Baraza

On the BBC today I heard about a 19 year old genius who went to university at age 10 and is now a professor at age 19. But I’m delighted to report that genius is not restricted to humans. In the Telegraph yesterday I was discovered that genius also occurs amongst our ape cousins.

“They use their colossal strength to thrust their spears into holes in trees where they suspect nocturnal bushbabies are sleeping.

Anthropologist Jill Pruetz believes she has made a landmark discovery - a species other than humans learning - and passing on - the skills to make a lethal weapon”

Is anyone out there SERIOUSLY surprised? I could have told you that practically all animals are smart and learn (especially when hungry) - ok, I take that back slightly, I sometimes wonder about slugs …..but certainly monkeys and apes are supersmart. I’ve been out competed by a baboon in a race for the kitchen before! However clever our research, we the smartest of all apes, seem to be considerably challenged when it comes to saving the subjects of our studies, and as a result, we are losing our closest relatives and many other exciting species.

According to this article on Mongabey, the people of Cameroon also consider apes smart, so smart in fact that they are virtually humans and they wont eat them! (ok that never stopped cannibals in the past). The Cameroonian government has just created the first sanctuary for the world’s rarest type of ape: the Cross River gorilla. The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary — created by Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni’s decree — covers 19.5 sq km in a mountainous region of Cameroon. According to WCS the area is home to only 20 of the world’s remaining 300 Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). You can read about it this new refuge on National Geographic

Of equal concern is that even the most common gorillas are at risk now. There are between 50,000 and 100,000 western lowland gorillas left in the wild, all of them in the forests of the Congo basin in central Africa. According to the IUCN, over the past 20 to 25 years, hunting and disease have reduced the numbers of western lowland gorilla by 60 percent! The other types of gorilla, which include the cross river gorilla, the mountain gorilla, and the eastern lowland gorilla, number only a few thousand, and are also found only in Africa. According to Fox News, An ebola vaccine is being developed for the lowland gorillas – I’m curious to see how it would be given to 100,000 gorillas that live deep in the rainforest.

How could you doubt the intelligence of this mountain gorilla?

Meanwhile the Brits are worried about a new Bill that could allow for the creation of Humanzees – YES, the breeding of humans and Chimps – it sounds unlikely and disgusting, but would we actually be able to tell a hairy big headed strong armed human from a humanzee? Pro lifers are up in arms, but I wonder if banning it would hardly stop people from experimenting now that the stupid idea is out there. In fact, could it explain some bizarre behaviours out there? I’m not even going to begin suggesting who is more chimp like but I have a few world leaders in mind.

Having said all that, I just wish we humans would focus our incredible intelligence on doing really clever things, like dealing with global poverty and sustainable protection of the planet.

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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?

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I was recently asked about my opinion regarding the use of armed forces in conservation. Afterwards I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The question was something like this

“Do you advocate for the use of arms by wildlife conservation personnel”

“Of course I do!” I shot (easy, next question)

I reminded the interviewer that over 150 Congo rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty. Rangers in Congo face poachers and rebels all the time. Their jobs are extremely dangerous. How could you send a ranger un-armed into rebel infiltrated regions? It would be suicide.

I don’t know what it’s like in USA, Australia or Europe, but in most parts of Africa, poachers are armed with AK47’s to hunt elephants, rhinos, hippos and other big game. Sometimes they are only after meat, often they are going for valuable trophies. It’s a no brainer. Of course the rangers must be armed to defend themselves and yes, sometimes the poachers get shot and sometimes they die.

But the next part of the conversation made me wonder if I’d been too quick to answer. Maybe I’m not seeing things clearly, from all angles. Is it right to send armed men out into the wilderness or does this up the ante?

The interviewer turned to a topic that I found particularly hard to digest. The concept that we Africans are doing such a bad job in conservation that a number of charismatic species in Africa may be on the brink of extinction because of the threats posed by poachers. :

“African rangers, armed or not, were obviously not effective to stop the killings of gorillas” that’s what I thought he was implying.

“What do you think about the possibilities of employing foreign paid mercenaries to come in and clean up?”

“What?” My mind spins. “What on earth would mercenaries do in Africa?” I asked

“Well, protect the wildlife against armed militias like in Congo, don’t you think they could save the last mountain gorillas?”

My brain was screaming but I kept a cool voice

“No, not at all, in fact any organization that thinks sending mercenaries to Africa is a solution, obviously does not have a clue about the situation on the ground”.

I turned the image upside down.

“Imagine African mercenaries deployed in USA to save the last few wolves. Would THAT be acceptable? Of course not” – or at least I don’t think so.

At WildlifeDirect we come across some weird people and weird thoughts all the time. Here are some hair brained ideas – or are they?

There’s a plan afoot to create a mountain gorilla sanctuary in Hawaii where they claim it “is a vital step towards saving the species from imminent extinction”.

David Attenborough is involved in a 50 million dollar project to save Britains butterflies - I love him but isn’t Britain going to be too warm for these species in a few years?

A doomsday ark is being built on the moon - or is at least planned.

A doomsday vault of frozen seeds has been built in a mountain side in Norway

I find it s rather depressing, all this doomsday talk and planning. Should we really be investing so much in doomsday scenarios? Shouldn’t we be doing our damnest now - investing in the natural ranges where these species occur?

Is there really NO reason for hope?

Before you leave a comment, check this out … http://www.breathingearth.net/

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Although the political crisis in Kenya may be over or at least reduced, tourist and tourism revenues have not and will not snap back. The cancellation of flight routes, closure of hotels and tour companies, and booking cancellations all took place over a few weeks. Restoring confidence in Kenya as a tourism destination however, will take years and massive investments in marketing Kenya.

While in the Mara I had long discussions with the CEO of the Mara Conservancy, Brian Heath.

His dream was and is to make the Mara economically sustainable from tourism revenues. I thought you’d like to read some of the extracts of his February report to get a good understanding of the scale of the problem. Notice how long the security section of the report is!

Tourism

February has been another disastrous month for tourist visitations. There was a short period in the middle of the month when people began to return and it looked as if the situation might be salvaged to some extent. However, the stand-off between the two main political parties and renewed threats of mass action throughout most of February meant that tourists are still very reluctant to visit. We may be lucky and maintain the expected 30% of our original estimates for the coming months but can not foresee any significant improvement in tourist visitations before July.

Security

Ten poachers were arrested during February, 9 of them were Tanzanians and the tenth a Luo poacher who had been arrested before. This brings the total to 1,013 poachers arrested since June 2001.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher on the evening of the 9^th. He was one of three people entering the Lemai Wedge to hunt along the escarpment near Kinyangaga.

Some meat was found stashed in a tree near Ol Kurruk by a routine patrol between the community scouts and our rangers on the 15^th. The following day we mounted a patrol in the Sankuria forest and arrested one Luo poacher, he had been in the forest for six days and had killed a zebra and a waterbuck. Three wire snares were recovered.

The Ngiro-are team arrested two wa Kuria poachers on the 19^th as they were traversing the Lemai Wedge, on their way to hunt hippo along the Mara River. They informed us that they had met with another group of poachers, also on their way to hunt hippo on the Narok side of the river. The following day we mounted a joint patrol along the Narok side of the river but found no poacher activity.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher as he and his companion came down the escarpment to hunt in the Lemai Wedge late in the evening of the 22^nd. They recovered four wire snares.

The Ngiro-are team were asked to assist the rangers from Kinyangaga on the 24^th. The rangers had confiscated some wa Kuria cattle for illegal grazing in the Lemai Wedge and were taking them to Kinyangaga when they were accosted by an irate mob of wa Kuria, trying to recover their cattle. The situation became tense, with arrows and bullets fired at the rangers. Our rangers assisted in getting the cattle into the Kinyangaga compound and then withdrew. The wa Kuria continued firing into the compound. The Tanzanian rangers managed to apprehend one person with a firearm, only to discover that he was a policeman from the local village.

The Ngiro-are rangers found a temporary poacher’s camp at 9.00 am on the 25^th in a water-course between Ol Dono Nasipa and Konyoike – about half a kilometre into Tanzania. The five poachers were the group we had been looking for on the 19^th on the Narok side of the river. They had camped upstream from the search area, had killed one hippo and were on their way home after drying the meat. All five were arrested, four by the Ngiro-are team and the fifth after they were joined by the Serena rangers. Three wire snares and three heavy pears were recovered.

Revenue and Accounts

In January we had to re-calculate our budget, based on possibly receiving only 30% of our anticipated revenue. Although we implemented most of our cost-cutting measures in January our January Profit and Loss account indicated that we have a shortfall of Ksh 1.576 million (US$ 22,500 at the current rate of exchange.

We have been very fortunate in receiving support to meet our projected shortfall and would like to thank the following for their support. I would particularly like to single out Asuka for her support; she has raised US$ 29,000 in three weeks through her articles and blog for the Mara Conservancy. This shows the power of the Internet in raising funds if the message is right.

CMC Motors - 2,500,000 (approx US $ 40,000) for vehicle service and spares for one year

Asuka - 2,030,000 (approx US $ 23,000) Donations through her blog

Anne Kent-Taylor Fund 1,050,000 (approx US $ 12,000) donation for community scouts and security allowances

WildlifeDirect 700,000 (US $ 10,000) Donations through the blog

Care for the Wild 70,000(US $ 1,000) Donation for anti-harassment

Mc Phelps and family 70,000 (US $ 1,000) for Cheetah 1 (patrol team)

Total Raised to date 6,420,000

The exchange rate is about 1$=Ksh70Brian also noted that the Masai who had been laid off by hotels had returned to their villages where they were now herding livestock. These include diploma holders who just can’t make a living anymore in tourism.

We interviewed Dixon qualified in hospitality, who had returned to the village to herd cattle, a job normally reserved for boys. He was not alone, there were hundreds of cases like his. He was very bitter not about the hotel that fired him, but with the Kenyan leaders who are ignoring the suffering of so many as a result of the violence that followed the election dispute.

If the Maasai cannot get jobs in the tourism and wildlife sector, they will do what they need to do to survive- increase their herds in the Greater Mara ecosystem. This is perhaps the greatest threat to wildlife which migrates through the entire ecosystem which includes the Serengetti in Tanzania. Cattle, sheep and goats all compete for the same grazing as the wildlife…if we lose the Greater Mara, it will only be a short time before we lose the Mara as a consequence. The harmony between the Maasai and wildlife is on the verge of shattering as a result of this crisis. You can learn more about the Maasai wildlife interface in Asukas blog (she deals with livestock diseases that could affect wildlife) and at this website called reto-o- reto which means ‘I help you, you help me’. It’s a research project all about finding better land use management for pastoralists.

For the Mara Triangle the lack of funds means that planned developments have been put on hold. Only essential road works are being done (anyone who has been to the Mara knows what why roads maintenance is so critical).

These workers were on a break - the machine had broken down! Most of the road working machines are lying idle now.

Roads can wait but patrols cannot.

Despite all the cost cutting, we are now facing a situation where patrols are threatened. If patrols are halted, poaching will escalate and could go out of control, this we must prevent.

Before I go, this one’s for Theresa, Sheryl, FJP and all the others who love donkeys. This foal was absolutely tiny and adorable. Enjoy

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Tuesday was cut short due to a hasty office evacuation due to riots following the murder of one of the opposition memberes of parliament. The trouble ended quickly but everyone is still very edgy. So yesterday I had alot of catching up to do with Brian on our plans to help save the Mara Triangle and I also had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Kasanga of the Lion guardians! I can confirm that he is as charming in real life as he is on the blog! We had a good chat and laughed a lot and talked seriously about his ideas for the lion guardians blog…..I’m sorry, I can’t finish what I was going to write about.
I started this blog post with a light heart, recalling a fun day yesterday, the first day of late in which we have felt ’safe’ and free to go about our work freely. I’ve just been informed that another member of parliament has just been murdered, shot. Recall that one MP was shot just two nights ago. We were afraid it was politically motivated but the police insist it was a ‘normal’ shooting (What on earth is a normal shooting? He wasn’t even robbed?). Now riots have started afresh in five big towns across Kenya. We are about to close the office for the second time this week to ensure we all get home safely. I can’t describe how low I fee at this moment, I feel disgusted and ashamed but mostly confused at what is going on.

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Things aren’t quite back to normal, we’re all affected differently by the continued violence rocking Kenya after the disputed elections on December 27th. I’m Kenyan and for the first time in my life, I’m suddenly aware that my surname reveals my tribe and that this simple fact could put me in danger if I go to certain places! It’s Crazy!

Like many I’ve been safe only because of where I live and work. Those in the lowest income levels were affected as riots were restricted to the slums …. until last week. Two days ago, my brother fled our dairy farm in one of the violence hit areas after his neighbors and friends of 30 years tried to burn it down! My other brother, his wife and children have refused to leave, they believe they can defend the farm. We are all feeling quite helpless and a rescue mission has been mounted to ‘get them out’. To find out more Dipesh has started a blog to raise awareness and funds for those affected in the worst hit town, Kisumu. I hope you’ll visit to read more about how this affects him and those around him.

Some time ago I posted a cartoon of part of out ream by Kevin, an intern artist, and nobody knew who we were! I thought it only fair that I introduce us and tell you what it’s like in the day in the life of the staff at WildlifeDirect in Nairobi.

Its a daily adventure starting with getting to work – we all come from different directions – but the traffic is the same, bumper to bumper, and the public transport ‘matatu’s’ behave badly wherever you are in the city. I’m going to apologise for a stupid gap that appears randomly in this post - I think it’s a poltergeist, because every time I move it, it just appears somewhere else.

Most drivers wait patiently in queues, but not matatu’s (which translates to three - it used to cost 30 cents a ride), they overtake causing traffic jams, cut in to lines, drive off road, and frequently cause accidents (I saw 2 on my way in yesterday). Why do they behave this way? Simple, because they can! Colorful, like so much in Kenya, matatu owners often adorn their vehicles with provoking statements or names and art work on the back. And because the customers don’t stop them, other drivers are scared of them, and sad but true, the police are often easily persuaded to overlook dangerous driving with a small cash incentive called ‘chai’ which means tea (it’s even said that some matatu’s are owned by influential policemen). They often push pedestrians and cyclists into gutters, spraying mud or dust on them, and often putting them in line of danger.

Here’s an overloaded cyclist trying to balance produce for shops –battling for road space with a matatu bearing down on him. Though bicycles are common, Bicycle lanes do not exist.

My first stop is to get the newspapers from a friendly corner to and read on the 45 minute drive in (20 minutes if I leave at 6 am). It’s hard to ignore the bizarre, bazaars along the highways - you can buy or rent practically anything from a lawnmower, water, house furniture, to garden flowers and flower pots, a pet rabbit or puppy.

or a life sized scrap metal giraffe, crocodile or elephant!

We call this road side craft ‘Jua Kali’ which literally means ‘Hot Sun’ as the crafts men and women work in the sun (not in factories or offices).

I digress here into a Kiswahili lesson because as I write this I realise that Swahili is an odd but fun eclectic language - Jua Kali literally translates to Sun hot not Hot sun, because jua =sun, kali=hot or aggressive. Kali can be used in other contexts too like hot food (chakula kali) or something expensive (bei ghali) and aggressive dog (mbwa mkali). When I’m upset with my my son I get really kali and he always retorts ’stop getting so whisky’! I have no idea what that means but it always diffuses the situation (which come to think of it, is what our politicians need right now). Some English words have no translation in Kiswahili for example bicycle is bisikeli and motorbike is piki piki which literally is the sound that motorbikes make. I could go on and on …..

We start the day officially at 9 am but the truth is that most of us start the day from as early as early as 5am and we work in teams on different things – apart from supporting all our bloggers and website visitors, we’re developing major themes to stop wildlife poisoning, saving the Maasai Mara, stopping illegal trade in wildlife in Africa, and stopping the charcoal trade in Congo. Everyone is busy with plans to make these campaigns work. We will soon be telling you how you can help us create a campaign around these important issues.

Here’s Dipesh and Amir who is based in Congo but visits Nairobi from time to time.

….and Jonathan, on his way into the office on a matatu!

Emmanuel, Will and David were skyping with Australian social networking guru’s as we develop new tools for Wildlifedirect supporters.

We visited the Lusaka Task Force, Africa’s interpol for wildlife trade, to talk about the alarming scale of trade in gorillas, parrots, and chimpanzees in Africa (we’ve been bringing you some news in the gorilla protection blog as well as Limbe). We met with Clement and Bonaventure (from right Clement, Emmanuel, Ephrem (our Country officer in Congo) and Bonaventure. We were told impressive stories about seizing ivory and tracking traders and dealers, we were very impressed with what they are doing and felt it needed to be brought to global attention. So watch this space, we’ll be bringing you their news regularly.

Back at the office, though it may not look like it from this shot, Joy really is the heart and soul of the office, she handles everything and looks after everyone – she’s working on logistics and administrative issues and though she has a beautiful smile, this photo captures her normal expression….serious!

Masumi, every cheerful, brings the party to the office and provides bloggers support and much much more.

And here’s the most critical person to work productivity – John – he brings laughter and piping hot coffee

After work we sometimes get together especially if we have visitors from our Congo team.

Here’s Diddy and Will during his an Innocents visit last month.

Here’s Kevin and Maya (office mascot and Dipesh’s daughter) – Kevin is back at art school now after completing designs for our shop (check out the incredible T-shirt designs), he spent a month on internship with us and became a very popular member of the team. Here’s one of my favourite sketches he did – it’s called ‘Urban Samurai Heroes’ and represents Kevin, Josh (my son) and a friend of theirs on a quest to save the world. Apart from the aggressive expressions and blood thirsty weapons, the idea of urban heroes reminds me of what we’re trying to do for wildlife.

At the end of the day we join the endless snake of traffic back to our homes.

So…. does anyone feel they can identify who’s who in this cartoon now?

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Almost two years ago now, in one of the most beautiful parts of Kenya, Laikipia district, a group of biologists were sitting in the middle of the savanna grassland listening to each others presentations about research we would do had we an unlimited supply of money. Mine was not as outrageous as most of the others but I do see why it could have been important now. I wanted to conduct a nation wide investigation into the apparent loss of vultures in all the national parks. I had no factual backing to this ‘loss of vultures’, it was just something that had almost slapped me in the face when I went on a safari. Where had all the vultures gone? As a child I remember seeing countless numbers of all species of vultures, circling the skies, perched on trees with such sinister looks but at that age I was influenced by the evil vultures from the Disney movie of Robin Hood.

This is me with the long hair and orange top, giving my ‘vulture presentation’ and some of my fellow conservation biologists

The point I am trying to make here is that I found my answer to a question I silently pondered over for many years. Another threat to remaining African Wildlife: Poisoning!

It might not be the only reason to affect vulture populations but it certainly is a tangible and severe threat.

So what exactly happens? It’s mostly people that live near wildlife that are setting deliberate traps of poisoned carcasses to deter predators and keep them away from their land and livestock. Unfortunately poisoning causes vast numbers of deaths to most of the top predators and birds of prey alike, being the indiscriminate killer that it is. The poison accumulates in the tissues of whatever feeds on it thus making birds of prey vulnerable to secondary poisoning. There have already been reports from some of our blogs about this problem. Simon Thomsett had written a post about it last year, Lion guardians reported the loss of two of their lions and the Northern Rangelands Trust as well.

I recently read an article about the worst case of poisoning in years in Namibia where 25 birds of prey had been killed by feeding on the carcass of a poisoned dog. The dog had fed on poisoned bait and died. The targets of the baiting were jackals. This shows how indiscriminate the poisoning can be. It’s not a method just restricted to Kenya but occurs all over Africa and elsewhere in the world.

In Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park 80% of the hyenas have been poisoned and the at least 15 lions and this information is from June last year.

In a study conduced by one of our bloggers Seamus Maclennan in the Tsavo-Amboselli region in Kenya states that over 108 lions may have been killed in the region either through Masaai cultural act or poisoning.

Are there solutions? Someone like Seamus (Lion Guardians) or Sam Maina (The Water Hole) may be in a better position to tell you the answer but the immediate thought would be to educate people about the effects of the poisoning but how many animals will fall victim in the meantime…it’s a long term solution and those take a long time to see results. More immediate solutions would be to pass laws to ban chemicals such a carbofuran commonly used for the poisoning. For such action we need to get the message out.

If something is not done at this stage it may lead to the extinction of some of our birds of prey in the immediate future.

I had to use Sam’s photos from the Water Hole blog as I’m not out in the field but it is where I want to be.

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After two incredible days in Selinda we drove to the great Kalahari conservation area - the worlds second largest conservation area – second to Selous National Park in Tanzania. This was described to us as the least visited, and wildest corner of Botswana that was made famous by the couple Mark and Delia Owen through their best selling book ‘Cry of the Kalahari‘ - they studied black-maned lions and brown hyenas in an area so remote that the animals had never before seen humans. Cry of the Kalahari, their best-selling book, is their account of their research and adventures. According to people in Botswana, the book revealed the threat that the veterinary fence posed to migrating wildlife and as a result, “apparently” this public revelation led to their eviction from Botswana although they continue to do research and support conservation through their foundation The Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation

We arrived at the gate of the Kalahari after driving down one of these nearly 100 km veterinary fences and were met with a stunning surprise

Gemsbok were everywhere … we were advised to camp at Deception Valley in the desert which is where the Owens did their research. Well, I can see why they chose the location …look at these photos and tell me if you think it’s a desert … or even a valley!

Males were testing females

It had rained recently and the animals were getting ready for breeding - the males especially were very frisky

This is the valley! Some springbok had started calving

Massive flocks of quelea were everywhere

As were these ‘crazy’ birds which spent the entire day making ridiculous raucous calls…I hve no idea what they were

None of the animals were particularly worried about us … this is a HUGE monitor lizard that walked right by us flicking his bright red forked tongue around as he/she went

Some of the smaller animals were just adorable

And everyone was enjoying the flush of green grass - these are striped ground squirrels

And I was thrilled to meet one of my most favourite animals, really close up…. meerkats

I hope I’m not getting repetitive, but these animals are stunning - and very well behaved for an amateur photographer like me!

I also personally adore jackals - there were hundreds of these black backed jackals around … often alone or in pairs

Others saw lions but we missed them, the only evidence was their deafening roars at night (I could swear they were in our camp!) - and this….

We missed witnessing the lion kill the night before, but got one scavenger trying to get something off the remains

In Selinda we witnessed lions killing a wild dog which many think is simply a case of a predator getting rid of it’s competition

Well check out this

These Jackals walked right up to the cheetah but didn’t seem at all bothered with it, and neither did the cheetah

They both lay down within 30 m of each other

and then the jackals started making these amazing cat like calls

Well, as you can see, it was a feast, wildlife photographic candy…

We celebrated our Christmas under the stars in Deception Valley in the Kalahari Desert - wondering about the name.. I think it’s a deception that its a valley or a desert.

They say that the Kalahari Desert is about the most dangerous place to go to in Botswana because it’s HUGE and you rarely see anyone else. … which is a big part of the attraction for me. But, if you break down you’re scr*wed!! Nobody is likely to find you for days! We had to rescue a group of young rather intoxicated people whose battery died on them in the park. They were desperate and we had to use our battery to start their car. Being there for Christmas day only, they had little water or food… (but lots of booze!). We thankfully got them out with help of other visitors after an hour or so… and then we discovered that we had brought no water for bathing… so it was 4 days in the bush without a bath… nice! It certainly kept the bugs at bay!

We did achieve something important, a realisation that a blog about this surprising place is definitely of interest to WildlifeDirect if it can help to raise funds to save this spectacular part of Africa.

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Hello everyone!

I thought I would do my colleague a favour and expose what a great writer he is to all our WildlifeDirect readers. Not just because he asked me to. He is the communications Manager here and has written a couple of the posts on this blog already. He writes a lot of articles for various local Kenyan Magazines like Wajibu and Awaaz.

So to celebrate Dipesh pabari’s creative genius with words, quite unlike my own, I thought I would give you all a little expose on his latest Pambazuka (Pan African online Journal) article featuring WildlifeDirect. I believe it is called the ‘Bush Bloggers’. A fitting title for all those hardy conservationists out there who are, as we call it here in Kenya ‘Bundu Bashing’. Another way of saying roughing it out in the wilderness.

Onto the article now…our dear ‘Atamato‘ blog, the smiling face of a Congolese ranger which graces our homepage from time to time, with his video posts, featuring panoramic views of the beautiful Ishango Park has been used as an example of how the life of one ranger was drastically changed and a National Park was able to function through the generous donations of our readers (give yourselves a pat on the back).

“Take the case of Atama-to Madrandele, a park warden who, in 2005, started working at the Ishango, sub-station of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He carried out his work in almost complete physical and financial isolation. In February 2007, Atamato began to blog on WildlifeDirect about his work. Through this blog he was able to raise some funds to help pay for patrol rations and equipment, as well as salary supplements for his five underpaid rangers (the official pay for a Congolese ranger is about three US dollars per month). From August this year, Ishango has become a fully functional park station, thanks to the donations received through his blog. His men are now fed and have enough fuel to be able to carry out regular patrols.”

Dipesh even managed to include a few quotes from Richard Leakey and feature them in the article. Here is a sneak preview…

“After spending many years struggling to improve wildlife conservation in Kenya, I decided to start WildlifeDirect to solve a very real problem in Africa, the lack of adequate funds to protect our wildlife heritage. Persuading individual donors to give support was not easy because most people are unaware of what is going on in conservation until there is a crisis. I needed to find another way to raise awareness and funds on a continuous basis.”

What more can I say except it is a really good and informative read about blogging and the effect it has on conservation and wordly issues in general.

So you going to read it now??? Off course you are…

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/44859

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Dipesh in the Congo: Nothing quite prepares you for the drive from Mutsora to Ishango in the northern sector of Virunga National Park, DR Congo. Within two hours we traveled from the dense and humid tropical Congo forest to the stunning savannah landscape of Ishango which is located on the shores of Lake Edouard where the Semliki River flows out.

The grass is so green from the short rainy season and the Congo Cobs, a beautiful antelope is certainly not short of good food. As we approached, I saw the mass fresh water lake appear and the reconstructed Ranger’s post which overlooks the magnificent Semliki River. It’s huge!

Pods of hippos laze around comfortably cooling themselves and the occasional grunt echoes across the Savannah. The place is alive with hundreds of different bird species. I now know why Samantha says this is her favourite spot in DR Congo.

We were greeted by Atamato who I felt that I knew so well from his blog. He on the other hand, was surprised that I even knew his name. Once again, the hospitality of the Rangers was as welcoming as the twittering of the birds.

When Atamato suggested we take a ride down the river, I was up in a flash. Samantha had told me stories of elephants wading in the water and now I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this for myself.

Of course luck always plays a part in coming across wildlife and today, I could not have been luckier. Not far down the river amongst a lazy pod of hippos was a solitary elephant bathing itself. Elephants are no novelty for me as I am spoilt for wildlife coming from Kenya but this had to be one of the most spectacular sites I had come across. We slowly drifted towards the elephant and he sensibly increased his distance as the hippos curiously observed the scene.

And a ride down the river is not complete without being mock charged by Karibu the hippo, a mother of two, who like any sensible mother will do anything to protect her children. Atamato and the others know each pod of hippos like one would know their neighbours and have appropriately named them after famous Congolese singers. If only Papa Wemba knew that a pod of hippos were named after him! What an honour!

Like most places, a short visit is always a thrill and one soaks in the best but being posted here is no holiday. There is no public transport and the closest human settlement where you can buy basic food rations is over an hour’s walk away. The rangers take turns going on 5 day patrols on the lookout for poachers laying snares and other illegal activities. I can imagine it gets quite lonely out here to say the least.

A big thanks to all in Congo for opening my eyes to so much.

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