Baraza

Category: Gorillas | Date: May 08 2008 | By: admin

I hope that this is a hoax,  apparently someone is trying to sell baby gorillas online in Cameroon.

http://www.bikudo.com/product_search/details/43204/west_african_gorillas.html

Given that we only just got the Taiping 4 back home, this seems foolishly daring, but I’m not taking any chances and have alerted the Lusaka Task Force. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to get to the bottom of this?

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Category: Gorillas | Date: May 07 2008 | By: admin

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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Category: Uncategorized, WildlifeDirect news | Date: Apr 13 2008 | By: admin

I have been in the USA for 3 weeks so far in New York, DC, Madison and now I’m in an internet cafe in Minnesota at the Minneapolis Airport waiting for a flight to Montana. I have been fund raising for wildlifedirect to try and raise core funds to enable the organization to expand and support more organizations across Africa, Asia and south America. Since we do not make any deductions from donations for this, we have to raise these funds independently.

It has been an extraordinary experience and some people and organizations who have made it possible for me to spend this much time in the country - I’m especially indebted to Nancy A, Turtle Pond Publications and many individuals who have hosted me or put me in touch with critical contacts. We haven’t raised enormous amounts of money yet but we do have a few possibilities in the pipeline. It has been 14 hour days for 3 weeks with one weekend in the country so far. Sleep deprivation is beginning to get to me but I only have 5 more days to go

I’ve learned how to live like a New Yorker…. using the subway is quite an experience, I love watching the bands play energetically for coins - I could just stay there and dance! America and her people always amaze me with their energy, creativity, generosity and love of life. These images of my trip and facts from Philanthropy statistics

New York is one of the busiest, most exciting places to be. It is rich in culture, art, intelligence, energy and money… beyond description.

Did you know that 89 percent of US households give to charities?

The average annual contribution of those who give is $1,620.

American giving reach a record high in 2006, with donations totaling $295-billion.

Giving to the arts and education saw donations rise more than 6 percent in 2006.

There was an overwhelming philanthropic outpouring to natural disasters in 2005.

The book I talked about previously Owen and Mzee did well because of the link to the Indian Ocean Tsunami. It is a best seller and is translated into 17 languages. I read it to 3rd graders at the John Muir school in Madison. What an exilirating experience! Two days later I received adorable letters with drawings and messages from each child.

One of the girls wrote

“thank you for reading your book. It was a great story. PS. You are a good friend”

another child wrote

“…after you left Ryan told me that you are staying with his family. He said you spend most of your time on your laptop. I wanted you to stay with me because Ryan is lucky that you are staying at his house”.

It’s not true! I sometimes get off my computer and do go out for a walk and here’s the evidence -Ryan introduced me to my first American predator ..a Cayote …here the evidence!

Books are a good way of raising awareness. The sequel to Owen and Mzee “the language of friendship” won a Christopher award last week. The award “salutes media that affirm the highest values of the human spirit. Their goal is to encourage men, women and children to pursue excellence in creative arenas that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively. Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others.”

Here is our book on display with its flashy golden award sticker!

It was awarded to us by Caroll Spinney of Sesame street fame the puppeteer behind big bird and Oscar the Grouch seen here.

Why does Owen and Mzee matter in terms of charitable giving in USA? Because it inspires people to be kind and generous. We hope that our upcoming book “Miza” a true story of an orphaned baby mountain gorilla in Virunga, which is also published by Scholastic, will inspire the same sentiments and becomes a best seller because the funds raised will directly benefit mountain gorillas in Eastern Congo. As you can imagine, the situation there is absolutely critical, rebels control the gorilla sector and rangers are unable to protect the gorillas. We could lose these amazing animals if we fail to take action quickly. Rangers Diddy and Innocent are keeping us informed of the situation on the ground on the gorilla protection blog

Consider these facts.

Charitable giving accounted for 2.1% of gross domestic product in 2006.

Between $6.6 trillion and $27.4 trillion in charitable bequests will be made between 1998-2052.

^{However, only 3% of this will go to animals and nature}

Of that 3%, less than 3% will go to international programs. I cant understand why conservation in the worlds most biodiverse regions can rank at such low the priority on the agenda of charitable people. It is hard to imagine how we can save the most vulnerable species and conservation areas if they occur outside of the richest places of the world.

I wonder ambitiously, could we, you readers, and bloggers on WildlifeDirect turn this around and create awareness of the needs in Africa, Asia, latin America? Could we create a critical mass of information and change the giving behaviours of the richest, most generous people on earth?
The situation is urgent, multinational firms are beginning to greedily extract Africa’s rich natural resources taking oil, minerals, timber, crops and fish, ….we must ensure that the development of Africa does not leave it with a legacy of destruction that future generations of poor Africans have to pay for.

Can we prevent the destruction of the worlds heritage by creating a massive global network of caring people and organizations - before it is too late?

I took a walk at 10 pm one night past the Rockefeller Center and watched the skating with amazement. I sometimes think it would be easy to give up the tough task of conservation in Africa, and just get used to working and living in New York. But I know I’d miss home and Africa too much, because I could not fulfill our mission to save the gorillas, elephants, lions and trees - they need us in Africa.

While I’ll be sad to say goodbye to USA when I finally leave next week, I’ll be so glad to be going home with even more energy and blogs including snow leopards, sun bears, grizzlies, lemurs, …..to name a few.

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 20 2008 | By: admin

For those who have been visiting WildlifeDirect.org in recent months you will have noticed a tremendous growth in blogs - from 17 in August last year to 63 today, and from 2 countries to 17 countries in Africa and beyond. We have seen a massive rise in visitation from less than 20,000 per month last June to 70,000 per month today. We have raised $25,000 in February for 30 blogs. We are feeling mighty proud of this achievement and the truth is that this is all thanks to you, our supporters.

Many of our visitors ask how they can help. I hope that this post will be attractive to some of you.

1. We need experienced bloggers to help us in networking more effectively. We need to spread the word and promote the work of our bloggers to get more attention and interest. This can be done from anywhere in the world with good internet access.

2. We are appealing to anyone who is interested in training to help with the production of training materials in a variety of languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Kiswahili for our bloggers. We are thinking of producing a blogging manual for WildlifeDirect bloggers. This can e done anywhere in the world.

3. As you know, all funds raised on blogs are earmarked entirely for those blogs. WildlifeDirect costs are raised separately. We need help in raising funds for the core team to support the bloggers in the field. Ideas for foundations, organizations, companies or other sources of funds would be much appreciated.

4. We are interested in expanding further through Africa, Asia and South America. If you know of any potential projects, connect us.. put us in touch.

5. We have heard that university students may be interested in participating in WildlifeDirect through conservation groups. We would be very interested in coordinating with anyone who is willing to raise awareness about WildlifeDirect and our blogs through universities or other institutions. Later this year (September) we will be holding some events in New York, Atlanta, and Washington DC and I could potentially meet with organized groups at these times.

I am in the United states until mid April and would be very interested in following up directly with those interested. Please write to paula@wildlifedirect.org or leave a comment on this blog.

I look forward to hearing from you! Paula Kahumbu, Consevation Partnerships Director

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Mar 19 2008 | By: admin

The last few days have really had us all on our feet at WildlifeDirect. There have been a lot of atrocities committed against Kenya’s wildlife who unfortunately are being used as a scapegoat for a much deeper rooted problem in Kenya: land.

Last week we found out through one of our partner organisations, the Lion Guardians that three lions were tragically killed. Such inhumane acts are becoming more and more common and whilst they are often the result of retaliation due to Pastoralists losing their livestock to an opportunistic carnivore, there is really no justification for taking revenge on an animal that is only following its basic nature. Reuters were quick to pick up the story and once a media house like them picks it, it often travels far and wide across the globe.

When this came out, we quickly got word that up to 14 elephants had been speared since february this year and 4 had died all within the same Amboseli region. We spoke with world renowned elephant specialist, Dr. Cynthia Moss who post a guest blog on Dr. Richard Leakey’s WildlifeDirect blog. It was only a matter of time before the media turned their panoptical gaze to this blog as well and in less than 48 hours the story had appeared on several leading papers and National Geographic had put a story on these unfortunate incidences.

With all the debate about the reintroduction of culling of elephants in South Africa, Dr. Leakey, renowned for bringing an end to elephant poaching in Kenya over twenty years ago most certainly had a thing or two to say about the highly controversial issue. I think much to everyone’s suprise, he stated that whilst he felt culling to be a repugnant practice, he also felt South Africa had little choice given the current circumstances. Once again, yet anothermajor media house, BBC picked up on his blog and ran it in their Green Room and it also made front page of the BBC Africa news section. And before I had time to read the article, several comments were flying into my inbox from all sorts of different angles. People have strong opinions about lots of things and the beauty of the internet is that you can voice them and it doesn’t necessarily have to lead to a physical fight!

Day 3: I get a phone call from the German Press Agency asking if we have any more information on the arrest of the Provincial Director of South Kivu and Chief of World Heritage of Kahuzi Biega National Parc who has been charged with the murder of ten gorillas mid last year. I had in fact not heard about this but information was at my fingertips through skype, gtalk and emailing. Yes, it was true and this was a huge breakthrough against corruption in the ICCN which work to protect thewildlife and environment in one of the most complicated areas in the world, DR Congo. Soon the blogs were up and more journalists calling and asking for statements. What was critical was to get accurate information for the journalists to report. I love the internet! I spoke to my colleague whom I can barely reach on phone using skype and was able to provide the BBC with reliable information right from the ground. Not even an hour later, the news was out on their front page!

It’s 7pm in Nairobi where the rains are just beginning. I am fortunate enough to have a roof under my head and so much more, and blessed to have the ability to reach the world through an online social network that continuously helps to bring about change…so let’s hope we can bring justice and equality to all living creatures once and for all…

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 19 2008 | By: admin

Dear all,

We have just seen this headline story on the BBC home page that says an ICCN ranger has been arrested for the killings of gorillas last year which was carried on the cover of Newsweek last August. It looks like the ICCN are taking the case very seriously and we look forward to a conviction. I have asked our team in Congo will give us further details on the Manioc valley blog. The team from ICCN may also comment on this on their gorilla protection blog. We are hoping that the trial will finally get to the bottom of the reason why someone would arrange for the executions of critically endangered mountain gorillas in this magical place of Virungas.

Read the full BBC article and ICCN story on gorilla blog here

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Category: Climate change, Gorillas, National Parks and protected areas | Date: Mar 13 2008 | By: admin

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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Category: Emergency appeals, Gorillas, WildlifeDirect news | Date: Mar 06 2008 | By: admin

We’ve been preoccupied with the situation in the Masai Mara for a while but don’t for a second imagine we’ve forgotten the crisis facing gorillas. Today the situation in the Virunga National Park is worse than it has ever been, the rangers have not seen the gorillas for over six months. Last year I visited the Kabirizi family with Emmanuel, Diddy and Innocent.

Once you’ve looked a wild gorilla in the you are transformed forever.

It is almost unimaginable that the rangers have been unable to monitor this family for half a year due to the rebel activity and dangers. I was fortunate to spend three days in the area and visited the gorillas twice. Diddy and Innocent as well as Augustin gave me the most interesting guided tour of the park imaginable - I learned about what gorillas eat and where they sleep, how they move and communicate. But the most awe inspiring moment was when I realised that it was in fact me that was the subject of study.

Diddy was happy and relaxed at that time. We had long conversations about his life as a ranger in the Bukima camp. The camp was later dismantled to protect the equipment from encroaching rebels.

At the end of a seven hour trek up and then down mount Mikeno we had much to smile about despite the exhaustion.

Sadly, less than a month later all hell broke loose and things have not been the same since.

Emmanuel was there when the Rugendo family was attacked, he was amongst the first people to find the site of the massacre of seven individuals.

Today Emmanuel is in the USA raising funds and talking about the situation which is quite dire. We are hoping to raise funds for the re-establishment of the Bukima camp immediately it is safe enough to do so. This will ensure that the rangers have a forward operating base to patrol and do the gorilla monitoring from.

For those of you in Denver Colorado, Emmanuel de Merode will be speaking about the situation facing mountain gorillas from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Canyon Theater in the Boulder Public Library, an event sponsored by the Highlands City Club. On Thursday, he will speak at the Colorado History Museum from 7 to 9 p.m. If you can’t make it to the talk but want to make a donation, you can do so on the gorilla protection blog

You will find more information on this fund raising event in the Denver post

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 18 2008 | By: admin

I have had an interesting time monitoring all the new blogs and the variety of comments that are coming in. The amount of interest and the suggestions we’re getting on comments are enormously encouraging. I realise that there’s so much more we can do with the power of so many minds. Thank you all for your your contributions it’s so invigorating to hear from you.

Today is a sad but happy day for several reasons.

First, I had the pleasure of meeting Gwili from the Colobus Trust. It was a happy meeting - I discovered he’s Welsh and not from some as yet to be identified African tribe! Such a strange name! He updated me on the situation at the Colobus Trust where the tourism collapse has had a devastating impact on the income of this small charity - which I actually started in 1997! Yes, it was! And it was my brother who designed those crazy arboreal colobus bridges to enable these spectacular black and white monkeys to cross the highway safely. The good news is that the number of monkeys killed by vehicles is now negligible.

The sad news is that more than twenty colobus and fifty other primates are electrocuted every year on high voltage cables serving this touristic area. The Power company has promised to insulate the cables, but are demanding that the Colobus Trust pay for the materials. In my mind, that’s retarded and I think we should write to those guys and demand that they act a bit more responsibly.

The second bit of sad news was from a new blogger, the Maasai Wildlands - While training Douglas I was shown photos of children covered in flies. The flies were in the children’s noses, eyes and mouths. I cant imagine how they breathe without swallowing those dirty creatures! I could see the diseased eyes in at least one of the children. It made me realise just how lucky I am that I have a good clean supply of water at my home. I showed them the playpump system which is so brilliant! I hope that the funds raised through the Maasai Wildlands blog will help to bring clean water to the Maasai children.

And another piece of sad news, William Deed, our in house blogger who helped create the Gorilla Protection Blog, trained Atamato, Diddy and Innocent, has now left us. We will forever be indebted to Will for his amazing insight, expert online networking skills and his dry humour. Below is Will and Diddy checking out photos for the gorilla blog in December last year.

The good news is that he hasn’t gone far - he will be working from the Mara Triangle to help with the emergency fund raising campaign. As you all may know, we are trying to raise 150,000 dollars for the Mara Triangle to help them through this extraordinarily difficult period. Brian Heath, the CEO of the Mara Conservancy came in to pick up Will and to update Richard Leakey on the situation on the ground. They ended up recalling stories about an earlier discussion on the future of the Mara and about Brians Serval cat kitten!

It feels like a long day but we’re only just getting started. I am energized because more than 20 bloggers received donations last week (thank you everyone) and that means that things are looking up which is a great change for us living in Kenya where things have been so depressing lately. But for those who follow Kenyan politics the Koffi Annan mediated talks are progressing and despite some hiccups, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. “Harambee” as Kenyans say, “Lets pull together”.

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 05 2008 | By: admin

Besides the politicians and hoodlums, I can’t help but think there are actually a lot of good and caring people in the world. Perhaps not enough, or maybe because we are all so scattered across the globe that, it is sometimes not easy to feel a common bond of humanity. However, when I started working with WildlifeDirect and began to really understand the power of online communities, I realised that we are now sitting on the most powerful and positive tool of all times.

Then, when my wife, Elodie and I created an emergency appeal blog, Sukuma Kenya (which literally means “push” Kenya but is also the name given to the staple vegetable eaten by all Kenyans as it literally helps to push you through the week), I trully felt that no matter how few people out there really do care, we can actually make a difference. All it took was one mass email to all our friends, and through the simple science of 7 degrees of seperation, Sukuma spread and within one month we had raised over $10,000/-! I can’t even begin to tell you how many people have been helped with this funding.

What was just as inspiring is that I realised just how many Kenyans and friends of Kenya there are out there. The blogs dealing with the crises just kept springing up and everyone has been linking to eachother to increase our networks and increase the outreach. People from all sectors are dealing with the crises at hand ranging from poets like Shailja Patel to Kenyan Harvard student Joseph Karoki to and of course the whole literary movement came together under a common banner of Concerned Writers and within weeks, literally a couple of books worth of material was public for everyone to read. A lot of this amazing writing can be found on the Kwani blog

Kenyans do care and we are in shock about what is going on. What I realise is now more than ever we see our country in it’s whole - the people, the environment, the wildlife, the economy. So much is at stake. As a conservation organisation we recognise that everything is intedependant and sometimes certain issues must take precedence over others for the sake of long term sustainability just as the Gorilla Protection blog has done with raising funds to buy fuelwood for all the displaced people in DR Congo.

And now in Kenya, WildlifeDirect must focus its energy of saving one of the greatest ecosystems in the world - the Trans Mara- which is coming under serious threat due to a lack of financial resources to continue security as there are no tourists paying entrance fees which the Mara Conservancy is entirely dependant upon.

My good friend Stephen Partington and a muse to many of us writers in Kenya lives a humble life teaching at a school in Machakos, recently wrote the following poem which says it all for me:

WONDER OF THE WORLD: A STUDY OF EXODUS
Kenya, February 2008

(NOTE: in 2007, Kenya’s wildebeest migration was declared The Seventh
Natural Wonder of the World)

Forget the wildebeest.
Forget the birds that flock abroad.
Forget safari ants,
those harsh, acidic hordes
that strip each leaf from the acacia tree.

Forget the spawning salmon
or the moulting northern caribou,
the nightly rise and bloom
of tiny plankton from the deep.
Forget the flock and mindless plodding-on
of fold-returning sheep.

Let’s venture lower, to inanimates:
forget the iron filings,
how they journey to the pole.
Forget specks of dust that quiver
with a Brownian lack of control.
Forget how photons in their millions
pulse rhythmically from lamps.
Forget the molecules of water
forced to tumble-stream from taps.
Forget the swarming of the sand from dunes,
the orbits of our planets’ moons…

Yet smaller, less substantial
than a mote, the lowest low:
evicted children
on the margins of the roadway,
who have nowhere left to go.

(Stephen Derwent Partington)

Technorati : Kenya, Masai Mara, Sukuma, WildlifeDirect fundraising crises, blogs, post-election crises

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