide open spaces and few people (Botswana’s population growth rate is enviable - a mere 0.4%).
Maun is on the edge of the great Okavango Delta but I can tell you that the town is not a place to write much about…We had to get to Maun to fly to Selinda … a magical place near the northern border of Botswana. A private conservancy run by Derek and Beverly Joubert, better known as the Jouberts of big cat documentary fame and National Geographic - you can read about them here and buy their amazing book The African diaries here.
I met the Jouberts in Washington at the National Geographic offices, and we’ve been talking about the possibility of doing a blog about Selinda and big cat conservation in Africa. I wanted to see the place …
Here are some pictures that I hope tell the story themselves …
We had to fly to Selinda from Maun -over the edge of the Okavango Delta - and into rain storms
Derek warned me it as kind of wet at this time of the year - kind of ??? This is the Selinda spillway that connects the Okovango Delta to the Chobe River ecosystem - it was a major flood.
We landed late in the afternoon on a bush strip in the middle of nowhere- nobody had come to pick me up!
Sunset was spectacular … but there was not even the hum of a vehicle coming to pick me up! - the pilot wanted to go back to Maun before it got too dark to land…
We took off again to ‘buzz’ the camp - look at the horizon - the way this bush pilot was flying seemed -more intended to frighten the daylights out of me - we’re talking low level near vertical approach … totally gratuitous and terrifying but probably served to satisfy his adrenalin needs. I couldn’t help wondering why is it that all the bush pilots in Botswana seem to be 21 year old Australian or New Zealander fright freaks?
It’s been my life time dream to see wild dogs an extremely rare, intelligent, social and beautiful animal
The wildlife spectacle made me forget the flight and I did see a wild dog - but that was after the lions spotted it… it wasn’t happy.
We found these two lionesses lying lazily atop a termite mound. After an age tehy got up slowly and sountered off into the bush stopping for a drink on the way. They looked so beautiful, calm, natural -gentle, almost huggable - we were only a few meters away from them.
We followed them for an hour and they didnt’ seem to be going anywhere specific, just strolling lazily, we knew that one had 8 kittens, our hope was to see the cubs. Then witnessed this killing…
I know it’s nasty and was very difficult to photograph, but this IS what happens. These lionesses bumped into the wild dog and then suddenly their mood changed from lazy stroll to chemically induced trance. The dog was alone - not hunting - he was probably looking for his pack. They spotted him as they came over a rise, and were on top of him before he could even begin an escape. The lions had him in their grasp for 45 minutes, but they didn’t kill him, just left him debilitated then looked at us as if ‘What are you looking at?’ and swaggered off.
Though in the clutches of the lions was looking directly up at me. I felt sick. He was still alive when they finally left, I wanted to end his suffering but we couldn’t do anything … I’m still in shock about it. I’d appreciate your thoughts on why you think the lions behaved this way and do let me know if you think these pictures are too graphic.
The rest of the day had a very somber feel… and the next morning we had another great drive and breakfast in the bush.
Sadly the Jouberts weren’t able to come meet us as a minister had asked them for an impromptu meeting on the same day they were to fly to Selinda So we had a wonderful two days at the worlds most amazing dreamy camp in the middle of the bush with an amazing guide called Bibi. He took us out for 2 of the best game drives I’ve ever been on. This is my son Josh on the right, Bibi in the middle. Next we drove to the Kalahari Desert….where we saw more big cats interacting with jackals….
Here’s our species list
MAMMALS
Chacma Baboon
Cheetah
Common duiker
Elephant
Giraffe
Hippopotamus
Impala
Black backed Jackal
Greater Kudu
Red lecwe
Lion
Common reedbuck
Serval cat
Steenbuck
Tsessebe
Warthog
Waterbuck
Wild dog
Wildebeest
Zebra
BIRDS
Bateleur
Carmine bee eater
Kori bustard
White browed coucal
Wattled crane
Pied crow
Water dikkop
Cape turtle dove
Namaqua dove
Knob billed duck
White faced duck
African fish eagle
Booted eagle
Tawny eagle
Black egret
Cattle egret
Great white egret
Little egret
Lanner falcon
Red billed firefinch
Paradise flycatcher
Red billed francolin
Swainsons francolin
Egyptian goose
Pygmy goose
Spurwinged goose
African goshawk
Gabar goshawk
Helmeted guineafowl
Hammerkop
African marsh harrier
Grey heron
Squacco heron
Grey hornbill
Red billed hornbill
Yellow billed hornbill
African jacana
Pied kingfisher
Blackshouldered kite
Yellow billed kite
Grey laurie
Ostrich
Yellow billed oxpecker
Grassveld pipit
Blacksmith plover
Crowned plover
Threebanded plover
Wattled plover
Red billed quelea
White browed robin
Lilac breasted roller
Common sandpiper
Wood sandpiper
Secretary burd
Greyh headed sparrow
Burchells starling
Greater blue eared starling
Open billed stork
Saddle billed stork
European swallow
Common wax bill
Shaft tailed whydah
And many many others that I couldn’t identify
Eating caterpillars in Bostwana
Category: Amazing facts, National Parks and protected areas | Date: Dec 29 2007 | By: admin
I’m back from Botswana after a 3,5000 road trip and “NO”, I didn’t get lost in the Kalahari and resort to desperate versions of bush craft……
In fact, I’ve had a spectacularly exciting time, seen many amazing interesting creatures and this post is about one of those, so much to tell you all about the new upcoming blogs…over the next few days - rhino’s, wild dogs, lions, brown hyenas, elephants… and amazing places, the Okavango, impossible to pronounce parks, and the great Kalahari …
Todays’ post is about the incredible mopane worm - which is one of the Africa’s most strange and valuable insects. 
I was hungry but I didn’t eat it - really!
I first met mopane worms years ago as crinkled up dried black sausages in Zimbabwe - they were being sold in little bags like popcorn on the streets. I turned my nose up at them and had no idea how important they were. Later I met some at the bottom of my bowl as I neared the end of my meal in an up-market South African restaurant! It was a delicious traditional dish until I noticed little legs, crunchy head and colourful spots along the side (why didn’t anyone tell me?)… I politely left this last spoonful to avoid a generous refill…. And hoped REALLY HARD that there was only one in my serving.
The mopane worm is actually not a worm at all, but a large colourful caterpillar which feeds on the mopane tree, Colophospermum mopane. These trees that are common in the northern border region of South Africa and the southern borders of Zimbabwe and Botswana and northwestern Namibia. The worm is locally known as as Mashonzha, Masonja or Amasonja. The adult stage of this caterpillar is a large and attractive Emperor moth (Family Saturnidae) but it’s the larva that’s worth millions.
I don’t think I’ve ever met an insect that is such an important source of cash and protein to many people – in fact, it is one of southern Africa’s economically important insects.
This dog wouldn’t eat it raw either - its gotta be cooked to bring out the flavour!
Traditionally, Mopane worms are collected, prepared, and consumed by local people in southern Africa. After harvesting the caterpillars which sit on trees, the guts are removed by squeezing (nice!).
The worms are then boiled and left for a day to dry out in the sun. Once dried they can be used at any time for cooking. They say that when cooked the worms are juicy and salty or if eaten dried have a dry, gritty texture and slightly meaty taste…. Caterpillar biltong…simply delicious! I know you’ll enjoy this recipe…
Mopane stew
Ingredients
1 cup of dried mopane worms
1 onion, chopped
2 green peppers, sliced
6 tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ litre water
Preparation
Wash the worms and boil them for 30 minutes. Drain, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about an hour.
Yummy!
Gritty but Healthy
These worms are comprised of 61% protein, 17% crude fat, and 10% minerals - a highly nutritious supplement to the diet of people indigenous to these regions.
I can’t help feeling sorry for them (the people and the works) but entomologists insist that a diet supplemented with edible bugs and worms could help Aids patients boost their nutrition levels, “For many it offers a cheap way to stay healthy. A nutritious diet for an Aids patient might cost over 1,000 rand (about 80 dollars) a month but if you live in an area where mopane are abundant, you could pick them off the trees yourself,” Dr. Toms said.
Ok, as a scientist I agree, science doesn’t lie…. but it still sounds disgusting to me. But, compared to some other critters, these worms are not as frightening.
Things you wouldn’t want to eat - or would you? Can you guess which of these bugs are also eaten frequently in Africa?
No doubt one of the biggest millipedes in the world -probably doesn’t bite but I wasn’t going to test it
Hairy! edible?
Tiny, not so scary looking … but are they munchable?
Really really crunchy…but can you eat them?
Save the mopane worm
The over-collection of these beautiful caterpillars for trade and the destruction of mopane woodlands is threatening the species and mopane worms are now rare or extinct in some areas where they were once common. In order to safeguard the next crop, it is vital to leave at least 10% of the worms to complete the life cycle by forming moths and laying eggs, thus ensuring the future of the species and the mopane industry. Droughts are another cause for devastating declines so climate change is going to be a big problem here.
Saving the mopane worm is going to be tough. You could just stop harvesting them but natural re-colonization is a slow process because the moths only live for two to three days and must complete their reproductive processes in this time – this leaves too little time for dispersal. The fat caterpillar can hardly move far at all. However, local people could assist natural dispersal by reduced harvesting in sensitive areas and managed re-introductions of larvae. That’s what Toms of the Transvaal museum is planning….
“The mopane worm is one of our most spectacular well known insects and was chosen as one of the BIG 12 African Insects for study at the Transvaal Museum” - Dr. Toms. Toms and his team are using this colourful worm as an icon in the teaching of indigenous knowledge, sustainable harvesting, conservation and food security.
In my next few post are about predators, people, and amazing places - the Okavango Delta and the Great Kalahari Desert.
I was knocked off my feet with it all - totally! I bet you can’t guess what she has been hunting ..
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