Page 22 – Africa Geographic

Bangweulu – where the water meets the sky

The dense, swirling column of Abdim’s and open-billed storks above us pulsed like a sardine bait-ball before dropping to the shallow lake in a g-force-defying stoop, accompanied by an ear-buffeting swoosh to join boisterous pelicans working the fertile fishing grounds.
This is the dry season zenith in north-eastern Zambia’s remote Bangweulu Wetlands, just days before the annual monsoon rains arrive to transform the landscape into a vast inland ocean where the water meets the sky. After a long, hot and dusty day locating a shoebill in dense wetland papyrus beds, I was enjoying a cold beverage on the steps of Shoebill Island Camp, deep in contemplation. The storks were doing their fighter jet thing overhead while fires smouldered on the hazy horizon behind herds of grazing black lechwe, and fishermen plied their trade in the shallows.

You see, this is a different kind of protected area. The owners live here and eke out living fishing, hunting and gathering natural resources – as they have done since before the safari tourism industry was born. And they do so sustainably, albeit with assistance from an exceptional organisation. More about that later.
My travel companion was my close friend and colleague Christian Boix. Christian had dropped off clients in Lusaka after their safari of a lifetime, before joining me. With us in Bangweulu were two siblings, a retired Australian banker and his South African sister. All of us thoroughly enjoyed our brief sojourn to this special place; this was precisely what we were after – responsible tourism in its purest form.

Bird’s-eye view

Bangweulu Wetlands consists of floodplains, seasonally flooded grasslands, woodlands and permanent swamps fed by the Chambesi, Luapula, Lukulu and Lulimala rivers. The area has been designated as one of the world’s most important wetlands by the Ramsar Convention, and a BirdLife International Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.

9,850 km² (985,000 hectares) – total size	6,000 km² (600,000 hectares) – Managed by African Parks in partnership with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and six Community Resource Boards
430 migratory and resident bird species rely on the wetlands	350 shoebills (6 monitored shoebill nests)
50,000 endemic black lechwe	50,000 owners (6 chiefdoms)

The Story of Bangweulu Wetlands

Bangweulu Wetlands is owned by over 50,000 community members across six chiefdoms

Bangweulu, meaning ‘where water meets the sky’, is home to about 50,000 people who retain the right to harvest its natural resources sustainably and who depend entirely on those resources for their survival. But things were not always as balanced as they are now. Decades of rampant poverty-driven poaching had driven wildlife and fish stocks to the edge, and the community realised that they needed assistance to protect their food sources. They signed a long-term agreement in 2008 with African Parks and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and committed to sustainably managing the wetlands to benefit wildlife and people. Since then, bushmeat poaching has been contained, and the endemic black lechwe populations have increased from 35,000 to over 50,000 (estimated carrying capacity is 100,000). Large mammal species such as zebra, impala and buffalo, previously almost exterminated by poaching, have been reintroduced and show steady population increases. Limited quantities of black lechwe, sitatunga and tsessebe are sustainably harvested yearly, earning much-needed revenue (annual target revenue of US$300,000) and protein for local communities. Local community members now guard shoebill nests against the illegal live bird trade because they realise that shoebills are a crucial driver of tourism numbers to this region. Fishermen are adhering to seasonal fishing bans lasting three months to allow stocks to recover, resulting in annual increases in fish stocks, better catch rates and improved economic benefits for communities.

Bangweulu Wetlands is the largest employer in the region, healthcare is being delivered to community members, and 60 schools are supported.
African Parks’ management priorities for Bangweulu are preventing illegal resource harvesting, overfishing, community education and enterprise development to improve livelihoods and build sustainable revenue streams. Their core deliverables revolve around these issues. Managing an area as remote and vast as Bangweulu Wetlands is not easy, and there are ongoing challenges relating to expectation management and law enforcement. Still, compared to the situation before 2008, Bangweulu Wetlands is a shining example of balancing the needs of the people with the preservation of wildlife.

Find out about Zambia for your next African safari. We have ready-made safaris to choose from, or ask us to build one just for you.

Bangweulu Wetlands’ continued survival as a sustainable ecosystem depends on its owners deriving lasting benefits whereby they recognise conservation as a viable land-use choice.

Focus on black lechwe

Bangweulu is the only place in the world where you will find wild black lechwe Kobus leche smithemani.
This medium-sized antelope grows to about 1 meter in height and weighs 60 to 120 kilograms (males are 20% larger than females). Only the males have horns. The hindquarters are noticeably higher than the forequarters, and the hooves are elongated and widely splayed – all adaptions to life on soft ground and in water.
Like red lechwe Kobus leche leche and Kafue lechwe Kobus leche kafuensis, black lechwe are slow runners but excellent swimmers and are often seen grazing shoulder-deep in water. Their greasy coats act as waterproofing but also give off a distinctive odour. Black lechwe are classified as vulnerable by IUCN.

Black lechwe are endemic to the Bangweulu region

Focus on shoebill

The shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) looks like it belongs in the prehistoric age. Found in the marshes of East Africa, the shoebill is classified as vulnerable and is a bucket-list sighting for any avid birder.

Sadly, this iconic species is severely threatened by habitat loss and the illegal bird trade, as the demand for their eggs and chicks places considerable pressure on wild populations. Thankfully, around 350 of these quirky giants find sanctuary in Zambia’s Bangweulu Wetlands, where Yoram Kanokola and other African Parks staff work with dedicated local community members known as ‘Shoebill Guards’ to protect and safeguard nests, ensuring that chicks can safely fledge. Over the last few years, these efforts have helped protect more than 30 fledgelings – ensuring the preservation of the species for generations to come.
For more information about shoebills, read Shoebill – 7 reasons to love this dinosaur of birds.

The shoebill is an iconic species that has high tourism status and value

Explore and stay

Bangweulu is open all year round – but accessibility by road and access to game drive tracks varies depending on water levels.

Shoebill Island Camp was opened in 2018 to generate photographic tourism revenue for Bangweulu Wetlands. Four luxury tents and an impressive open-plan common area nestle under a grove of trees on an island that is reached by boat during the flood season and by a four-wheel-drive vehicle at other times.

Bangweulu also offers self-catering campsites. Nsobe Campsite has six sites for tents, and is located between the Chimbwe woodland and the edge of the swamps.

DID YOU KNOW that African Parks offers safari camps (lodges and campsites) where 100% of tourism revenue goes to conservation and local communities? Find out more and book your African Parks safari.

Bangweulu Wetlands is best included in a safari that includes other Zambian destinations such as Luangwa Valley and Kafue

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SIMON ESPLEY

Simon Espley is an African of the digital tribe, a chartered accountant and CEO of Africa Geographic. His travels in Africa are in search of wilderness, real people with interesting stories and elusive birds. He lives in Hoedspruit with his wife Lizz and two Jack Russells, and when not travelling or working, he will be on his mountain bike somewhere out there. His motto is ‘Live for now, have fun, be good, tread lightly and respect others. And embrace change.’.

Simon Espley (right) and colleague Christian Boix.

Black honey badgers spotted in Gabon

A camera trap photograph of four melanistic (black) honey badgers was captured by researchers in an area near Ivindo National Park in Gabon. The camera traps were placed there as part of a survey conducted by Panthera, who has been tasked by Gabon’s park authorities Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) to assess and document local wildlife to ultimately establish a protected reserve. The four black honey badgers captured on camera are most likely related to each other – honey badgers are typically solitary apart from mothers and their one or two offspring, but they are occasionally seen together in small groups.

Dr Philipp Henschel, West and Central Africa Regional Director for global conservation NGO Panthera, explains that in his 21 years of working in Gabon, he has never seen a honey badger there and that up until the more widespread use of camera traps, conservationists had no idea that there were honey badgers in the deeply forested areas of Gabon. When the first camera trap picked up a melanistic honey badger in 2003, the indistinct image had the researchers wondering if they had discovered a new species and it was only a year later that the image of two black animals helped researchers connect the dots and conclude that it was a melanistic form of honey badger (Mellivora capensis).

Nowadays, camera traps are more common across Gabon, and scientists believe that around 50% of the honey badgers in the Gabon forested areas are melanistic. Melanism is a recessive genetic trait that causes excess production of the pigment melanin in the skin or fur, resulting in animals appearing almost black. The expression of melanism is a genetic trait that is not affected by environmental conditions, but the environment can determine the success rate of melanistic individuals, both in terms of survival as well as reproduction. Melanism does not occur in all animal species – there are no melanistic lions, for example (despite the edited images floating around the internet). Still, it does occur in felid species such as leopards and jaguars. Given that melanistic cats are more common in moist rainforests (like Gabon), scientists believe that there is an adaptive advantage to this colouration. Though the mechanisms are less well understood in mustelids (the family which includes badgers, otters and wolverines), the assumption is that the evolutionary mechanisms are the same.

Recent camera trap surveys, initiated by a Panthera field team and since 2015 led by Christopher Orbell, have yielded other significant surprises apart from the black honey badgers, including a melanistic civet. Perhaps even more ecologically important is the record of spotted hyena, a species considered locally extinct in Gabon. Camera trap photos have revealed two adult individuals that appear to have become resident in the mineral-rich forest clearings.

Normally-coloured honey badger© Katja Voth

The images also prove that the naturally saline area under survey has an important population of elephants as well as leopards – these numbers of rare wildlife are unusual in an unprotected area given the risks of poaching or mineral resource extraction. The area is the caldera of an ancient volcano and is known to contain rare earths but, so far, the Gabonese government has prevented any industrial use. Dr Henschel praises the philosophy of the president of Gabon, as well as the Minister of Forests and Environment, for the “visionary” plans for Gabon’s park authorities to designate it as a formally-protected area, “which will assure that future government leaders who may be less visionary and environmentally-friendly are held to protect this unique site.”

The death of ‘Julian’, one of Africa’s last great tuskers

The magnificent elephant bull, nicknamed “Julian”, was believed to be well over 50 years old and had lived out his life in the Rukinga region of Kenya that lies between Tsavo West and East National Parks. He was well known to conservationists of the area and his enormous tusks that brushed the ground as he walked made him instantly recognisable. His carcass was found on 14^th January 2020 after it was spotted by a gyrocopter pilot who reported it to authorities. We reported last week that the famous tusker ‘Tim’ died last week, also of natural causes.

A tusker is the description given to an elephant with tusks that touch the ground, and there are very few remaining tuskers in Africa – some estimates suggest that there may be less than 40 individuals remaining on the entire continent. Their numbers have been decimated through decades of indiscriminate hunting and ivory poaching. The Tsavo area is known for its spectacular big tuskers.

The announcement was made by Wildlife Works – a REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) project development and management company responsible for establishing the Kasigau Corridor in the Rukinga region. Julian was regularly seen within the project area, and officials estimated him to be approximately 50 years old. Wildlife Works aerial surveillance team started to officially keep an eye on him during the Kenya poaching crisis in 2014 when he was the second-largest resident bull. The only bull larger than Julian died during the 2017 drought in Tsavo.

Julian’s carcass was spotted from the air © Wildlife Works

Wildlife Works described Julian as one of the more mobile bulls on the ranches; he would move right down to northern Tanzania’s Mkomazi Game Reserve, and Kenya’s southeastern ranches Koranze and Lungalunga. He would often not be seen for several months at a time, making much of his life a mystery. He would, however, always return to Rukinga ranch to socialise with the large herds, often accompanied by other bulls – almost acting as his bodyguards. Locals say that he would often hide his tusks in bushes when aircraft flew overhead, as if he knew he was a target for poachers.

Julian was not known as an aggressive bull, vehicles or rangers never had to be cautious around him, nor was he known as a crop raider. He had a scar on his right side, a possible attempt on his life from a poisoned arrow of a poacher.

He was found on 14th January 2020 under a tree in the long grass of Rukinga ranch, eyes closed as if he went to sleep peacefully. His death was deemed to be as a result of natural causes.

Lightning kills 4 mountain gorillas

Gorilla Doctors reported that on the 3^rd of February, lightning struck during a severe storm and killed four endangered mountain gorillas from the Hirwa group in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (MGNP). Three females and one new-born infant were killed. One of the females, Gikundiro, was pregnant and a second, Kahatwa, left behind an infant son only 14 months old. The Hirwa Group, formerly resident in Rwanda, crossed to Uganda in August 2019, now number 13 gorillas and are led by a silverback named Munyinya.

The cries of the remaining group members and the chest-beating of the males were heard by an MGNP tracker who immediately reported it to the relevant authorities. The incident was investigated by an international response team led by the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) with representatives from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Rwanda Development Board, MGNP, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Gorilla Doctors. The health of the remaining members was of paramount importance: fortunately, all were cleared as being in good health. However, Imbanzanbigwi (Kahatwa’s surviving son) will be closely monitored as he had only just started eating solids and was still suckling. Post-mortems were also conducted – yielding the expected results that preliminary cause of death was fatal electrocution resulting from the lightning strike.

According to Gorilla Doctors, this has been a particularly challenging time for the Hirwa group as they have faced multiple health issues, including their lead silverback being treated for a respiratory infection.

Mountain Gorilla numbers have increased recently, but their small population remains under pressure, and their reproductive cycle is slow, meaning that the loss of any individuals is a setback. The loss of three adult females is not only tragic; it also means the loss of their reproductive potential.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 10 – Gallery 1

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing.
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 2

? A tiny foraging field mouse. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Alice van Kempen

? A leopard in dappled light. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia © Alice Péretié

? Mating lions. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Alessandro Belloni

? A leaf-tailed gecko at night. Saha Forest Camp, Madagascar © Ben Price

? Back-lit baby vervet monkey. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Gareth Thomas

? A pangopup rescued by @africanpangolinconservation and cared for by @johannesburgwildlifevet. Undisclosed location © Gareth Thomas

? A little grebe surfaces from a dive for food. Zibulo Colliery, South Africa © Gerbus Vermaak

? A dazzle of zebra gallop across a dry lake. Lake Magadi. Kenya © Gurcharan Roopra

? A nesting pair of marabou storks put on a display. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana © Irene Amiet

? A spotted hyena chews on a zebra leg. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? A pack of painted wolves (African wild dogs) take down a helpless eland calf. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? A colourful juvenile boomslang. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Jeroen ten Haaf

? A gelada baboon (also known as a bleeding-heart monkey) exposing an impressive set of teeth. Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia © Josef Kastner

? A chameleon catches and devours a mantid. Madagascar © Kirill Dorofeev

? A humpback whale breaches out of the waters of St Helena. Island St Helena, Madagascar © Kirill Dorofeev

? An endless road to beautiful landscapes. NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia © Marta Nieto Aicart

? A red bishop clings to a bulrush. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Peter Reitze

? A herd of elephants at sunset. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Rupert Bridgman

? A clan of muddy spotted hyena scavenge on a hippo carcass. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © Tommy Mees

? A wet female baboon and her infant. Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya © Tommy Mees

? An aerial view of sandy desert dunes at sunset. Namib desert, Namibia ©Vanessa Thorimbert

Lion cub petting & captive wildlife interactions: what tourists need to know

In past years, tourists have been grossly misled by certain commercial captive wildlife facilities masquerading as sanctuaries or rehabilitation centres. Gullible holidaymakers are attracted to such facilities, as paying day-visitors and voluntourists, who pay to work at the facilities. Also hoodwinked are kind souls who donate money to such facilities in the belief that they are ‘saving’ animals. Growing awareness of the false marketing being used, and changing ethical attitudes mean that it is incumbent on tourists and donors to ask the right questions of the places that they wish to visit and support. So how does one go about deciding which wildlife facilities to visit and support?

The South African Tourism Services Association (SATSA) has released a handy guide to help visitors make these decisions and, to simplify even further, there are a few activities that SASTA now recognises as ethically unacceptable and therefore to be boycotted – regardless of what you are told:

if you can touch or play with the infants (lion or cheetah cub petting for example);
if you are allowed to touch any predators or cetaceans (dolphins, whales or porpoises);
if the facility has performing animals or if you can ride the animals (such as elephants);
if the facility breeds lions or tigers.

You need to consider whether or not the facility is a true sanctuary or rehabilitation facility, and to answer that, you can look at the following aspects:

There is no breeding of animals;
They do not trade in animals;
No animals are performing for entertainment
There are no tactile interactions and no walking with the animals;
The animals are in captivity because they were sick, injured, orphaned, rescued, donated and/or abandoned;
The animals will have a home for life or will be relocated back into the wild as part of a recognised conservation initiative;
And the facility is compliant with all relevant legislation and is transparent in its operations and marketing collateral

If the facility you are looking at visiting fulfils ALL of the above criteria, it is recognised as a sanctuary, and you can support it or visit with a clear conscience. If not, you need to dig deeper into the practices of the facility you wish to visit, or walk away.

The full flowchart is included below, and you will see that the guide also raises relatively obvious points such as not supporting a facility where the animals end up at canned hunting operations or where their body parts are traded. Naturally, this may be difficult for an unsuspecting visitor to discern. Captive wildlife facilities that are involved in unethical practices are unlikely to be upfront about their true colours, so visitors are advised to make sure that they are fully informed and have done their research beforehand. The SATSA guideline are a good place to start.

Evaluating captive wildlife activities. Source SATSA

The full report, including the history and guiding principles behind this chart, can be found here.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 10 – Gallery 2

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing.
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 1

? A crowned eagle tucks into an unlucky water monitor. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Brandon Huntley

? A female meerkat keeps a watchful eye out for danger as her three pups get up to mischief. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Brandon Huntley

? Spotted hyena cubs at play. Khwai, Botswana © Didier Couvert

? A tsessebe is pinned down by three hungry lions. Pilansberg National Park, South Africa © Ilna Booyens

? A flamboyance of flamingo. Sandwich Harbour, Namibia © Jandre Germishuizen

? A Kenyan sunrise. Samburu National Park, Kenya © Jane Gross

? A tiny four-striped grass mouse. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Jenny Andersen

? A rare sighting of greater-painted snipe. Intaka Wetlands, South Africa © Johan Mocke

? A hunting rock monitor lizard. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Joschka Voss

? A young spotted hyena cub seeks comfort from its mother. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karen Blackwood

? A young cheetah practices its hunting skills on a wildebeest calf. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South-Africa © Karen van der kolk

? Three-headed giraffe. Maasai Mara, Kenya © Karen van der kolk

? A black-backed jackal framed by elephant legs. Senyati, Botswana© Margie Botha

? An aerial view of Scorpion Dune. Sossusvlei, Namibia © Miguel Bruno

? The wild eye of a male lion through a buffalo carcass. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Panos Laskarakis

? A view of Cape fur seals from below. Seal Island, Millers Point, South Africa © Peet J van Eeden

? A striped skink carries off its centipede meal. Londolozi Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa © Rod Watson

? A group of black herons displaying their hunting technique. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana © Sandy Hickey

? A spotted hyena feeds among vultures. Maasai Mara, Kenya © Thorsten Hanewald

? The big eyes of a Natal forest tree frog. Durban North Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa © Tyrone Ping

? A group of great white pelicans. Awasa Lake, Ethiopia © Vittorio Ricci

? A bright green flap-necked chameleon. Bushmanland, Namibia © Wynne Cilliers

RIP: Tim the iconic elephant dies

Tim with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background ©Dean Bricknell

Tim, the iconic super-tusker who roamed the Amboseli area of Kenya, has died of natural causes. He was 50 years old.

Tim was an enormous bull elephant, with massive tusks that touched the ground. His fame catalysed many conservation programs, and he was a popular photographic subject for tourists, who would travel from across the world to see him. He is Africa’s most photographed elephant.

Tim captured the hearts of people around the world because of his gentle demeanour. He is an ambassador for his species, as his legend will live on.

Tim narrowly escaped death in 2018 when he got stuck in a waterhole before being rescued.

We celebrate his life with these images, which were submitted by entrants to our Photographer of the Year

Latest rhino poaching stats: shades of grey

Yesterday South Africa’s government released the 2019 rhino poaching statistics via an update to the website of the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF).

We interrogate the stats, with revealing graphs and intriguing questions.

During the time of former Minister of Environmental Affairs Dr Edna Molewa (now deceased), the department used to hold several press briefings a year, allowing us to study the stats and ask questions directly to the Minister and her assembled panel of experts and ministers from the security cluster. The rhino poaching crisis isn’t just for DEFF to handle; our government has defined rhino poaching as a trans-national crime, requiring all aspects of enforcement to be involved.

These press briefings do not happen anymore. Now, all we get is a brief press release surreptitiously loaded onto the DEFF website. And so, in the absence of direct communications with relevant experts, we are forced to ask questions in this manner and to speculate about what is going on. Amanda Watson, who has been reporting on rhino matters for The Citizen for many years, wrote an article outlining how serious this speculation has become. Simon Espley, CEO of Africa Geographic, expressed a similar sentiment last year when he publicly challenged Minister Barbara Creecy to reveal how many rhinos we have left. She did not reply.

It’s probably uncomfortable for DEFF to address some of the issues at play; but that is the role of the media industry – to get to the real story. This press release was dropped on us with no warning and, predictably, most news media have chanted praise for the perceived success of a “decline” in rhino poaching. Sipho Kings, editor of the Mail & Guardian recently sent out tweets criticising news outlets for just printing press releases as news, and he’s right… some digging needs to be done.

It’s unfortunate that DEFF’s brief press release, which is meant to be a thorough analysis of the past year, omitted several significant developments. Examples include concerning politics surrounding rangers, dismissal/disciplinary hearings of seemingly competent senior members of SANParks staff, the loss of the RhODIS contract, the possible closure of the Skukuza Court, a growing impatience from rhino farmers threatening to sell their horn stock and international gatherings like CITES that took place.

And so, let’s do some digging…

Does the ‘decline’ in poaching reflect success?

“A decline in poaching for five consecutive years…” – Minister Barbara Creecy, DEFF Press Release

Official rhino poaching statistics put the number of rhinos poached in South Africa in 2019 at 594. This is a decline from 769 in 2018. BUT without the census results from the Kruger National Park (home to the largest number of rhinos in the world), we cannot be sure what this means. When Bonné (de Bod) phoned the DEFF spokesperson yesterday to ask about the latest rhino population figures, she was directed to SANParks, who said they would check and get back to us. We know from years prior that SANParks cannot release the results without the Minister’s approval. And let’s not forget that we are still waiting for last year’s census results.

So just to be clear, we have not had population stats since the 2017 census – which we actually filmed, to obtain footage for STROOP! So complicated is the rhino counting procedure in Kruger that we ended up not including our footage in the film, but witnessing the process was humbling. Counting rhinos from the air is hard work, and a dedicated team is performing this tough task. However, something is getting lost from the effort on the ground to the paperwork on the department’s desk. Rumours abound that two recent counts have been done in Kruger National Park and that results reflect a halving of the 2017 numbers. So we did some searching through scientific journals to find Kruger’s white rhino population figures and actual white rhino poached numbers from the last few years of official results to find out whether the reported decline in poaching has any validity.

What do the Kruger white rhino numbers tell us?

Looking at the above graph, the downward spiral in Kruger southern white rhino populations is apparent. Note that DEFF has refused to date to issue figures for 2018 and 2019. The more than 50% decline in our southern white rhino numbers in Kruger over 6 years (10,621 in 2011 to 5,142 in 2017) is massive, and we cannot slow down or pat ourselves on the back.

The above graph tells us that the proportion of rhino poached each year, as a percentage of the remaining population, is increasing. This reality is in stark contrast to the ‘good news’ from DEFF that nominal rhino poaching numbers are down. The DEFF press release ascribed the reduction in rhinos poached to several factors, but failed to mention what is arguably the main reason – that there are fewer rhinos left to poach.

The above graph really highlights the crisis at hand and points to another damaging factor – “collateral damage”. Collateral damage is the knock-on effect of losing a cow to poaching. One rhino cow not only removes her from the population but also all potential future rhinos birthed by her – which could be as many as a dozen. Births of Kruger southern white rhinos are estimated at over 900 per anum for 2013 and 2014; by 2017 they are down to just above 300 … That’s a dramatic drop and an indicator surely that things do not look good. If you factor in the drought that has plagued the region, and the impact that will have had on rhino births and natural deaths, we suspect that the current figures would shock us if they were revealed.

Does releasing rhino numbers benefit poachers?

A senior SAPS officer pulled us aside after a STROOP screening last year and pleaded with us to stop asking for the census results to be released. This person said that census results would educate poachers, and that information like this is, therefore, not for public consumption. Trust us, we get that, and we left a LOT out of STROOP for that very reason. But we also know what convicted poachers tell us – that the poaching syndicates have their tentacles stretching way into government’s bureaucratic system – they have full knowledge of how many and where the rhinos are. Also, it’s absurd to think that the public shouldn’t know living rhino numbers for safety reasons, because the IUCN’s African Rhino Specialist Group publishes living rhino numbers every three years and so do scientific journals on the internet, which is where this information is from.

“Rhino conservation targets are set around rhino population sizes and growth rates; it is important to survey populations frequently to detect statistical changes… and assessing the effectiveness of current management.” – Dr Sam Ferreira, Large Mammal Ecologist, SANParks – read more here.

What concerns us is the general perception that the DEFF announcement attempts to create and that major news media outlets and social media commentators broadcast without any research – that we can ease off the accelerator now that we are “winning the war on poaching”. We most certainly are not winning; the above graphs make that obvious.

We need to support the real heroes who risk life and limb every day of their lives to keep our rhinos safe. Our rangers, police, prosecutors, vets, private owners, orphan rehabbers deserve more than this.

Kruger National Park census from helicopter ©Susan Scott

Baboon kidnaps lion cub

The baboon was seen grooming the cub © Kurt Safari

Baboon sightings in the Kruger National Park in South Africa are always entertaining but visitors watching one particular baboon troop experienced far more than expected when they realized that one of the baboons was clutching a tiny lion cub – no older than four weeks old. The male baboon carried the small cub around, climbing into a nearby tree and grooming and caressing the little cub as he might have done with a young member of his troop.

According to witnesses, the baboons were initially extremely excited about the presence of the cub. They fought over it for an extended period before the young male emerged victorious to play with his prize. It is a known fact that baboons are a potential threat to the offspring of most predators – lions and leopards included. Still, it is extremely unusual for these moments to be observed or photographed.

The male baboon carrying the lion cub © Kurt Safari

The photographs were captured by Kurt Schultz of Kurt Safari, who escaped his company office in Hazyview for some time spent with his camera in the Kruger National Park, unaware of the extraordinary experience awaiting him. He describes how in an area of large granite hills and boulders known to be a preferred spot for lion and leopard den sites, he encountered a troop of baboons and tourists in another vehicle informed him that they believed that there was a lion cub amongst the baboons.

He waited patiently until one of the baboons emerged with the cub, which he initially believed to be dead. As the male baboon carried it into the tree and moved from branch to branch, the cub stirred, and he realized that it was alive, albeit weak and exhausted. Although Kurt did not spot any visible injuries, he does not dismiss the possibility that the cub had internal injuries. What struck Kurt was how gentle the male baboon was with the cub and how he was grooming it. In his twenty years of guiding experience, he has been witness to baboons killing leopard and lion cubs but had never seen care and attention being given.

Pragmatically, Kurt acknowledges that the lion cub did not have a chance of survival. By 8 am it was 30 degrees Celcius and a lion cub that young would dehydrate quickly, even if the baboons did not harm it further.

Says Kurt, “This will remain one of my most interesting sightings. Naturally, one cares for the lion cub and would want it to grow up and live a wild and free life, but nature has its own ways, and we cannot get involved. We need to keep Kruger simple and wild – true to the wishes of Stevenson Hamilton: that nature should wander freely, and people remain in their vehicles.”

Kurt Safari offers one to five-day safaris into the Kruger National Park, operating mostly in southern and central Kruger. Based in Hazyview and operating mainly with Umbhaba Eco Lodge, they provide their clients with quality and educational safaris. With top safari guides from the local Hazyview community and a modern fleet of 23 vehicles, the company is rated number 1 on TripAdvisor for Kruger Park safaris.

Iona NP in Angola joins African Parks

The Angola Government and African Parks have signed a management agreement for the vast 15,200 km² (1,5 million hectares) Iona National Park, initiating their first partnership to ensure the long-term protection of one of the country’s largest protected areas. Iona is an iconic southern Angolan desert landscape, extending from its Atlantic coastline over dunes, plains and mountains.

“We are excited for what the future holds for Iona National Park, by partnering with African Parks to enhance park management and restore this landscape for the benefit of wildlife and people,” said Aristófanes Romão da Cunha Pontes, Director General of the National Institute of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas (INBAC). “Our vision is to showcase the natural wonders that Angola has to offer and for people to come from all over and experience this globally significant region of the planet”.

Situated in the Namib desert in the south-west corner of Angola, its stark 160-km shoreline abutting the Atlantic Ocean, Iona is one of Africa’s most sublime wilderness areas with rich terrestrial and offshore ecosystems. The sand and gravel plains at its centre are bordered by mountains reaching heights of 2,000 metres in the east and dunes that run the length of its coastline in the west. Fed by two bordering rivers, the Cunene and Curoca, the park contains extensive woodlands and is inhabited by cheetah and leopard, herds of Oryx, springbok and Hartmann’s zebra, ostrich, endemic reptiles and is the principal habitat to one of the world’s most ancient plants, Welwitschia mirabilis.

“This is a visionary step for conservation in Angola, and we are exceptionally proud to be partnering with the Government and helping them to manage this stunning national asset,” said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. “This is a tremendous commitment from the Government”.

African Parks is grateful to The International Conservation Caucus Foundation for the catalytic role that they played. The ICCF Group acts as the private-sector coordinator for the Angolan Ministry of Environment, to attract private-sector investments in ecotourism and protected areas. Susan Lylis, The ICCF Group Executive Vice President, said: “We are thrilled to see this landmark agreement for the co-management of Iona National Park, which we believe will lead to transformational outcomes for community development and conservation, and allow Iona to become a shining model throughout the region”.

Iona National Park is regionally important, forming part of a trans-frontier conservation area (TFCA) with the Skeleton Coast National Park in Namibia. Historically, the park was inhabited by rhino and elephant, but both of these species have become locally extinct, and other wildlife have been depleted. Unregulated human activities from settlements on the periphery and within the park, including the grazing of livestock, are placing pressure on its ecosystems.

African Parks and the Government of Angola will work closely with the local communities, implement proper law enforcement, and restore wildlife to ensure the long-term ecological, social and economic sustainability of Iona. Its spectacular mountainous, desert and coastal topography make this trans-frontier area globally unique, giving the park enormous potential with sufficient investment to emerge as one of the continent’s most extraordinary landscape experiences. With adequate conservation and the optimisation of tourism and other sustainable revenue-generating activities, Iona will continue to support healthy terrestrial and marine ecosystems to benefit people long into the future.

About African Parks: African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. With the largest counter-poaching force and the most amount of area under protection for anyone NGO in Africa, African Parks manages 17 national parks and protected areas in 11 countries covering 13.5 million hectares in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For more information visit www.africanparks.org, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 9 – Gallery 1

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing and open for submissions!
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 2

? A leopard leaps between branches. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Alice van Kempen

? A male village weaver on the lookout for any potentially interested females. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © Alison Mees

? A pangolin tastes freedom after being rescued from poachers and released. Malawi © Amanda Harwood

? Herding cattle creates a dusty sunset. Southern Tanzania © Andrea Kaucka

? A spotted bush snake digesting a frog. uMkhuze Game Reserve, South Africa © Arnaud Legrand

? A browsing gerenuk. Selenkay Conservancy, Kenya © Boone Thompson

? Mating pair of lions. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Boone Thomson

? Yellow-billed oxpecker and buffalo. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Boone Thomson

? Zebras backtrack after spotting a lion on the other side of the river during a crossing with wildebeest. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Boone Thomson

? Elderly Mursi tribeswoman. Omo Valley, Ethiopia © Bruce Miller

? Silhouetted Cape darter. Chobe River, Botswana © Cheryl Cranfield

? Bark mantid. Harare, Zimbabwe © Chris Sheppard

? Giraffe drinking at sunset. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Darren Donovan

? A pale chanting goshawk plucking its francolin meal. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Darren Donovan

? Black-backed jackal feeding on an elephant carcass. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Darren Donovan

? An agitated white rhino bull. South Africa © Darren Donovan

? A water monitor resting on a tree. Chobe River, Botswana © Erwin van Liempd

? A little bee-eater tossing an insect into the air. Maputo, Mozambique © Eurico Dzivane

? A white-winged widowbird male displaying to a female. Maputo, Mozambique © Eurico Dzivane

? A gelada baboon (also known as a bleeding-heart monkey) yawning. Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia © Franciscus Scheelings

? An African black oystercatcher in flight. Eersterivier Beach, Eastern Cape, South Africa © Gerbus Vermaak

? A tiny leopard cub goes exploring. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana © Michael Heyns

? A tidal pool rich in life and colour. Bloubergstrand, Western Cape, South Africa © Peet J. van Eeden

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 9 – Gallery 2

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 competition, with a stunning safari prize provided by Djuma Private Game Reserve, is now in full swing and open for submissions!
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 1

? Scarface, one of the legendary lions of Africa. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Karen van der Kolk

? A southern red-billed hornbill with its bat meal. Manyeleti Game Reserve, South Africa © Katja Voth

? A female mountain gorilla with its infant. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda © Kevin Dooley

? An impressive male lion surveys the area. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Kevin Dooley

? A Knysna turaco coming in to land. Kenton on Sea, Eastern Cape, South Africa © Mike Pearson

? A view from the top of the Drakensberg Amphitheatre. Royal Natal National Park, South Africa © Raymond Graves

? A baboon spider strikes a pose. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Ryno Jones

? Male hippos fight for territory. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia © Sandy Hickey

? Black-backed jackal pups at the entrance to their burrow. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Sonja Metzger

? An African rock python takes a large, impressive yawn before disappearing into the grass. Amboseli National Park, Kenya © Tim Nicklin

? The famous coalition of five cheetahs, known as the Five Musketeers or Fast Five, take a stroll through the plains. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Xavier Ortega

? A crash of white rhino gathers for a drink around a waterhole, along with a black-backed jackal. South Africa © Zac Dykstra

? A southern carmine bee-eater. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Dave Richards

? A waterbuck at first light. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Erwin van Liempd

? A red-knobbed coot collects building materials for its nest. Springs, South Africa © Gerbus Vermaak

? Himba dancing beneath the Milky Way. Epupa, Kunene Region, Namibia © Ben McRae

? A spotted hyena catches an eland calf. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana © Hilda Le Roux

? Male lion takes down a buffalo cow. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? A warthog and red-billed oxpecker. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? A lion and the rising sun. Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya © Jane Gross

? Crocodile reflection. Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania © Josef Friedhuber

? A hippo, fish and a crocodile. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karen van der Kolk

Humans not always to blame for genetic diversity loss in wildlife

ZSL-led study shows genetic differences in African lions likely caused by ecological rather than human factors.

DECODING SCIENCE by Zoological Society of London

Conservationists should be wary of assuming that genetic diversity loss in wildlife is always caused by humans, as new research published today by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) reveals that, in the case of a population of southern African lions (Panthera leo), it’s likely caused by ecological rather than human factors.

Published in Animal Conservation today (28 January 2020) the study saw researchers from ZSL’s Institute of Zoology and Imperial College London analyse the genetic diversity of 149 African lions in the KAZA (Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area) in northern Botswana between 2010 to 2013.

While human impacts are the leading cause of genetic diversity loss in many cases, scientists studying the lions found that diversity loss across the population was instead caused by the lions’ need to adapt to differing habitats.

They identified two genetically different populations of lions in the region, each adapted to living in a distinct habitat type; the so-called ‘wetland lions’ residing in the wetland habitat in the Okavango Delta and a ‘dryland lions’ group living in the semi-arid habitat of the Kalahari Desert.

If a separate population is created but cut off from its original source group due to ecological or human barriers, over time there will be less gene flow from lack of breeding between the populations. While a larger more connected population would generally have greater genetic diversity, small amounts of movement between them can maintain diversity while preserving adaptations that allow them to thrive in two different environments. Though not different enough to be classified as separate sub-species and still having slight genetic movement between the populations, it suggests a phenomenon called phenotypic plasticity – animals adapting in various ways to suit the environment they’re in.

Ensuring wildlife conservation managers understand how a population becomes genetically fragmented is important in order that decisions regarding protection are well-informed and consider animals’ true needs.

Dr Simon Dures, lead author and ZSL Researcher explained: “The findings have important applications for wildlife managers across Africa. It means translocations of animals, post human-wildlife conflict for example, need to be carefully considered with regards to their genetic predisposition to their new environment.

Map fo KAZA and lion populations © simondures.com ZSL

“The distinct ‘wetland lion’ populations living in the Okavango are incredibly well adapted to their environment. They’re strong swimmers and seem to thrive in water chasing buffalo down for a kill – which is the opposite for other lions in Africa, which would not typically hunt in water. Moving these animals into a semi-arid environment could be detrimental to their survival.

“Animals need to be able to move freely in order to maintain a level of genetic diversity that builds resilience to changes in their environment caused by climate change, and we think this ecologically-induced separation of the lions pre-dates western Europeans colonisation of southern Africa, so has likely been developing for a long time; way before people came with their fences and hunting.

“Although we didn’t find humans to be the driving force here – it doesn’t mean to say they aren’t having any effect. Impacts such as persecution or increased development could lead to exacerbating inbreeding and threatening the future of these specially adapted lions.”

Full Report: S. G. Dures, C. Carbone. V. Savolainen, G. Maude, D. Gotelli, Ecology rather than people restrict gene flow in Okavango-Kalahari lions. 2019. Animal Conservation

To find out more about ZSL’s Institute of Zoology research, see www.zsl.org/science

Understanding Malaria

Malaria is a parasitic disease that attacks red blood cells and is usually spread by the female Anopheles mosquito. Although the implications of being infected with malaria can be severe, the likelihood of tourists in Africa being infected is extremely low if good advice from travel experts is followed, and simple precautions are taken.

Introduction

Malaria is a mosquito-transmitted infectious disease caused by parasites belonging to the Plasmodium genus. The female Anopheles mosquito transmits these single-celled organisms into the human bloodstream where they begin their full life and reproductive cycle, first in the liver and later in the red blood cells. ‘Uncomplicated’ malaria symptoms include high fever, headaches, body aches, nausea and diarrhoea (though not always), and a feeling of extreme fatigue, but ‘severe’ or ‘complicated’ cases can result in coma, seizures and death.

P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae are the most common species of Plasmodium mosquitos that cause malaria in humans, and medical professionals must confirm which species has been responsible for the infection. Typically, P. falciparum and P. vivax are considered to be more dangerous, but all malarial infections should be treated as a medical emergency. While many people consider cerebral malaria to be a different type of malaria, it is typically caused by a severe infection of P. falciparum that has gone untreated for an extended period.

Which African countries are high risk?

Malaria is present in the majority of African countries, but its geographic distribution is complicated by several different factors, meaning that malaria-free and malaria-risk areas can occur in close proximity and risk levels can be seasonal. The highest risk areas tend to be around the equator, as warm and humid temperatures in high rainfall areas favour transmission. As per the CDC, malaria transmission does not occur at very high altitudes, in deserts away from oases and in areas where eradication programs have successfully eliminated the risk. In temperatures below 20˚C, the parasite cannot complete the necessary growth cycle in the mosquito before transmission.

Every year, the Malaria Atlas Project works in conjunction with the World Health Organization to produce the World Malaria Report with the necessary, updated information about the distribution of malaria and where outbreaks could be anticipated. An up-to-date and interactive map can be found here.

Avoid being bitten

It’s impossible to avoid every single mosquito bite, no matter how diligent you are, but there are a few tips to avoid being bitten wherever possible:

travel during low-risk seasons – the dry and cool months;
use insect repellent;
cover legs and arms with long-sleeved shirts and trousers, particularly at night;
sleep under a mosquito net in an air-conditioned or well-screened room and, if possible, sleep with a fan on;
avoid standing water that may breed mosquitoes.

Preventative Prophylactics

Due to the complexity of the malarial plasmid life cycle, there is no widely available or effective vaccine available against malaria, though there are vaccines at differing stages of clinical development and trial.

There are several prophylaxis medications available, and many different factors should be considered in choosing an appropriate one. Most important is to follow the advice of a doctor, who should be up to date on personal medical history, as well as which medications are more effective for different strains of malaria. All of these medications are to be commenced before the date of travel to a malaria area and continued after the traveller has returned.

Some of the more common options include:

Atovaquone-profuanil (Malarone) – must be taken daily at the same time of day;
Doxycycline – taken daily at the same time of day;
Mefloquine – taken once a week on the same day of the week;
Chloroquine phosphate or hydroxychloroquine sulfate (Plaquenil) – taken once a week on the same day of the week but effective only in certain areas.

As with any medications, these medications all have their potential side effects that should always be discussed with a doctor beforehand, including nausea, insomnia and photosensitivity (when taking doxycycline). Most side effects are infrequent and generally do not necessitate discontinuing the drug.

Pregnant women and parents of young children need to be particularly cautious if travelling to a malaria area and it essential to combine both the prophylaxis (some options are safe in both pregnancy and for infants) with active preventative measures.

Treatment

With malaria, early detection is critical. The disease typically presents with symptoms between one to three weeks after exposure, but in extremely rare cases, prophylaxis drugs have delayed symptoms for a few months. It is essential for anyone who has travelled to a malaria area to seek medical advice immediately if they display any malaria symptoms and fully explain their travel history. While home tests are available, it is essential to note that due to the complexity of the malaria life cycle, these tests can yield false-negative results. Even if a home test shows a positive result, it is still necessary to seek medical attention so that the species of malaria and seriousness of infection can be confirmed via a blood test-particularly since certain strains of drug-resistant malaria require specific treatment. It is also critical to complete the course of medication prescribed to avoid the risk of reinfection, regardless of whether or not symptoms are still present.

Akagera NP (Rwanda) tourism revenue up 25%

The success story of Akagera National Park continues as this year, Rwanda’s only Big 5 reserve reported a 25% growth in revenue for 2019 – $2.5 million. A successful partnership with the non-profit conservation organisation African Parks, secured in 2010, has seen the number of visitors to the park grow each successive year. 2019 saw 49, 000 visitors to Akagera and, as in previous years, 48% of these visitors were Rwandan citizens.

As with any National Reserve, any growth in revenue is significant and Akagera Park management report that the revenue received accounts for 90% of their annual visitors. $525,000 of the 2019 revenue was directed back into the local communities, either through staff salaries or through local purchases.

It is not just visitor numbers that have increased over the years – monitoring programs and aerial counts have shown that animal numbers are on the rise as well, with overall numbers rising from 12,000 in 2017 to 13,500 in 2019. Seven lions were reintroduced to the park in 2015, having been relocated from South Africa and eighteen black rhinos were moved from South Africa to Akagera in 2017. Four months after the relocation of the rhino, the birth of first rhino calf in the wild in over a decade was recorded, and the arrival of the rhino completed Akagera’s “Big 5 status”. A further five rhino arrived from a zoo in the Czech Republic in 2019, increasing tourist interest in the park.

Sarah Hall, who is the Tourism and Marketing Manager at Akagera National Park, told Rwanda’s The New Times that increased revenue meant several improvements including a tar road from Kabarondo to make access to the reserve easier for the guests. She also noted that the reserve had seen an increase in visitors from Francophone countries.

For a relatively small country with a complicated history, the success of Akagera National Park under the management of African Parks is a triumph of conservation efforts and, as the wildlife benefits, so will the local communities.

Lions have been re-introduced to Akagera © Jytte Fredholm Ferreira

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 8 – Gallery 1

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 competition is now in full swing and open for submissions!
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 2, Gallery 3

One of the male lions that forms part of a coalition that dominates the Ngwehla area. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe © Riaan Olivier

? This male lion is a member of a coalition that dominates the Ngwehla area. Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe © Riaan Olivier

A gathering of elephants. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Kevin Dooley

? A gathering of elephants in. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Kevin Dooley

? Serra da Leba mountain pass near Lubango, Angola © Evan Naude

? Black mamba catching the morning glow of the sun before setting off on her morning hunt. Maun, Botswana © Mark Flatt

? Southern ground-hornbill with a caterpillar. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Robert Holmwood

An impala attempts to jump away from a painted wolf (African wild dog). Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana © Fabio Vegetti

? An impala leaps high to escape a painted wolf (African wild dog). Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana © Fabio Vegetti

? “There is danger in the mud”. A crocodile opens its eyes while resting in a muddy pool. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? Leopard brothers playing on the rocks. Samburu National Reserve, Kenya © Trish Hennessy

? On the crater’s rim. Mount Nyiragongo, DR Congo © Susana Silvestre

? Up close of a leopard’s paw and claws while it holds down an impala. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana © Zaheer Ali

? Two elephants crossing paths create an intriguing visual effect. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Jeff Harrisberg

? A purple heron with a gecko. Lake Panic, Kruger National Park, South Africa © Leon Heyes

Detailed shot of a zebra's nose and mouth. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Dominique Maree

? Detailed shot of a zebra’s muzzle. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Dominique Maree

? Lions fight over an impala carcass. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Francis Bompard

? Backlit shot of a spotted hyena as it moves in to feed on a zebra carcass. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Rupert Bridgman

? Elephants heading towards the water. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Sophie Brown

Battersby green snake coming down a palm tree in Karura Forest. Nairobi, Kenya © Tim Nicklin

? Battersby’s green snake (Philothamnus battersbyi) descending a palm tree in Karura Forest. Nairobi, Kenya © Tim Nicklin

? Spotted hyena cub emerges from a den into the golden light. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Willem Kruger

? Maasai man gathering wood in a desolate landscape, near Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Alice van Kempen

? A scenic flight above the ‘Eye of Sahara’. Chinguetti, Mauritania © Miguel Bruno

Baby elephant resting between its mother's feet. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? Baby elephant resting between his mother’s feet. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? Exploring the dunes in Sossusvlei. Namib Desert, Namibia © Chanèl Rossouw

? The magical spectacle of light and colour at sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs. Madagascar © Kim Paffen

? Cheetah brothers look out into the valley. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Yarin Klein

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 8 – Gallery 2

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 competition, with a stunning safari prize provided by Djuma Private Game Reserve, is now in full swing and open for submissions!
There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Gallery 1, Gallery 3

? A spotted hyena attempts to get her cub into the den. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Anna-Carina Nagel

? A purple-crested turaco in flight. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Dave Pusey

? An endless sea of wildebeest during the Great Migration. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Ross Cooper

? White-backed vulture. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Tanya Nadauld

A very young elephant calf attempt to suckle from its mother. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? A very young elephant calf suckling from his mother. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? Lioness and cub feeding. Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana © Eben van Heerden

A yellow-billed hornbill displays a perfect reflection at a waterhole. Indlovu River Lodge Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A yellow-billed hornbill displays a perfect reflection at a waterhole. Indlovu River Lodge Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? Buffaloes in the dust at sunset. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Willem Kruger

? Cheetah feasting on a wildebeest kill. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania© Matrishva Vyas

? Dark silhouettes of dead trees against the light of sunset in Deadvlei, Namibia © Linda Klipp

? Up close with a southern ground-hornbill. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Kyle Lewin

? Boomslang (tree snake) makes a surprise visit to a garden at a holiday resort on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa © Leon Heyes.

A spotted hyena cub looking after its sibling. Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa © Tina Antrobus

? A spotted hyena cub looking after its younger sibling. Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa © Tina Antrobus

? Wildebeest giving birth. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? Baglafecht weavers use colourful string from fisherman to build their nests. Lake Naivasha, Kenya © Deborah Hill

? Close-up of a green tree frog. Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo © Liam Charlton

A young baboon quenches his thirst at a waterhole. Indlovu River Lodge Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A young baboon quenches his thirst at a waterhole. Indlovu River Lodge Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

Male and female Standing's day gecko on a baobab tree. Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park, Madagascar © Kim Paffen

? Standing’s day geckos on a baobab tree. Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park, Madagascar © Kim Paffen

? A spotted hyena feeds on a buffalo. The buffalo was killed by lions, which where chased away by the hyenas. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

? African rock python. Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa © Ryno Jones

A leopard observes guests on game-viewing vehicle a few metres away from him. Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Zaheer Ali

? A leopard observes guests on a game-viewing vehicle a few metres away from him. Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Zaheer Ali

? Lion cub resting in the late afternoon sun. Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa © Katja Voth

A juvenile pale chanting goshawk takes off with elephant dung, and attempts to extract worms from it. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A juvenile pale chanting goshawk takes off with elephant dung, which it was searching for worms. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? African hummingbird hawk-moth drinking nectar from a flower. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Morne Grobler

? Elephant taking a swim. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana © Kevin Dooley

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 8 – Gallery 3

? An elephant family herd at a waterhole. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana © Kevin Dooley

A nomad in the Chinguitti Desert, Mauritania © Miguel Bruno

? A nomad and his camels in the Chinguitti Desert, Mauritania © Miguel Bruno

? Bickering helmeted guineafowl. Karongwe Private Nature Reserve, South Africa, South Africa © Willem Kruger

? A male leopard rests after hoisting his impala kill into a tree. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Tiffany Franks

A European bee-eater attempts to catch a moth for his meal. Cape Town, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A European bee-eater flips his moth meal before swallowing it. Cape Town, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? Eye-to-eye with a scrub hare. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? Monitor lizard looking out of the mud. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

A leopard focuses on a baby vervet monkey after it was accidentaly left behind by the mother after the troop escaped the big cat. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Thomas Retterath

? A leopard focuses on a baby vervet monkey left behind by the mother when the troop fled from the big cat. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Thomas Retterath

? A spotted bush snake. Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Rod Watson

? White-headed buffalo weaver lies in a defensive pose after a scuffle amongst the flock. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Matrishva Vyas

? A cheetah and one of her seven cubs walking through the rain. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Yarin Klein

? A mating pair of lions. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Manuel Nägele

? Springbok herd with zebra in the background. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Kevin Dooley

? Great white pelican preening. Walvis Bay, Namibia © Anthony Roberts

? A mother baboon drinks from the muddy water at Long Pool. The head of the baby looks like it is in the mud, but actually, there is a hollow of dried mud behind the water. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Jens Cullmann

A spotted hyena walks through the plain after the first rains. Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia © Daniela Anger

? A spotted hyena walks across the plain after the first rains. Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia © Daniela Anger

? Bull elephants in musth fight for dominance. This tussle lasted for over an hour. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © Alison Mees

One of the four cheetah cubs rests after feeding on a large male impala that their mother killed. Mashatu Game Reserve. Botswana © Deborah Jordan

? One of the four cheetah cubs rests after feeding on a large male impala that their mother had killed. Mashatu Game Reserve. Botswana © Deborah Jordan

? A muddy buffalo in the dying light of the day. Savuti, Botswana © Erwin van Liempd

? Cape cobra (Naja nivea). Montagu, Western Cape, South Africa © Tyrone Ping

An elephant calf attempt to give itself a dust bath. Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana © Didier Couvert

? An elephant calf dust-bathing. Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana © Didier Couvert

A Malagasy giant chameleon crossing the street on a road along the Bay of Diego-Suarez in Madagascar © Kim Paffen

? A Malagasy giant chameleon crossing the road near the Bay of Diego-Suarez in Madagascar © Kim Paffen

? A leopard cub under the watchful eye of its mother. Londolozi Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa © Willem Kruger

A tiger snake. Lephalale, South Africa © Ryno Jones

? A tiger snake. Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa © Ryno Jones

Wildebeest migration routes under threat – researchers

DECODING SCIENCE POST by AG Editorial

Researchers have conducted a lengthy pre-published study indicating that the lesser-known wildebeest migration patterns throughout East Africa are facing grave peril. The scientists point to population growth resulting in: range restriction, degradation and loss of habitats, agriculture, poaching and artificial barriers such as roads and fences. They highlight the necessity of urgent conservation measures and commitment from the governments of both Kenya and Tanzania.

The study examined migrations in 5 different ecosystems. 1 = Serengeti Ecosystem, 2 = Maasai Mara Ecosystem, 3 = Narok County, 4 = Athi-Kaputiei Ecosystem, 5 = Machakos County, 6 = Greater Amboseli Ecosystem, 7 = West Kajiado and 8 = Tarangire – Manyara Ecosystem © F. Msoffe et al

Understanding migration

The yearly Great Migration of over a million white-bearded wildebeest and zebra through the Serengeti and Maasai Mara ecosystems is perhaps the most renowned large mammal migration and generates enormous tourism revenue. Importantly, the study notes that these populations are not under threat, and their movements are mostly unrestricted. However, poaching is still a challenge for conservation authorities. Though by far the largest, this is not the only wildebeest migration in East Africa. The scientists emphasise that conserving smaller populations and migrations is essential for several ecological and socio-economic reasons.

Protecting a migratory route involves complex analysis of the context in terms of the human populations of the land. Integral to this study was research into historical wildebeest migration patterns as well as their current status. Researchers attained historical information through literature reviews, colonial-era records, maps, GIS databases, records of GPS collared wildebeest and interviews with residents and researchers alike. For current movements and status information, 36 wildebeest across the study range were collared, and their movement tracked for two years. Wildebeest population estimates used external data compiled by aerial surveys and various governmental, development and wildlife organisations provided the data on the anthropogenic aspects of the analysis.

Population trends of migratory wildebeest populations: a) Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, b) Maasai Mara ecosystem, c) Narok County, d) Athi-Kaputiei ecosystem, e) Machakos County, f) Greater Amboseli ecosystem, g) West Kajiado and h) Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem © F. Msoffe et al

Disappearing wildebeest

This approach was made all the more complicated by the fact that irreversible changes to the migratory populations and routes that occurred as early as the beginning of the 20th century. With this in mind, scientists examined the Serengeti-Mara, Maasai-Mara, Athi-Kaputiei, Amboseli Basin and Tarangire-Manyara ecosystems and came to the following conclusions:

Serengeti-Mara – as discussed, though the migratory routes have changed slightly, the numbers have remained stable (currently around 1.3 million animals) because the migratory pathways occur mostly within protected areas. Referred to by researchers as ‘southern migration.’
Maasai-Mara – during the dry season (July-October) as the Serengeti wildebeest move north into the Maasai Mara, wildebeest from the Loita Plains descend to the conservancies surrounding the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Their numbers have declined 80.9%, from 123,930 wildebeest in 1977-78 to less than 20,000 in 2016. Referred to by researchers as ‘northern migration’.
Athi-Kaputiei ecosystem – includes Nairobi National Park, Athi Plains and surrounding areas. This population has declined 95% from over 26,800 in 1977-78 to under 3,000 in 2014, leading to a “virtual collapse of the migration”. It is important to note here that researchers believe that many of these wildebeest have moved, rather than died in such enormous numbers.
Amboseli Basin – includes Amboseli National Park and surrounding pastoral lands in Kajiado County. The population of the Amboseli ecosystem declined 84.5% from 16,290 in 1977-78 to 2,375 by 2014.
Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem – incorporates both national parks and private conservancies in Tanzania. The population declined from 48,783 in 1990 to 13,603 in 2016 and shows no signs of recovery.

As can be seen from the above, four out of the five studied migrations are at the point of disappearing completely, particularly the Athi-Kaputiei population. As wildebeest numbers have dropped, the human populations have soared: a 673% increase in Narok County (including Loita Plains), 905% in Kajiado County (Incorporating the Amboseli Basin), and a 247% increase in Machakos Country – all from 1962 to 2009. Increased human numbers means increased agriculture, increased sedentarisation and settlement of formerly semi-nomadic populations, and more fences and roads that occlude grazing resources and routes. In Kenya, the increase of private land ownership has changed the game, and in Tanzania the Game Controlled Areas have been cultivated.

The study expressed frustration at what the researchers describe as “incoherent government development policies that promote incompatible land uses, such as promoting cultivation pastoral rangelands occupied by wildlife to combat food insecurity while also promoting wildlife-based tourism in the same areas”. In Kenya, landowners do not have access or user rights over the wild animals on their land and are often offered no compensation for the cost of supporting wildlife. While there are several changes in policy and legal framework, none of these has been adequately implemented.

Hope going forward

The study acknowledges the existing governmental and conservation efforts in both Kenya and Tanzania that have gone some way towards mitigating the effects of expansive population growth, particularly in the development of policies on corridors, dispersal areas and buffer zones to create habitat connectivity. The researchers highlight the system of conservancies within Kenya – private landowners (either individually or as an amalgamation) rent out large sections of land to tourism operators for game viewing. In Kenya, around 65% of wildlife occurs outside of protected areas, so the rapid growth in popularity of conservancies is a positive development. They do, however, require a sustainable tourism potential. In Tanzania, the creation of the Tanzania Wildlife Authority as well as the reorganisation of the entire wildlife sector into paramilitary-style organisations to intensify the fight against run-away poaching, have both been positive steps. However, these efforts need to be enhanced by economic incentives to communities.

“The Kenyan and Tanzanian governments need to strongly promote and lead the conservation of the remaining key wildebeest habitats, migration corridors and populations and more conservancies or management areas should be established to protect migratory routes or corridors, buffer zones, dispersal areas and calving grounds for the species.” The plight of the white-bearded wildebeest is one that represents a far more significant challenge facing the wildlife of Africa.

Full report: Wildebeest migration in East Africa: Status, threats and conservation measures
Fortunata Msoffe, Joseph Ogutu, Mohammed Said, Shem Kifugo, Jan de Leeuw, Paul Van Gardigen, Robin Reid, JA Staback, Randall Boone – hosted by bioRxiv

Who is who? Elephant identification tips and tricks

DECODING SCIENCE written by Dr Julie Kern from Elephants Alive

How many large-tusked bulls remain in the APNR? How socially connected are different population members? How successful are human-elephant conflict mitigation methods? These questions are all examples of key research objectives for Elephants Alive. If at first glance you think these questions have little in common, look again, and you’ll see they all rely on a key piece of information – who’s who.

Identifying elephant bulls falls under the umbrella of the ID Study and is Elephants Alive’s longest-running project, having begun in 1996. Since then, the team have identified almost 1,500 individual bulls. Identifying elephants requires excellent observation skills and the team pay special attention to any noticeable physical features which differ between individuals, from tusk configuration and body appearance to characteristic ear patterns, such as notches, tears and holes. Using photographs collected at each sighting, identikits are drawn for each individual elephant and subsequently used to identify the individuals seen in the field. If you’re keen to hone your detective skills, read on for our selection of top elephant-identification tips and tricks to use at your next sighting.

State the obvious

Many individuals have startling body features which can make their identification quick and simple. Look out for collapsed or folded ears, missing tails or trunk tips, and the location of scars or lumps.

Also, take note of the tusks – any birdwatchers will be familiar with the acronym ‘GISS’ or ‘general impression of size and shape’, a rule which also holds true in this case. Are they short or long, thin or thick, straight, splayed or skew? Are both tusks present, and if not, is one broken at the base or missing altogether? When missing entirely, the tusk socket is conspicuously empty (below far right).

Elephants with various tusk shapes — © Elephants Alive

Play it by ear

Once you’ve checked the more obvious features, it’s time to take a closer look at an elephant’s ears. If there are any tears, notches or holes, pay attention to their location, size and shape. Unfortunately, many individuals have few notches and holes in their ears, especially younger elephants, which makes them much harder to identify. In this case, you can often find a clue to their identity by noting venation patterns on the ears.

Elephants with ear identification — © Elephants Alive

The signs they are a-changin’

Once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s worth remembering that much like ourselves, an elephant’s physical features are likely to change over time as tusks break, another tear appears, or holes pull through leaving a notch in their place. Take Kierie-Klapper (below), a young bull first seen in 2005 and resighted in most years since. In 2013 a new hole appeared in his lower left ear, and earlier this year, another notch was added to the top of his right ear.

Elephants with ear changes over the years — © Elephants Alive

Elephants Alive has recently published an Elephant ID Guide in conjunction with Amarula, featuring 30 of the most iconic individuals in the APNR. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy or if you have photographs from your own sightings that you’d like to add to our Citizen Sightings database, please forward them to info2u@elephantsalive.org.

Trophy hunting: rural communities respond

Africa’s rural communities live with wild animals and should have a greater say in how wildlife is managed © Simon Espley

OPINION POST by Ishmael Chaukura and others

Below is a Communities Response letter by Ishmael Chaukura of the Masoka Community in Zimbabwe, along with a number of concerned parties from 4 southern African countries. It was originally published in Science Magazine in response to an article calling for trophy hunting bans and also references Amy Dickman’s answer to that same article. According to the representative of the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe, it “is vital to ensure that discussions on conservation are informed by those who live with wildlife and that their livelihoods are protected, and rights upheld”:

trophy hunting — An elephant crosses the fence separating a northern Botswana national park and community land © Elephants for Africa

Dear Sir/Madam

A recent letter in Science by Dickman et al about trophy hunting unleashed passionate debate in the Western media. These discussions have involved over 400 conservationists, academics and animal rights advocates from the US, Europe and Australia, voicing strong, if divergent, opinions on effective conservation strategies.

Much of the discussion focuses on Africa, but with the notable exception of Dickman et al’s letter, key voices missing from the debate are those of rural people and governments who live with and manage African wildlife, and who will ultimately determine its future. As legitimate representatives of many thousands of people from key wildlife range states (Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia), we would like to correct this and have our perspective and voices heard.

Sustainably managing megafauna is complex, and successful conservation must start with we who live directly with wildlife. Whilst many in the West view elephants, lions and other wildlife through a romantic, idealized lens, our daily reality of living with these magnificent and valued, yet often dangerous, animals requires more pragmatism.

We, who live surrounded by this wildlife, worry daily that our children may be killed on their way to school, or that our livelihoods will be destroyed. In Botswana, 36 people were killed by elephants in 2018. In Zimbabwe, at least 30 people were trampled by elephants in 2019. Every death is a tragedy, and often involves family breadwinners. Recently, two Zimbabwean siblings disappeared from their home. Only the dismembered head of the two year old was recovered from the suspected hyena attack, and the four year old has never been found. The harsh reality is that if wildlife is just a threat to us, and our incentives to conserve it are removed, its future will be as bleak as that of the wolves, bears and other carnivores of Europe and the US.

For centuries our people have lived with wildlife, and its value is deeply ingrained in our cultures. During colonial times our rights to manage and benefit from these resources were removed. This led to dramatic loss of wildlife and its habitat – a disaster for conservation, our traditions and our livelihoods. Following independence, our governments restored our rights and integrated wildlife into rural economies. This enabled the development of socio-economic incentives to live with and sustainably manage our wildlife. Whilst it varies nationally, up to 90% of these economic incentives are provided through sustainable, regulated hunting. This has led, in Southern African countries such as ours, to increasing wildlife populations and habitat, often even beyond formally protected areas, in stark contrast to most Western countries.

We acknowledge that banning wildlife trophy imports into foreign countries is within the right of those governments. We further recognize that regulated hunting may appear a counter-intuitive conservation strategy to many. Yet if your objective is conservation – not solely the recognition of individual animal rights – import bans are misguided and have important implications for our human rights. We are concerned that hundreds of millions of dollars have been gobbled up in misleading animal rights campaigns without any benefit for the custodians of African wildlife – African people. Banning trophy imports risks significantly reducing the value of our wildlife, reducing incentives to tolerate and manage wildlife as an integral component of our livelihoods. Imposing such disastrous policies on us negates our sound conservation record. Once again, wildlife numbers will plummet and our rights to sustainably manage our natural resources will again be undermined.

We recognize and respect the rights of Western conservation scientists and animal rights advocates to discuss how best to manage African wildlife. However, we request that your discussions are informed by our voices as custodians of this wildlife. Discussions should acknowledge both our conservation successes and our communities’ right to earn a livelihood through the culturally appropriate, sustainable management of our resources for the benefit of our people. Any less is to deny our human rights.

Yours sincerely,

Ishmael Chaukura

CAMPFIRE Inter-ward Chairperson – Mbire District, Zimbabwe

Full Letter: RE. Communities Response in Science Magazine. Ishmael Chaukura (CAMPFIRE Inter-ward Chairperson Mbire District, Zimbabwe), Gakemotho Satau, Kutlwano Russel, Tumeleng Mogodu, S.K. Moepedi, Kerapetse Bantu Peter, Amos Ben Mabuku, Hilda N. Nathinge, Max Mayemburuko, Theo Naruseb, Brisetha Hendricks, Stein Katupa, Zaack Dirkse, Geoffrey Tukuhuphwele, Never Ncube, Delani Mabhena, Phillip Mpofu, Zoolakes Nyathi, Morning Manguba, Isaac Msebele, Land Ndebele, Innocent Mavunela, Patson Simango, Kumbula Jimmy, Naison Ndhlovu, K. Njanjeni, Nyalani Mgaduwi, Chief Shana, Sinikiwe Nyathi, Jabulani Ndubiwa, Promotion Dzomba, Sarudzai Goredema, Osca Marowa, Public Museruka, Ishmael Jack , Julius Chokubooka, Justin Mawachi, Cossam Chikondoma, Godfrey Ndlovu, Chief Tategulu, Chief Matupula, Chief Siphoso, Dr Rodgers Lubilo

Your Greater Kruger safari

The Kruger National Park has attained international renown, but the terms ‘Kruger National Park’ (KNP) and ‘Greater Kruger’ are often used interchangeably, despite their differences. The distinction between the two is important, to understand both the tourist experience and how this conservation model has impacted the wildlife of the area.

Find out about Greater Kruger or Kruger National Park for your next African safari. We have ready-made safaris to choose from, or ask us to build one just for you.

The ‘Greater Kruger’ refers to protected land to the west of Kruger National Park that provides a more substantial area for wildlife to roam freely. Private and local community property owners own this additional land, and most is utilised for commercial purposes.

There are no longer fences between these properties and KNP, providing the animals with an opportunity to roam, thereby reducing pressure on vegetation and bringing back historical local seasonal wildlife movements. Historically most seasonal migration was in an east-west direction, from the coastal areas of Mozambique to the slopes of the Drakensberg mountains, to take advantage of seasonal food and water. Fences and human pressure now prohibit that movement, and the north-south shape of KNP is not optimal for seasonal migrations.

Greater Kruger game drive — Leopard encounter during a game drive in Klaserie, Greater Kruger © Simon Espley

Luxury safaris
The Greater Kruger is utilised primarily for photographic tourism and is home to some of South Africa’s best-known luxury Big 5 lodges. Relatively high prices and strict access control results in low visitor numbers compared to the neighbouring KNP, and off-road driving (by experienced guides), night drives and bush walks guarantee fantastic wildlife encounters.

Wildlife industry
South Africa’s conservation strategy incorporates other wildlife industries such as hunting; a strategy that has resulted in large areas outside of national parks falling under some form of protection against livestock and crop farming and other forms of development not tolerant of wildlife. A small portion of the hundreds of landowners making up the Greater Kruger permit trophy hunting on their (non-tourism) properties, to fund their significant and increasing anti-poaching and other conservation costs. The limited trophy hunting quotas are subject to approval by the KNP, and hunting protocol strictly enforced by the management of the constituent reserves. That said, immoral or illegal behaviour by members of the trophy hunting industry does occur. Trophy hunting in most constituent reserves within Greater Kruger is gradually being squeezed out by the resurgent photographic tourism industry, and no trophy hunting is permitted in the KNP itself.

Properties making up the Greater Kruger

Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, MalaMala & Sabi Sand Game Reserve
The 65,000 ha Sabi Sand Reserve shares a 50km unfenced boundary with the Kruger National Park. When the Kruger National Park was declared in 1926, the landowners of the original Sabi Game Reserve were excised and had to settle for land outside of the national park. In 1948, 14 of these conservation-minded landowners met at Mala Mala and decided to join forces and create the first-ever private nature reserve in South Africa. The eastern fence of the reserve, bordering the Kruger National Park, was removed in 1993, making the Sabi Sand Reserve part of the Greater Kruger. The land is used for photographic tourism and private leisure. For your ready-made African safari to Sabi Sand Game Reserve, click here.

The Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR)
The APNR is an association of privately owned reserves that removed fences bordering the Kruger National Park in 1993 after operating before that as livestock and hunting farms. The reserves (which in turn are made up of multiple smaller properties) included in the APNR are Timbavati Private Nature Reserve (53,396 ha), Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (60,080 ha), Umbabat Private Nature Reserve (18,000 ha), Balule Private Nature Reserve (55,000 ha) and Thornybush Game Reserve (14,000 ha). Land use varies from private leisure use to photographic tourism and trophy hunting on some properties.

Manyeleti Game Reserve
Founded in 1963, the 23,000 ha Manyeleti Game Reserve is sandwiched between the KNP, Sabi Sand and Timbavati, with no fences in-between. It also has an interesting and unique history. During the Apartheid years, it was the only reserve that welcomed people of colour, and after claiming back the land, the local Mnisi people now own and manage the reserve. Land use is exclusively for photographic tourism.

Letaba Ranch
The 42,000 ha Letaba Ranch Game Reserve, just north of the mining town of Phalaborwa, shares an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park. The reserve is owned by the local Mthimkhulu community and has historically been used mainly for trophy hunting. Future plans include hunting and eco-tourism, but current operations appear to be in a state of turmoil.

Makuya Nature Reserve
Makuya Nature Reserve is a 16,000 ha game reserve near the Pafuri gate in the far north of the Kruger, and also shares an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park. The reserve is owned by the Makuya, Mutele, and Mphaphuli communities and is used for both trophy hunting and limited photographic tourism purposes.

Greater Kruger walking safari — Walking safari in Balule, Greater Kruger @ Simon Espley

Despite ongoing challenges, the Greater Kruger is one of conservation’s greatest success stories and is the model underpinning KNP’s 10-year management plan. It is also the perfect safari destination for those looking for exclusive encounters with Africa’s Big 5.

Further reading: The History and Future of Kruger

Victoria Falls drying up? Fake news versus fact

Let’s address the recent international news-media claims that Victoria Falls is running dry

As the largest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls needs very little in the way of introduction. Even to the uninitiated, the name conjures images of breath-taking vistas, lush and verdant vegetation, thrill-seeking and, of course, water thundering down into gorges releasing spray that can on occasion be seen kilometres away. The falls are also officially known as Mosi-ao-Tunya or “The Smoke That Thunders” in the Lozi language of the area – a name that perfectly captures the almost mystical atmosphere of this World Heritage Site.

Upstream of the falls, the Zambezi River flows across an almost flat basalt plateau in a shallow valley before reaching the fracture in the plateau with a vertical drop into First Gorge, around 100 metres below. At this point, the Zambezi is 1,708m in width, creating the largest continuous falling curtain of water in the world. From there, the river narrows through a series of awe-inspiring gorges. Geographically, Zambia lies on the northern and eastern side of the falls which is topographically higher, with Zimbabwe to the south and west. Naturally, the amount of water flowing over the falls is seasonally dependent on the amount of rain that falls into the catchment upstream – typically, the rainy season begins around November/December and continues through until April when the rest of the year remains comparatively dry.

The seasonal changes in Victoria Falls water levels inevitably impact the tourism experience and perceptions. The Falls are usually at their most dramatic from late February to May, when the highest amount of water tumbles into the chams below and a curtain of spray hovers over the Falls. The flip side of this is that there is a chance that the Falls may be partially obscured by the rainbow-lit spray. After months of dry weather, the falls begin to reduce in size and reach their lowest levels towards the end of the year when bare rock faces are clearly visible, particularly on the Zambian side. This, too, presents different opportunities for visitors, allowing them unobscured views of the falls and the opportunity to go rafting.

Over the past few years, there has been a degree of social media speculation and even panic as the dry season reaches its peak and the river levels drop, particularly because the topographically higher Zambian side often slows to a minimum and occasionally stops flowing in places. However, at the end of 2019, this story was seized upon by international news media that ran with alarmist headlines suggesting that the Falls was completely dry – pictures that were taken from the drier parts of the Zambian side were used to emphasize the seeming urgency of the situation. The Zimbabwe side of the falls, still flowing and still spectacular, was largely ignored and most media outlets initially neglected to mention the seasonal fluctuations of the river.

The narrative that the falls were in danger of drying up completely and were at their lowest-ever levels was far from being supported by facts. The Zambian River Authority monitors the water levels each day and has records that go back decades. While the water levels did come close to the low levels seen in 1995/96, the improvement was already being seen as the story gained international traction-a fact that was largely ignored. At the time of writing, the water levels have been steadily increasing and are now higher than they were at the same time last year. Records going back further showed that some of the lowest-ever recorded levels were seen in the early 20th century – yet no reference was made to this fact. Nor was there mention of the water that is diverted away from the eastern cataract to supply the power station below the falls.

Scientists have not ignored the anthropogenic impact on the flow of the Zambezi – in a 2012 report published by International Rivers, Dr. Richard Beilfuss examines the numerous factors affecting the flow of this river system, including hydroelectric power, seasonal weather changes and the potential impact of climate change. While the cause for concern is clear, he also notes that “[t]he Zambezi River Basin has one of the most variable climates of any major river basin in the world, with an extreme range of conditions across the catchment and through time.” The graph below taken from his report shows the average yearly discharge at the falls. Note that there have been at least three other examples of extreme lows: 1914, 1948 and 1995, often followed by years of high flow rates.

In an area where tourism is not just a vital part of daily life but essential to the survival of the surrounding communities, it does not take a massive leap of intuition to imagine the potential effect of the fearmongering of international news media. Several tourism operators reported cancellations (our own travel team had to council safari clients that were concerned about the reports) and, while the ultimate effect on tourist statistics remains to be seen, the furious response of Victoria Falls locals is easy to understand. Many took to social media to showcase their photographs or videos taken in front of the flowing falls and the hashtag #VictoriaFallsIsNotDry became a vent for their growing frustration. In a furious response to one particular news outlet, a well-known member of the tourism community in Livingstone, Peter Jones, wrote “[f]or those of us living at the Victoria Falls, both in Zambia and Zimbabwe, we are picking up the pieces after your whirlwind visit to incorrectly inform the world the mighty Victoria Falls was in danger of drying up…We have all lost bookings and business in some way as a result of your misinformation [and] some people’s lives have taken a very definite turn for the worse.”

The impact of such reporting is deeply regrettable, not only in terms of the impact it will inevitably have on tourism revenue, but in the effect it has in polarising already divergent views. In ignoring or glossing over the facts, the message loses all credibility and fails its conservation agenda. Most importantly, the very real threat facing the people of certain parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe struggling to sustain themselves after an extended regional drought has been lost in the social media hysteria and subsequent backlash. The impact of dams and irrigation on some of Africa’s main river systems, as well as the socio-economic demand for electric power, has been ignored in favour of the more attention-grabbing “climate change” headings.

In an official statement in response to the reports on the state of Victoria Falls, the African Travel and Tourism Authority noted that “[w]hilst we are cognisant that Climate Change [sic] is a growing concern on a global level, and that it is potentially having an impact on countries throughout the world, what has been lacking in the media reports is an insight into the historic seasonal patterns and the resultant changes in water flow which are vital pieces of information to ensure a clear perspective is maintained”.

Victoria Falls white-water rafting © White Water Magazine

Breaking: copper mine in Lower Zambezi NP cancelled

04 March 2021 UPDATE: The Court of Appeals of Zambia has dismissed an appeal to stop the proposed large-scale open-pit mine in Lower Zambezi National Park, upholding the High Court’s decision to dismiss the case.

18 January 2020:

The planned open-cast Kangaluwi copper mine in Lower Zambezi National Park WILL NOT proceed, says a minister in the Zambian government, in a dramatic turnaround of a recent announcement that the controversial mining project would indeed go ahead – based on a legal technicality.

Now, it appears, another legal technicality has come to the fore to reverse that ruling, as Tourism and Arts Minister Ronald Chitotela announced the project wouldn’t go ahead because an environmental impact report that was submitted by the environmental regulator has expired. “If this mining firm wants to go ahead with its project, we can advise them to submit a fresh report which will have to be scrutinized and approved by the government,” he explained in an interview.

As a cautionary subnote to Mr. Chitotela’s confident announcement, there has not yet been any confirmation about the cancellation of the mining permit from the office of Zambia’s president, and Africa Geographic has been informed that at least three additional prospecting permits are being considered, for mining inside the national park.

Elephants crossing the Chongwe River – a tributary of the Zambezi that borders the Lower Zambezi National Park © Sharon Gilbert-Rivett

This mining project has a long history of questionable maneuvres and governmental decisions. The Kangaluwi copper mine project was initially owned by Bermuda-registered Mwembeshi Resources, which was in turn owned by Australian company Zambezi Resources (renamed Trek Metals) before being sold to Dubai-based Grand Resources Limited, a company of dubious substance, but thought to be a front for Chinese investors. It would appear that the Zambian Mines and Mineral Development Act of 2008 does not contain any substantial provisions relating to mining in protected areas and that foreign investors who face more robust legislation in their own countries are targetting this weakness.

Read this post for a thorough analysis of the situation, including the views from various stakeholders and affected parties.

Kingdom of the Black Pharaohs

When we mention Sudan, most people don’t react positively, either because they don’t know much about the country, or they recall negative news reports about it. Ten years ago, when we visited the “kingdom of the black pharaohs” for the first time, there were very few tourists. Nowadays, fortunately, some prejudices have disappeared, and more foreigners (khwadja) have started visiting this northeastern African country.
Though most tourists tend to stay close to Khartoum and stick to the main routes, to visit the impressive Nubian pyramids at Meroë and remnants of ancient temples. There is so much more to discover in the country of the black pharaohs, so many more archaeological sites that tell stories from ancient times.

? Sudan boasts many temples and ancient remnants – the most famous being the Nubian pyramids at Meroë © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

The ‘tourist boom’ started in about 2012 when several archaeological societies began working in various locations to uncover treasures of long-forgotten civilisations. Every year we returned to Sudan on expeditions that zigzagged across the barren countryside, and every year we discovered new and interesting places.

? Left) The prayer hall at Khatmiyah Mosque in Kassala; Right) The pyramids at Meroë were built by the rulers of the ancient Kushite kingdoms that are known as the ‘black pharaohs’ © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

? A nomad woman in Kassala, Sudan © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

ASK UNCLE GOOGLE

It was during one particular trip to Sudan that we found ourselves deep within the desolate Nubian Desert, on a quest to find an intriguing-looking rock with an even more interesting name: Jebel Magardi.
Our adventure started when we came across a large poster of this rock in the national museum in Khartoum. We questioned all of our Sudanese friends and their friends to help us find this mysterious Jebel Magardi in an area called Bir Nurayet – the massive rock no one had ever heard about. We ended up spending hours on Google Earth searching for the mysterious rock in the middle of the Nubian Desert and eventually pinpointed an approximate location close to the Egyptian border, deep in the desert.

? Clockwise from left: 1) Camping in the Nubian Desert; 2) Roughly 1 000 km of off-road driving was a fun experience; 3) Climbing to the top of the dunes provided some great landscape shots of the Nubian Desert; 4) Another beautiful desert camp, in the middle of nowhere and not a hint of civilisation. All images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

We created a waypoint and started looking into how to get there and decided to approach the desert from the Red Sea coast so that we could find a lonely beach to rest up before the strenuous journey. We picked out routes that went through wadis (dry riverbeds), as this seemed like the easiest way through the Red Sea mountain range. In the comfort of our home, it only took us a few hours to find a route on the computer, but of course, the reality was somewhat different.

? Clockwise from top left: 1) A temple with lion statues at Musawarat – dedicated to Apedemak – a lion-headed warrior god; 2) Sudanese pyramids are smaller than their Egyptian cousins; 3) Statue of a ram. The ram is attributed to Amun, the god of the air; 4) The pyramids at Meroë are smaller than their Egyptian counterparts and were built between 2,700 and 2,300 years ago © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

MESSAGES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD

With our three off-road vehicles loaded up, we travelled from Khartoum to Port Sudan, and north towards the Egyptian border. In Mohammed Qol, they already knew who we were, because in the previous year we had been arrested at the police checkpoint. The officers had no idea what a tourist was and why we would want to explore Sudan and instead believed us to be CIA spies. Looking back, this misunderstanding was actually quite amusing…

Nubian desert, Sudan © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

? “We love the desert; one feels free there. For those who respect it, the desert is rewarding, but those who ignore its rules could face fatal consequences.” © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

About 50 km behind Mohammed Qol, we found a remote and quiet spot by the beach and made camp. There was no phone signal and, as we set off the next day, our careful planning was all we had to rely on to get us to our destination. Heading towards a towering mountain range in the distance, we followed a wadi of deep sand that wound its way into the mountains. What a mighty river this wadi must once have been!

We passed rocks of all different shapes and colours and now and then came across small villages along the route. Green acacias dotted along the wadi helped to break up the bleak-looking landscape of sand and rocks.
There were times when we were faced with a fork in the road, and I had to double-check the GPS and radio René (who was driving the lead vehicle) to discuss which route to take. Sometimes we took the wrong turn, ending up in a dead-end, and had to backtrack. On other occasions, we got hopelessly stuck in the deep hot sand, and the whole team had to dig and push – back-breaking work.

? Left) Beja tribesman with his camel; Right) Reaching an oasis in the desert. Both images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

SUDAN’S GOLDEN VEINS

Travelling over the golden sands of the Nubian Desert, we felt like explorers of decades long past. Sometimes we met people along the way – mostly nomadic Beja – and the way they looked at us made us think that we must have looked like aliens to them.

Often we would take a break to take photos or because our Sudanese drivers had to pray. And it is was then that the emptiness of the landscape hit home. We would stand in awe, listening to the quiet around us. We could hear the wind blowing through the wadi and felt it on our skin, the sands slightly shifting below our feet. The ‘nothingness’ was broken only by the odd acacia tree, small village or occasional goat or camel.
We were seven hours into our adventure and had only covered a mere 150 km. On Google Earth, it didn’t look that far, but then we were spending quite a bit of our time stopping for photos because there was something worth photographing around almost every corner.

? The people of the desert, clockwise from top left: 1) A cotton picker; 2) A nomad with facial scarring; 3) A nomad tends to his donkeys; 4) In areas not conducive to farming, people (many of them nomads) support themselves by raising cattle, sheep, goats, or camels; 5) “The locals welcomed us with a smile”. All images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

Finally, we reached Wadi Oko, the biggest wadi in the area. There was more traffic here, and a gold diggers town! Our Sudanese drivers were not too happy about it, but the locals welcomed us with a smile and even pulled out their smartphones to take selfies with us.
It was scorching, so we stopped for lunch and of course jebenah – a fantastic Sudanese coffee prepared in a specially-designed flask.

Drawing water from a well in Sudan© Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

? Drawing water from a well at a gold mine © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

There are many more of these gold digger towns in the Nubian Desert and the Red Sea Hills. This is no huge surprise, considering that Nubia was the primary source of gold for ancient Egyptians. Descriptions of the precious metal appeared in hieroglyphs as early as 2600 B.C., and by 1500 B.C. gold had become the recognised medium of exchange for international trade. Pharaohs sent expeditions to Nubia to mine the quartz lodes for gold, which Egyptian goldsmiths transformed into vessels, furniture, funerary equipment and sophisticated jewellery. Even the name Nubia is considered by some to be a derivative of the Egyptian word for ‘gold’.

? Clockwise from top left: 1) Jebenah, Sudanese coffee, being prepared; 2) Freshly roasted coffee; 3) An ancient gravesite along the way to Bir Nurayet; 4) A qubba is an Arabic term for tomb structures, particularly Islamic domed shrines. These tombs were dotted along the way en route to Bir Nurayet. All images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

LOST IN THE DESERT

Moving on from the gold-digging towns we found ourselves off-roading for about two hours when suddenly a green valley opened up before us, and as the sun started to dip below the horizon the golden light illuminated a majestic rock rising out of the valley ahead of us – Jebel Magardi! From afar, the rock looked like the head of a moray eel coming out of the ground, but in an archaeological context, Jebel Magardi represents a phallus symbol, an ancient sign of fertility. In its shadow, we found an area that the locals call Bir Nurayet to make camp.
It was quite late by the time we had set up camp. We sat around the crackling campfire and celebrated – not only because we had found Jebel Magardi, but also because it was René’s birthday. What better celebration could one wish for than sitting deep in the desert with absolutely no civilisation around us? It was just us and the desert that night.

? Left) Jebel Magardi and the contrasting cracked earth of the Nubian desert; Right) Camping at Bir Nurayet. Both images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

The Sahara is a seemingly barren sea of hot sand, and yet a mere 13,000 years ago it was a thriving, lush landscape teeming with life. Wildlife such as giraffe, various antelope, elephant, ostrich and (later on) cattle once roamed this area, along with human hunter-gatherers. It is hard to believe what the desert once was, but thankfully there is evidence left behind by the ancient inhabitants, in the form of petroglyphs (rock paintings) of their life and the wildlife they encountered.
These petroglyphs are found in one of the biggest rock art galleries in the world. Discovered in 1999 by the Polish archaeologist Pluskot and his Dutch writer and photographer Baaijens during their camel caravan expedition, these petroglyphs depict scenes such as ancient hunts and cattle herding practices – lively proof of how the locals lived thousands of years ago.

Jebel Magardi, a huge monolith, rises out of the desert and towers above Bir Nurayet in Sudan © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

? Jebel Magardi, a massive monolith, rises out of the desert and towers above Bir Nurayet © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

At sunrise, we used the golden hour to walk around Jebel Magardi, looking for these petroglyphs. The rock looked even more majestic when we stood at its base, and we wondered what it would tell us if only it could speak. In times of the old caravans and bushmen, Jebel Magardi was used as an orientation point in the desert, easy to see from far away and with a wellpoint next to it.
But even after walking all around the rock we couldn’t find any petroglyphs. Just nothing. Where were the petroglyphs? Opposite the rock there was a dry riverbed and behind were a few rocks and cliffs, one of which looked like a camel head… and something told us we should go over to investigate.

SURROUNDED BY ELEPHANTS

We entered a little valley in between the rocks and on every rock face there were drawings of hundreds of cattle, all with very long horns, side by side with herds of camels and humans. We made our way past all these rocks paintings, utterly fascinated. In between these petroglyphs, we found a scene of an antelope hunt, then, a few metres further, elephants walking along, and even further down, we recognised a leopard.

? Pastoralists using petroglyphs of longhorn cattle to communicate the ancient tradition of raising cattle © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

One can see what animals lived in this area when humans settled here for the first time. Some petroglyphs were very simple; others were very intricately engraved – a good sign of the progress of human art.
The art of Bir Nurayet is attributed to the Neolithic period and mostly depicts a fertility cult. We explored, discussed and imagined the stories for each drawing we saw. In the national museum in Khartoum, one can see 63 little statues and clay pots found at Bir Nurayet.

? Various petroglyphs found at Bir Nurayet, clockwise from top left: 1) Longhorn cattle; 2) Evidence that elephants once roamed the area; 3) A depiction of what is suspected to be a lion; 4) René getting a closer look at the ancient petroglyphs. All images © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

We were fascinated and happy to have found a place deep in the desert, which only a handful of people know of and have visited. We had accomplished our mission to see Jebel Magardi and its petroglyphs! Our state of delight made the two-day return journey to Khartoum a breeze, as we left ‘our’ discovery of the ancient hidden riches of Sudan’s Nubian Desert behind.

Pertroglyphs at Bir Nurayet of longhorn cattle, Sudan © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

? The main subject matters of the various petroglyphs at Bir Nurayet are longhorn cattle, camels, wild animals, and shepherds, hunters and battle scenes © Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS, Andrea Kaucká and René Bauer

Andrea and René met in New Zealand in 2005. Since then they have worked and travelled in various places in Europe. Their biggest adventure was crossing Africa from north to south in their vehicle in 2008/2009. During this trip, they travelled through Sudan and knew that it wouldn’t be the last time. They return to Sudan every year to discover more places, especially in the Nubian Desert. They are both tour guides, conducting trips in Europe and Africa, and write regularly for magazines, as well as hold photo exhibitions and slideshow presentations.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 7 – Gallery 1

Thirsty elephants come to drink at a waterhole. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? Thirsty elephants arrive at a waterhole. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

A giraffe bull gets some additional calcium by chewing a bone. Sibuya Game Reserve, South Africa © Peter Reitze

? A giraffe bull gets some additional calcium by chewing on a bone. Sibuya Game Reserve, South Africa © Peter Reitze

? Behati, a silverback mountain gorilla, takes a break while feeding. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda © Tiffany Franks

? A yawning fossa. Kirindy Mitea National Park, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

? A giraffe close up. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Jason Clendenen

? An African darter catches a fish. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Cindee Beechwood

? View of the Drakensburg Amphitheatre. Royal Natal National Park, South Africa © Gavin Duffy

? Lesser bushbabies peek from a hole in a tree. Thornybush Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Michael Raddall

A young baboon takes a leap in a tree. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Subi Sridharan

? A young baboon makes a leap of faith. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Subi Sridharan

? A Madagascar scops owl. Kirindy Mitea National Park, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

? A dwarf beaked snake (Dipsina multimaculata). Northern Cape, South Africa © Tyrone Ping

? Tuareg people on their camels shortly before a race, taking place north of Timbuktu. Mali © Mario Gerth

? A grey crowned crane. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Diana Knight

? A female vervet monkey carries her infant safely tucked underneath her protective arms. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karen Blackwood

? Lion pride with five cubs resting on rocks. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Kaido Haagen

? An elephant and calf drink at a waterhole. Savuti, Botswana © Margie Botha

Secretary bird looking for food. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Eduardo del Alamo

? Secretary bird hunting for food. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Eduardo del Alamo

? Hyena at sunset. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Ivan Glaser

? Zebra herd up close. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Patrick Hozza

? Bateleur sunning itself. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Kate Morris

? Portrait of a painted wolf (African wild dog). Kruger National Park, South Africa © Licinia Machado

? A herd of zebras running through the savannah. Lake Natron, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Kirill Dorofeev

? Spotted hyena with wildebeest calf. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Kirill Dorofeev

? Cheetah photographed against the evening sky. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Matrishva Vyas

? Klaas’s cuckoo being fed by a female malachite sunbird. Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa © Mary Walker

? A purple grenadier. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Dr Pravin Jawale

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 7 – Gallery 2

Special moment between mother lion and her cubs. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? A special moment between a mother lion and her cubs. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? Elephants and Mount Kilimanjaro. Amboseli National Park, Kenya © Kirill Dorofeev

? Southern ground-hornbill snatches up a scorpion. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karen Blackwood

? A mother spotted hyena and her young pup at the entrance to their den. Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia © Beverly Houwing

? Cape ground squirrel peeking out of its burrow. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Daniela Anger

? An African penguin. Betty’s Bay, South Africa © Eduardo del Alamo

? An adult desert-adapted elephant making its way along the Hoanib riverbed. Namibia © Wayne Marsh

? Mundari people gather together in huge cattle camps where about 5,000 cows converge at night alongside the Nile River. South Sudan © Mario Gerth

Giraffes at a small waterhole. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Jeff Harrisberg

? Giraffes at a small waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia © Jeff Harrisberg

? Up close with a zebra. Nelspruit, South Africa © Peter Reitze

An elephant takes a swim. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Subi Sridharan

? An elephant takes a swim in the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Subi Sridharan

? Lion pride members take a drink at a waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia © Owen Jason Kandume.

Serval hunting. Kafue National Park, Zambia © Eduardo del Alamo

? Serval hunting in Kafue National Park, Zambia © Eduardo del Alamo

? Lesser flamingo striding through the shallows. Walvis Bay, Namibia © Michael Wessels

? A female leopard makes very clear her displeasure at a male’s advances. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

? Family of bat-eared foxes. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Johan Swart

? A lone zebra drinks at a waterhole. Etosha National Park Namibia © Owen Jason Kandume

Red-knobbed coot. Zibulo Bird Hides, Mpumalanga, South Africa © Tracey Graves

? Red-knobbed coot. Zibulo Bird Hide, Mpumalanga, South Africa © Tracey Graves

Vultures descend to make the most of a large giraffe carcass. Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa © Sophie Brown

? Vultures descend to make the most of a large giraffe carcass. Greater Kruger, South Africa © Sophie Brown

? Male lion leading his pride. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Raymond Stone

Female leopard with impala kill. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Licinia Machado

? Female leopard with her impala kill. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Licinia Machado

? Up close and personal with an elephant. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Leon Heyes

? Young cheetah with a Thomson’s gazelle calf. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Kirill Dorofeev

Rhino silhouette at sunset. Game reserve in South Africa © Zac Dykstra

? Rhino silhouette at sunset. South Africa © Zac Dykstra

? Lion cubs suckling from their mother. Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Patrick Hozza

Saving the Northern White Rhino: Third Embryo Successfully Created

One of two females that hold the key to the survival of a subspecies © Justin Mott

A third viable northern white rhino embryo was created over December 2019 in a joint mission between Kenyan Government and scientists. In a press release, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy reported that the team had repeated the procedure performed in August 2019 on the two female northern white rhino, Najin and Fatu, on the 17^th of December 2019. With the support of Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Hon. Najib Balala, the joint effort of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Avantea Laboratory and Dvůr Králové Zoo marks the next step in attempting to save the species from extinction.

31-year-old Najin and her 20-year-old daughter Fatu are the only living northern white rhino in the world and both were placed under anaesthetic in order to harvest nine oocytes (immature eggs cells) from their ovaries. These oocytes were then rushed to the Avantea Laboratory in Italy where they were matured before scientists attempted to fertilise them using a system known as Intra Cytoplasm Sperm Injection (ICSI). The procedure was successful on one of Fatu’s eggs and the resulting embryo was incubated using a highly advanced monitoring system before placed in liquid nitrogen with the previous two embryos created in the same manner.

Embryo development © Avantea-Cesare Galli

The team hopes to artificially inseminate a surrogate southern white rhino female from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy using procedures trialled by European zoos some time in 2020. If successful, it would mean the first northern white rhino born into the wild in decades.

The project is all part of the “BioRescue” research, a consortium comprising of internationally renowned institutions from Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Kenya, Japan and the USA, with a comprehensive ethical assessment courtesy of the University of Padova and partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Hon, Najib Balala said of the achievement: “I urge scientists to continue digging deeper into technology and innovations to ensure that not only this concerned species does not go extinct, but other species that are faced with similar threats. The fact that Kenya is at the centre of this scientific breakthrough also makes me very proud. It’s amazing to see that we will be able to reverse the tragic loss of this subspecies through science”.

The process of oocyte collection © Ami Vitale

Communities delivering conservation impact & wildlife recoveries

Rangers in a vehicle with elephant herd in background — Conservancies and other local conservation areas play an increasingly important role in protecting populations of elephants and other wildlife © Honeyguide

OPINION POST by Fred Nelson, Maliasili

Driving on the road to Randilen Wildlife Management Area (WMA), the landscape changes dramatically from bare ground to lush waist-high grass as one crosses into the WMA from surrounding community lands. Herds of elephant wander calmly across the savannah woodlands throughout the 30,000-hectare WMA, accompanied by giraffe, herds of zebra, and rarer antelope such as fringe-eared oryx. Located adjacent to Tarangire National Park, in northern Tanzania, Randilen embodies a growing trend across eastern and southern Africa: community-managed conservation areas that are effectively managed and delivering conservation results equivalent to government parks and reserves.

Like other conservation initiatives across eastern and southern Africa that are managed by communities, WMAs originated in the late 1990s as a management response to the need in Tanzania to change the relationship between local communities and wildlife. During the 1980s and 90s, wildlife, including huge herds of elephants and nearly all the country’s black rhinos, were subjected to heavy poaching. Government agencies and foreign donors, including the US and German governments, worked to reform the conventional conservation approaches based on protected areas and anti-poaching enforcement, to also offer communities an economic stake in wildlife’s future. WMAs were intended to provide that by devolving rights to make management decisions and capture revenue from wildlife utilisation, including both photographic tourism and trophy hunting, on community lands adjacent to national parks and game reserves.

Northern Tanzania — Wildlife Management Areas in northern Tanzania help protect key wildlife habitats bordering national parks © Honeyguide

For many years, though, these WMAs languished, mainly due to the unwillingness of government agencies to devolve sufficient rights and control over wildlife revenues to the local scale. But within the last five years, there is new evidence that WMAs are finally beginning to make community-based conservation a reality in parts of Tanzania. Researchers published findings in 2018 showing that giraffe and other wildlife populations in Randilen had increased markedly following WMA establishment. More recently, another group of researchers published new findings showing that in the nearby Burunge WMA, which also borders Tarangire National Park, elephant and wildebeest populations increased from 2011 to 2018. They also found that wildlife densities between the WMA and Tarangire were overall similar, and that community conservation areas could support wildlife populations similar to national parks.

Zebras drinking at waterhole in northern Tanzania — Zebras in a community conservation area in northern Tanzania © Honeyguide

At the same time, these community conservation initiatives are delivering improved returns to local people from wildlife. Randilen’s tourism income increased by over 40% from 2016 to 2018, when it generated over $200,000 for the WMA’s management and member communities’ village governments.

Much more importantly for the future of wildlife in Africa, in the face of growing economic and demographic pressures, is that this kind of progress reflects wider regional trends in community-based conservation.

In Namibia, undoubtedly eastern and southern Africa’s leader in community conservation, the ‘communal conservancies’ that were first established in policy and legal reforms during the mid-1990s now cover nearly 17 million hectares across the country. The conservancies play a key role in Namibia’s conservation achievements including the widespread recovery of wildlife across the country over the past two decades, including the tripling in the country’s elephant population from around 7,500 to nearly 23,000 today. The scaling up of Namibia’s conservancies has also driven significant revenue to rural communities that, two decades ago, earned little or nothing from wildlife. Over 80 conservancies now capture around US$10 million in annual benefits from tourism, and other wildlife uses such as game meat while generating over US$60 million in total net national income for Namibia.

Elephant herd drinking at waterhole — Namibia’s communal conservancies have played an essential role in the tripling of the country’s elephant population since the mid-1990s © NACSO

Meanwhile in Kenya, a wide range of community conservation initiatives that had emerged on the local scale as early as the 1990s have more recently coalesced into a national conservancies movement that is now at the centre of the country’s conservation strategies. A key factor has been the 2013 Wildlife Conservation Act, which gave conservancies a legal definition in Kenyan law for the first time. It has led to more significant support for community-based approaches across government, NGOs, and communal and private landholders.

Conservancies in Kenya now cover over 6 million hectares, roughly doubling the country’s wildlife estate, and are also showing significant conservation impacts as well as a wide range of social and economic benefits. For example, researchers have found that in conservancies in northern Kenya, poaching levels were about one-third lower than in adjacent community lands. In Kenya’s second-largest elephant population in the Laikipia-Samburu system, where around 7,000 animals roam across community conservancies and private ranches, poaching rates declined by 53% between 2012 and 2015, while elephant numbers increased by 12% from 2012 to 2017. Other critically endangered species including black rhino, Grevy’s zebra, and the hirola, an endemic antelope, are all being supported by conservancies.

Hirola antelope in the wild communities — Conservancies in Kenya are playing a vital role in the conservation of endangered species such as the endemic hirola antelope © Kenneth Coe

At the same time, a new World Bank report on conservancies, titled ‘When Conservation Becomes Good Economics’, estimates that tourism income in conservancies as of 2017 was about $12 million, and concludes that “a strategic expansion of conservancies offers an opportunity to complement the government’s current focus [on national parks].”

The scaling up of community conservation – between Kenya and Namibia alone, community conservancies now cover nearly 23 million hectares, or an area roughly equivalent to the entire land area of Uganda – is one of the most important trends in African conservation over the past decade. As conservationists are faced with the urgent need to scale up effective conservation solutions further, this creates critically important opportunities to further expand the scope and impact of conservancies and similar community-based models. There are three key priorities to do this in the near-term.

First, most of the progress of community conservation is attributable to a growing cadre of talented African conservation organisations that often have emerged specifically to advance community-based approaches in different sites and countries. In Namibia, local groups such as IRDNC have played a key role in providing the vision, local facilitation, and long-term presence that has been critical to the development of conservancies. In Kenya, the Northern Rangelands Trust has pioneered conservancies in the northern part of the country. At the same time, newer community groups such as the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association are now playing a pivotal role in other key landscapes. At the national scale, the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association plays a crucial role in engaging with government on significant policy issues.

Two Maasai warriors in Kenya communities — Community conservancies have spread across Kenya rapidly over the past decade, including in key regions such as the Maasai Mara © Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association

Similarly, in Tanzania, the progress made by Randilen has been possible mainly due to the recent efforts of Honeyguide, a local organisation that has brought critical business development and professional management skills to the support of WMAs in the northern part of the country. Providing external support to these key local organisations is fundamental to strengthening and scaling up community-based conservation models.

Second, funding models are needed that provide long-term support to community conservation. Funding needs to be tailored to different stages of conservancy development, from early-stage seed funding to longer-term support through trust funds and similar mechanisms. For example, Namibia has recently established a Community Conservation Fund of Namibia to provide long-term sustainable financing of conservancies that are not yet financially self-sufficient and to provide other needed services.

People at Torra conservancy office communities — Namibia’s conservancies have played a key role in increasing local incomes from wildlife and improving natural resource governance institutions © NACSO

Lastly, conservation efforts need to continue to grow private sector investment as the core source of long-term financing for conservancies and other conservation efforts driven by communities. The growth of tourism investment in conservancies in Namibia and Kenya has been key to progress in those countries, as communities are gradually able to capture a growing share of the regional wildlife and tourism economy. But community conservation needs to move beyond an exclusive reliance on tourism as well. Significant efforts are underway to integrate livestock markets and trade with conservancies in Kenya, and to develop substantial flows from carbon credits derived from improved forest management in several community conservation areas in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

As the new decade begins, conserving Africa’s wild landscapes faces unprecedented pressures from illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss, infrastructure development, and the effects of climate change. But conservation progress delivered by communities provides perhaps the most significant opportunity to expand the area of land under conservation, while dramatically broadening conservation’s local stakeholders. All efforts should be made to capitalise on this opportunity.

Fred Nelson is the Executive Director of Maliasili, a US-based organisation that supports leading African conservation organisations to increase their impact and effectiveness.

Killifish – suspended animation & shortest lifespan of any animal with a backbone

The tiny killifish lives in a state of suspended animation – until seasonal rains trigger the shortest known lifespan of any animal with a backbone. This rapid lifecycle has scientists scrambling to unlock secrets to our own ageing processes.

The turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) lives in temporary pools of water in some semi-arid regions of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and, when the water dries up, the adult fish die and their drought-resistant eggs and embryos are entombed in hard mud where they enter a state of suspended animation (diapause) until the next rainfall event – months or years away.

The arrival of precious rains triggers a frenetic race against time to hatch, grow to sexual maturity, mate and lay the next generation of eggs before their puddle dries up. After hatching, the turquoise killifish only lives for about nine to ten weeks in the wild before succumbing when the water dries up and has the dubious distinction of reaching sexual maturity sooner than any other vertebrate species – at about 14 days.

Killifish age cycle — Stages of killifish growth ©Dario R. Valenzano

Studies of captive turquoise killifish and a related species, Nothobranchius kadleci, show that their body length increases by up to a quarter every day in their first two weeks of life.

Killifish are predators, eating small crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae that co-exist in the same temporary pools of water. Captive juvenile killifish have been known to cannibalise on smaller killifish, but this has not been recorded in the wild.

Males are more colourful than females, with some species reflecting colour morphs (red and yellow morphs in the case of N. furzeri). Populations of wild killifish are female-biased, with the ratios increasing towards the end of the life cycle. Ratios of N. furzeri have been recorded as increasing from 1:2,7 at the beginning of the breeding season to 1:4,7 later in the season. The reason for the sex-bias is presumed to be that more males die due to their brighter colouration attracting a higher predation rate as well as aggressive competition amongst males for access to females.

The ways in which killifish disperse are unknown, but scientists assume that the fish are swept from their natal pools during flooding to settle into new pools and that eggs are transported between pools on the skin of large herbivores that drink and mud bath there. In his story about Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, Africa Geographic CEO Simon Espley described how it is possible that eggs are carried upstream by elephants, and that the reduction of elephant populations and restriction of their historical migration routes could conceivably impact on some killifish populations. Dario Valenzano, co-author of the attached report agrees: “I strongly believe that lack, presence, diversity and in general density of large herbivores can be key to killifish survival as a species.”

The killifishes reveal how animals can adapt to extreme environments by evolving extreme lifespans. Research on captive populations of killifish focuses on unlocking the secrets about growing old and, specifically, how to hold back the ageing process.

Full report: From the bush to the bench: the annual Nothobranchius fishes as a new model system in biology. Alessandro Cellerino, Dario R. Valenzano and Martin Reichard. Wiley Online Library.

Conservation needs diversified approaches – opinion

Elephants in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

Elephants in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi nature — Elephants in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi © Jason I. Ransom

OPINION EDITORIAL by Mucha Mkono, The University of Queensland; Jason I. Ransom, National Park Service; Katarzyna Nowak, University of the Free State, and Patrick O. Onyango, Maseno University

Conservationists don’t always agree about the best ways to reinforce the protection of nature. Debates about it can become confrontational.

But at the heart of the issue is how to include more people in nature conservation efforts. As a group of scientists, we believe it is important to steer the discussion towards a more diverse and inclusive blueprint for protecting biodiversity and ecosystems.

In a letter to the journal Science, we argue that the model of trophy hunting in Africa to finance conservation is neither sustainable nor equitable. We offer some alternatives. We suggest meeting the needs and values of a variety of stakeholders and local communities. Doing so involves empowering people to participate in decisions that affect them.

We support the following strategies for conserving natural landscapes and their ecological functions.

Connecting local needs with the wider world

One approach is to connect small and big investors directly to communities that are associated with wildlife wealth. This can be done through blockchain technology and carbon and biodiversity credits.

An example is GainForest, an app that aims to help maintain and restore forests. GainForest gets funding from the crypto community to provide finance to community members if they maintain their patch of land for an agreed duration. The GainForest team uses publicly available data from GlobalForestWatch to monitor and evaluate community success. It is also developing advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to help forecast future forest cover.

Another strategy is the United Nations programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries. The programme encourages developing economies to lower their carbon emissions through a variety of habitat management schemes and is donor-funded. The United Nations supports partner countries to run REDD+ programmes and trains them in best practices. The Kariba REDD+ project in Zimbabwe is one example. The project has protected 785,000 hectares from deforestation and land degradation. This has helped prevent more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Community-led sustainable practices

Conservation practices that generate direct financial benefits for local communities have also been successful. An example is a Tanzanian wildlife project which reduces the costs of living with wildlife. It assists livestock owners with constructing “living walls”, made of plant materials, to protect domestic animals from predation. The project also supports microfinance and community enterprises such as beekeeping and a bush camp.

Another approach is to reform land use in ways that meet the values and needs of local people. In Peru, Costa Rica, Canada, Kenya, Scotland and Amazonia, local communities have been granted land titles by national governments. This has been positive for livelihoods and for biodiversity conservation. For example, when the Indigenous Tsilhqot’in Nation in British Columbia, Canada, was granted title to traditional lands in 2014, they stopped public hunting based on their own wildlife management strategy.

Agricultural practices can be made more compatible with nature conservation, as has been achieved by It’s Wild in Zambia. Farmers and former poachers came up with certain conservation principles and agreed to follow them. Profits from farm products grown sustainably go directly back into conservation efforts. Women get empowered by selling their crops and acquiring accounting skills.

Reducing negative interactions between people and wildlife

It is important to find creative ways of avoiding or reducing negative interactions between people and wildlife. Lion Guardians in Kenya, Ecoexist in Botswana and the Southern Tanzania Elephant Programme are examples.

This positive coexistence happens through partnerships, participation, and fostering tolerance. The projects create incentives for wildlife-friendly actions that are rooted in science and rural economic development. Such “coexistence buffer zone” projects can promote awareness and tourism by being part of visits to national parks.

Zebras in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi nature — Zebras in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi © Jason I. Ransom

Tourism reforms and participatory approaches

Growing the domestic wildlife-watching market is a potential strategy. Compared with international tourism, domestic tourism can have a lower carbon footprint (through less travel), foster local interest in nature, and provide a more reliable income flow. Local hospitality in the form of homestays can help reduce the environmental footprint that big hotels leave.

A more diverse model will be environmentally respectful, promote local knowledge and cultural exchange, and encourage the participation of women. Bushcraft training is one example.

Participatory science and monitoring also have conservation potential. For example, the Grevy’s Zebra Warriors earn income by monitoring endangered zebra in Kenya and Ethiopia. The illegal killing of elephants has also been successfully monitored using participatory surveys. In addition to income, such programmes provide a means for exchange between traditional ecological knowledge keepers, local naturalists, scientists and conservation practitioners.

A mix of “alternative” ways of encouraging and sustaining conservation is urgently needed now. The way forward in conserving nature is through building grassroots domestic conservation actions with direct and positive socioeconomic outcomes. Contributions to shared, interconnected ecosystems that yield a strong sense of sustainable stewardship are ones that create value, foster lasting relationships and nurture deeper connections with the living world.

This article had inputs from our colleagues Phyllis Lee, Jorgelina Marino, Hannah Mumby, Andrew Dobson, Ross Harvey, Keith Lindsay, David Lusseau and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri.

Mucha Mkono, Research Fellow (Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow), Business School, The University of Queensland; Jason I. Ransom, Wildlife Ecologist, National Park Service; Katarzyna Nowak, Fellow, The Safina Center; Research Associate, University of the Free State, and Patrick O. Onyango, Lecturer, Maseno University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 6 – Gallery 2

? Close-up of an elephant’s eyelashes. Kariega Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Peter Reitze

? A walia ibex. Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia © Kevin Dooley

rough-scaled bush viper (Atheris hispida). West of Kampala, Uganda © Daniel Wakefield

? A rough-scaled bush viper (Atheris hispida) seen west of Kampala, Uganda © Daniel Wakefield

? Cape buffalo on the lookout. Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya © Dean Bricknell

? A shovel-snouted lizard (Zeros anchietae). Sossusvlei, Namibia © Inger Vandyke

? Starscape. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Matrishva Vyas

? A Cape ground squirrel defends its den from a Cape cobra. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Bomber Kent

? Lightning strikes as the sun sets. Kalahari Desert, Botswana © Eben Van Heerden

? An African darter catches a fish on the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Stephen Smith

? Curious leopard cubs. Samburu National Park, Kenya © Yaron Schmid

? A spotted hyena takes cover inside the hollow trunk of a large tree. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © John Piper

? A red-billed oxpecker flees as tempers flare between hippos. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Cindee Beechwood

? A pack of painted wolves (African wild dogs) watch a herd of impala on the other side of the Khwai River. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Eben Van Heerden

? A pile of young spotted hyenas. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Lennart Hessel

Lilac-breasted roller and a zebra. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Yaron Schmid

? Lilac-breasted roller and zebra. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Yaron Schmid

? Silhouette of a giraffe mother and her baby. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Matrishva Vyas

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 6 – Gallery 1

An elephant calf is met by a large bull. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Charmaine Joubert

? A large bull meets an elephant calf. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa © Charmaine Joubert

Springbok at a dusty sunrise. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana © David Papenfus

? Springbok during a dusty sunrise. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana © David Papenfus

? Painted wolves (African wild dogs). Laikipia, Kenya © Dean Bricknell

? Lion cubs rest during a zebra meal. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Kaido Haagen

? A moment captured with Siligi the cheetah and four of her seven cubs. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Mauritz Janeke

? A male boomslang (tree snake) seeks warmth after a torrential summer downpour. Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa © Sophie Brown

A wildebeest covered in dry mud amongst golden grass. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Vittorio Ricci

? Wildebeest, dry mud and golden grass. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Vittorio Ricci

? A long-tailed widowbird displays its plumage. Marievale Bird Sanctuary, South Africa © Gavin Duffy

Rock hyraxes on a rock shelf high up a cliff. Leopard Gorge, Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

? Rock hyraxes high up on a cliff rock shelf. Leopard Gorge, Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

A tree squirrel producers a mirror image reflection while drinking water. Karongwe Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A tree squirrel meets its mirror image while drinking water. Karongwe Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A ground pangolin, also known as Temminck’s pangolin, foraging for ants and termites. South Africa © Brad Love

? Distant thunderstorm in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana © David Papenfus

Zebras resting with caution near to a waterhole. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Vittorio Ricci

? Zebras resting at a waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia © Vittorio Ricci

A mossy leaf-tailed gecko. Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar © Bill Klipp

? A mossy leaf-tailed gecko in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar © Bill Klipp

? A genet takes a quick look out of a tree it has chosen to sleep in for the day. Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, South Africa © Sophie Brown

? A large adult gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) in a rainforest west of Kampala, Uganda © Daniel Wakefield

? The essence of a safari, set against a magical African sunrise. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 5 – Gallery 2

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing and open for submissions! There are two galleries showcasing this week’s Weekly Selection. To see the other gallery click here: Weekly Selection Gallery 1

? A ring-tailed lemur suns herself while her baby keeps a firm hold on her back. Berenty Reserve, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

? Portrait of a ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). South Africa © Inger Vandyke

A playful seal during a dive near Seal Rock island. Partridge Point, Cape Peninsula, South Africa © Dr Peet J. Van Eeden

? A playful Cape fur seal during a dive near Seal Rock island. Partridge Point, Cape Peninsula, South Africa © Dr Peet J. Van Eeden

Portrait of a Muhimba woman. Southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

? Portrait of a Muhimba woman in Southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

? A spiny flower mantis. Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of the Congo © Alice Paghera

? A lion and lioness bring out the claws after mating. Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa © Armand Steyn

? A baby hippo rests on its mother’s back in the Luangwa River. Luambe National Park, Zambia © Ralph Stutchbury

? Sub-adult cheetah cubs clean each other after feasting on a Thomson’s gazelle. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

? The basket star on a palmate sea fan. False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa © Dr Peet J. Van Eeden

An aerial view of the landscape of Iona National Park, southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

The late Ximpoko, the mighty King of the Timbavati, during a late afternoon sighting. Motswari Private Game Reserve, South Africa © John Piper

A lioness from the Cheli Pride shakes the rain off after a heavy rainstorm. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

? An early morning mist covers the grassland in the Busanga Plains where puku and lechwe rest and graze. Kafue National Park, Zambia © Beverly Houwing

A fish eagle flies by on the Chobe River, Botswana © Fay Olive Luyt

A lioness and her three cubs having a feast at the giraffe carcass. Savuti, Botswana © Margie Botha

A leopardess named Fig surveying her land after sunset. Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Kenya © Yaron Schmid

? A baby dwarf mongoose peers out from one of the many entrances to the den. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Karen Blackwood

A Verreaux's sifaka clings to a branch with her baby on her shoulder. Berenty Reserve, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

An elephant herd on the move. Zakouma National Park, Chad © Lennart Hessel

A juvenile bateleur. Manyoni Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Burkhard Schlosser

ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE

GALLERY
To see the other gallery for this week’s selection click here: Weekly Selection Gallery 1

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 5 – Gallery 1

A yellow mongoose passes through camp. Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, South Africa © Daniela Anger

A young Mucubal boy herds his goats into the dust at sunrise. Southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

Two male southern masked weavers fight to establish dominance while sparrows watch on. Bloemfontein, South Africa © Willem Kruger

? Two male southern masked weavers fight to establish dominance while a pair of Cape sparrows watch on. Bloemfontein, South Africa © Willem Kruger

? A Maasai tribesman in traditional dress, armed with his spear, looks towards the rising sun. Mara North Conservancy, Kenya © John Piper

Two lion brothers blend into the dry grass. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Ankit Desai

Flatid leaf insects in the nymph stage congregate on a branch. Berenty Reserve, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

? Flatid leaf insects in the nymph stage congregate on a branch. They excrete a white waxy-like substance, which looks like long wispy feathers, that helps with camouflage and protects the larval stage during development. Berenty Reserve, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

A fossa spotted resting along a dirt road. Kirindy Mitea National Park, Madagascar © Beverly Houwing

Up close with a rain spider. Cape Town, South Africa © Dr Peet J. Van Eeden

Zebra drinking in the early morning at Okaukuejo waterhole. Etosha National Park, Namibia © Owen Jason Kandume

Fishermen bring in their catch at Tombwa fishing village. Southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

Portrait of a kudu bull. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Licinia Machado

A Rüppell's starling attacks a species of blind snake. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Andy Richardson

A lioness walks with cubs down a dirt road. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania © Giovanni Mari

Silhouette of Karo tribesmen against the setting sun. Southern Ethiopia © Jason Clendenen

A three-banded plover chick. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Fay Olive Luyt

A buffalo enters a muddy waterhole, getting a bit too close to a hippo, during a drought © Burkhard Schlosser

? A buffalo and hippo are forced to share a muddy waterhole during a drought. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Burkhard Schlosser

Aerial view of the saltworks. Near Tombwa, southern Angola © Inger Vandyke

A Perinet chameleon (Calumma gastrotaenia). Moramanga Orchid Garden, Madagascar © Swayamsiddha Mohapatra

? Wildebeest linger near a waterhole as the sun sets, silhouetted in the warm light. Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia © Beverly Houwing

Lion poaching: Escalating demand for claws and teeth

Carcass of a lion — © Greater Limpopo Carnivore Programme

DECODING SCIENCE by AG Editorial

Evidence is emerging of the growing threat to wild lion populations of targeted poaching for lion body parts – teeth and claws.

The Panthera study provides evidence of an emerging threat to African lion conservation: the targeted poaching of lions for body parts – specifically teeth and claws. The study warns that this growing threat could have devastating impacts on lion populations that mirror similar implications for wild tiger populations.

The study was conducted in the Mozambican portion of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area – which includes South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The targeted poaching of lions for body parts accounted for 61% of mortalities within Limpopo National Park and 35% of known human-caused mortalities across the greater landscape. The researchers also found that retaliatory killing for livestock conflict accounted for 51% of total mortalities, but body parts were removed in 48% of conflict cases, suggesting that the demand for body parts is escalating conflict killings. Teeth and claws were the body parts most frequently harvested, and there has been an alarming and dramatic increase since 2014.

Map showing study area and locations of lion mortality events in Limpopo National Park — Map showing the study area and locations of lion mortality events © Everatt, K.T (et al.)

We previously reported similar conclusions made by the Greater Limpopo Carnivore Program, who were participants in this Panthera study.

The study linked the escalation in poaching of wild lions and South Africa’s increasing export of captive-bred lion skeletons and body parts, which has shown exponential growth since 2007. This trade feeds a growing market among upwardly mobile Asians for luxury products, such as lion bone wine, with lion bones used instead of tiger bones as tiger parts become increasingly scarce.

The rising demand for lion body parts could exacerbate motives to kill lions in the vicinity of communities and livestock, irrespective of livestock losses or a perceived threat of losses. Incentivising the killing of lions by demand for body parts could seriously undermine conflict mitigation efforts.

Lion poaching for body parts has also increased in the Niassa reserve in northern Mozambique (C. Beggs Niassa Lion Project pers coms) and of captive lions in the Limpopo province of South Africa (K. Marnewick Endangered Wildlife Trust pers coms). Lions killed for conflict in the Caprivi region of Namibia also had teeth and claws removed (L. Hansen Kwando Carnivore Project pers coms).

Carcasses of three lions that were poached — © Greater Limpopo Carnivore Programme

Lion populations have declined across Africa by an estimated 43% over the past 21 years, and their range has declined by 75% over the past 50 years. Declines have been predominantly caused by loss of prey and habitat and by persecution from livestock farmers. The study notes that, at times, unsustainable trophy hunting has also caused decreases in lion populations.

Dr Paul Funston, Director of Panthera’s lion program, stated, “We hope this study alerts the global conservation community, and any governments participating in the lion bone and body part trade, to the serious threats it poses. We have seen the toll this trade has had on other wild cat species and must be vigilant about how it impacts lion conservation efforts across Africa.”

The remains of a lion, skeleton, carcass — © Greater Limpopo Carnivore Programme

Full report: Everatt, K.T., Kokes, R. & Lopez Pereira, C. (2019). Evidence of a further emerging threat to lion conservation; targeted poaching for body parts. Biodivers Conserv. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01866-w

Another mass vulture poisoning raises alarm in South Africa

The contaminated carcass of a vulture is burnt to ash to remove the poison from the ecosystem. Image courtesy Wildlife ACT

NEWS DESK POST by Fred Kockott, for Mongabay

Just two days before Christmas a mass vulture poisoning incident was discovered by the Wildlife ACT rangers in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, sparking warnings that the region’s diminishing vulture populations could face extinction unless the root cause of the killings is addressed.

On 23rd December, rangers found fifteen white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) as well as a young lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) who all died after feeding on a poison-laced impala carcass in northern Zululand. It is the fourth vulture poisoning incident in the province this year, bringing the total recorded number of vultures harvested for body parts in this region alone to 53.

“Arriving at a scene like this with everything so fresh, but too late to assist in saving any poisoned birds is heartbreaking. Losing one vulture is always a tragedy. Losing at least 16 birds at one feeding is a crisis,” said PJ Roberts, manager of Wildlife ACT’s Emergency Response Team.

Wildlife ACT works closely with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, local farmers and communities, and other conservation groups to protect three endangered vulture species in KwaZulu-Natal.

Signs that the vulture poisoning was deliberate were immediately apparent after inspection of the first bird they came across, a white-backed vulture. “It had a full crop (still containing undigested food), contorted feet and many dead flies were scattered around its remains – all clear signs of fast-acting poison,” said Roberts.

The team swept the area, but it took an aerial search to locate more victims. “No more than 30 metres away, the morbid discovery of 13 processed and harvested white-backed vultures, with their heads and feet removed, were found very purposefully hidden in a thick bush,” added Roberts.

All of the contaminated carcasses were burned by the rangers to remove the poison from the ecosystem.

Wildlife ACT response team with the bodies of 13 white-backed vultures, poisoned for the traditional medicine trade. Image courtesy Wildlife ACT

The Endangered WildLife Trust’s (EWT) Vultures for Africa Programme manager, Andre Botha, said it was difficult to quantify how many vulture poisoning incidents relate to harvesting of body parts. According to records kept by EWT, more than 1,200 vultures have been deliberately poisoned in Southern and Eastern Africa this year. Culprits include poachers who poison the carcasses of elephant and other game in an apparent effort to conceal illegal activities from rangers. These poisonings are referred to as “sentinel poisonings”, as vultures circling over poached animals alert rangers to the killings.

Africa’s vulture populations have already declined by an average 62% over the past three decades — with seven species crashing by 80%.

In Africa vultures are under threat due to habitat loss, ingestion of lead ammunition, collisions with power lines, accidental drownings in farm water reservoirs, and the use of poisoned bait by livestock owners to kill predators like jackals. Vultures feeding off the carcasses subsequently die, often in significant numbers.

But many more are poisoned deliberately to harvest body parts for belief-based use.

“The vultures are killed for their heads and feet and other parts,” said Chris Kelly, a species director at Wildlife ACT. “This is definitely the single biggest threat to diminishing vulture populations in this province.”

In many parts of Africa, vultures are believed to have psychic powers, including an ability to see into the future. According to a fact sheet from EWT, the brains of the bird are dried, rolled and smoked as joints or simply burnt and the fumes inhaled. Users believe this improves their odds when they gamble on the lottery or place bets on sport. Students take it when preparing for exams. Other reported uses of vultures include consuming their eyes to improve eyesight, their beaks for protection, or their feet to heal fractured bones or make a person run faster.

In 2014, EWT estimated that 130,000 traders, hunters and traditional healers were operating in South Africa. This figure is believed to have increased, sparking calls from conservationists, environmental scientists and wildlife experts at this year’s Conservation Symposium for an awareness-building campaign to reduce this consumption and demand for vulture parts.

“Vultures provide critically important ecosystem services by cleaning up carcasses thus reducing the spread of dangerous diseases such as anthrax and rabies and resulting in highly significant economic and human health benefits,” said Brent Coverdale, an animal scientist for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife at the symposium. “We really can’t afford to lose them.”

As vultures are protected by law, it is illegal to possess or kill any of the six vulture species found in South Africa. Nevertheless, deliberate killings continue.

Carcass of a poisoned vulture — More than 1,200 vultures have been deliberately poisoned in Southern and Eastern Africa in 2019. Image courtesy Wildlife ACT

Citation: Ogada, D., Shaw, P., Beyers, R. L., Buij, R., Murn, C., Thiollay, J. M., … Sinclair, A. R. E. (2015). Another continental vulture crisis: Africa’s vultures collapsing toward extinction. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12182

Elephant poaching decimates key Gabon reserve

African forest elephant herd © Tony Camacho

DECODING SCIENCE by AG Editorial

The forest elephant population in one of Central Africa‘s largest and most important protected areas has declined by 80% in 10 years because of poaching, with an estimated 25,000 elephants poached between 2004 and 2014, says a new Duke University-led study.

Gabon’s Minkébé National Park was explicitly declared to protect elephants and hosted the highest density of forest elephants in Central Africa at the turn of the century. It was thought that the large size (7,570 km²) and remoteness of the national park would keep elephants safe from poaching.

“Our research suggests that more than 25,000 elephants in Minkébé may have been killed for their ivory between 2004 and 2014,” said John Poulsen, assistant professor of tropical ecology at Duke‘s Nicholas School of the Environment. The elephant population was estimated at 35,404 in 2004 compared to 6,542 in 2014.

“With nearly half of Central Africa‘s estimated 100,000 forest elephants thought to live in Gabon, the loss of 25,000 elephants from this key sanctuary is a considerable setback for the preservation of the species,” he said.

The researchers estimated the extent of the population losses by comparing data from two large-scale surveys of elephant dung in Minkébé National Park from 2004 and 2014, using two different analytic methods to account for periods of heavy rainfall that might speed the dung’s decay and skew the surveys’ accuracy.

The report explained that portions of the national park with major roads nearby (6.1 km away) were “emptied” of elephants. In contrast, populations of elephants in areas further away from major roads (58 km) were “somewhat reduced”. The proximity of major roads makes it relatively easy for poachers to access the park and transport their illegal haul across the Gabon/Cameroon border to Cameroon’s largest city, Douala, a major hub for the international ivory trade.

Gabon was one of several African countries which burned its stockpile of ivory, in a public display of rejection of elephant poaching and opposition to countries which wish to trade internationally in their ivory stocks.

Full report: John R. Poulsen, Sally E. Koerner, Sarah Moore, Vincent P. Medjibe, Stephen Blake, Connie J. Clark, Mark Ella Akou, Michael Fay, Amelia Meier, Joseph Okouyi, Cooper Rosin, and Lee J. T. White (2017). Poaching empties critical Central African wilderness of forest elephants. Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqz032

Large herd of elephants seen in Nigeria’s war-torn northeast

A large herd of elephants seen moving across the savannah close to Rann in Borno State, Nigeria on 19 December, 2019. Image source: RFI/UNHAS

NEWS DESK POST with information sourced from RFI

In an exciting discovery, a large herd of about 250-300 elephants has been spotted in Nigeria’s far northeast corner, close to the borders with Cameroon and Chad. It is the first reported sighting of elephants in the region since Boko Haram invaded the area a decade ago.

Up until a decade ago hundreds of elephants used to migrate through the region, with three major migration routes passing through Sambisa Forest, a reserve in Nigeria’s Borno State that is the size of Belgium and The Netherlands. This reserve became synonymous with Boko Haram terrorism as the same migration routes were used by insurgents to escape military bombardment. The heavy exchange of artillery fire between the military and the insurgents drove most wildlife away from the reserve.

Up until now, it had been unclear what happened to the elephants that once roamed the Sambisa Forest and savannahs in Borno and Yobe states.

A map showing elephant migration routes through the Sambisa Forest in 2006, Nigeria — A map showing elephant migration routes through the Sambisa Forest in 2006 © P. Omondi

This large herd of elephants was spotted a few kilometres from Rann during a humanitarian mission carried out by helicopter. Rann has become a place synonymous with the horrors of the insurgency.

“We have dispatched our director of forests Peter Ayuba, to confirm the sighting and to carry out an impact assessment,” said Kabiru Wanori, Borno State’s environment commissioner.

Although the great elephant census did not cover Nigeria, it was estimated that there are 250 in the country with the largest concentration (100-150) being in Bauchi State in the Yankari Game Reserve. Yankari, under the management of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which operates under challenging political, economic, and security environment. This sighting of a previously unknown herd would therefore effectively double the estimated Nigeria elephant population. Nigeria’s elephant population includes scattered populations of both savannah elephants in the north of the country and forest elephants in the south of the country.

Leopard hunting: CITES quotas not sustainable, say researchers

DECODING SCIENCE by AG Editorial

A recent report published in Oxford Academic by Trouwborst, Loveridge and Macdonald compares CITES hunting trophy export quotas for African range states to established benchmarks. The report concludes that leopard hunting quotas that have been rubber-stamped for decades by CITES are arbitrary and lacking in robust scientific basis and without regular adjustment. Further, the report suggests that CITES-approved leopard trophy hunting quotas are “fundamentally at odds with the principles of sustainable use, precaution and adaptive management”.

Editorial note: Many countries do not make use of their full CITES export quotas. For example, South Africa has access to a CITES export quota of 150 leopards (see table below), but in 2018 permitted a quota of seven leopards.

Here follows a summary of the report, titled ‘Spotty Date: Managing International Leopard (Panthera pardus) Trophy Hunting Amidst Uncertainty’. We encourage you to download and read the entire report.

There is a widespread but misplaced assumption that the conservation status of leopards is assured and, as a result, leopards do not enjoy the same level of conservation and research attention as do lions, tigers and snow leopards. Now that their numbers too are thought to be plummeting, researchers expect them to start receiving as much publicity as the other big cats.

There is a significant lack of hard data on leopard population numbers, often compensated for by optimistic ‘guesstimates’ and many stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africa rely on outdated population assessments from the late 1980s.

Leopards have been listed under Appendix 1 since the 1975 inception of CITES – which means that trade for primarily commercial purposes is forbidden. Legal international trade is limited to hunting trophies and skins under export quotas for range states, as defined in the table below. Of course, illegal trade remains a significant problem for leopard populations.

Table showing the development of CITES leopard quotas over time — Table 1. The development of CITES leopard quotas since 1983 © Trouwborst, Loveridge and Macdonald

Quotas should be based on best available information, and be adjusted regularly to changing circumstances. They should reflect a sustainable leopard hunting offtake – not detrimental to the survival of the species, based on a science-based assessment and where harvests are well-managed and adaptive. Importantly, the process of setting quotas must be guided by the overarching ‘precautionary principle’: erring on the side of caution, especially in situations where scientific data is scarce. CITES quotas are not ‘targets’, and the full amount need not be met.

A closer look at CITES leopard quotas

The report touches on various countries, as examples of how leopard hunting quotas are determined, including:

1. Mozambique requested a quota of 120 leopards annually, based on an estimated countrywide population of 37,000 leopards. This estimate was derived from a 30-year-old prediction model created by Martin and De Meulenaar that assumes maximum densities across specific rainfall and vegetation types, and excludes critical factors such as prey availability and human-related pressures;
2. Tanzania and Namibia used the same model to increase their CITES quotas from 250-500 and 100-250 respectively significantly;
3. South Africa is the only African country where robust data is available – camera-trap surveys over the period 2013-2017 reflect an annual 8% decline in leopard populations. After years of unsustainable trophy hunting offtake and high pressure from illegal killing for traditional medicine and ceremonial purposes, South Africa has adopted an adaptive management framework by adjusting quotas annually based on population trends and only allocating quotas to areas with robust available data;
4. Ethiopia has an extraordinarily high CITES quota of 500 leopards when only five are hunted per year. The reason for that country’s request to retain the full CITES quota despite the demonstrated lack of available leopards possibly relates to politics and the lack of trust that most African countries have in the machinations of CITES. This situation (high quota, low available leopard population) is mirrored in other countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa.

The system does not work, so change it

The report suggests that continuation of the status quo is not an option, and indicates that the following are the three alternative ways forward:

1. Abandon the current CITES Council of Parties (COP) quota system and replacing it with a per-case permit system – an extremely bureaucratic system;
2. Retain a COP quota system, but scrutinise at every COP meeting – thus ensuring adaptive adjustments;
3. Abandon the current COP quota system, and each range state would set their own quota using a uniform blueprint based on ensuring sustainable offtakes.

The report notes that when it comes to being rigorous, science-based, precautionary, sustainable and adaptive, the approach recently introduced in South Africa seems to hold particular promise and could be instituted relatively cheaply by other countries.

Conclusion

The report concludes that “a science-based, precautionary and adaptive approach to quota-setting along the lines explored above could go some way to ensuring that trophy hunting of leopards and other species occurs sustainably even when the available information is spotty”.

Full report: Arie Trouwborst, Andrew J Loveridge, David W Macdonald (2019). Spotty Data: Managing International Leopard (Panthera pardus) Trophy Hunting Quotas Amidst Uncertainty. Journal of Environmental Law. https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqz032

Smoked baby chimpanzee on hotel menu, says NGO

NEWS DESK POST by AG Editorial

A prominent hotel in Kinshasa has been offering smoked baby chimpanzee on their menu, says local NGO Conserv Congo.

Conserv Congo director and former investigative reporter Adams Cassinga was advised by a tourist that the 4-star Beatrice Hotel (website + Facebook + Twitter) in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), offered chimp on the menu, but plans for a sting operation were foiled when staff at the hotel were alerted to the situation, and removed the item from the menu.

According to the menu available at the time, a serving of smoked baby chimpanzee would set customers back US$35, and requires 24-hour notice.

Menu showing smoked baby chimpanzee — The menu from the Beatrice Hotel showing smoked baby chimp (*bébé chimpanzé fumé*) for $35

Hotel management subsequently denied the claims on social media, stating that they no longer offer chimpanzee meat to customers, blaming the error on the cook. Cassinga dismisses this explanation, saying “How can they claim to ‘no longer’ offer chimpanzee meat? The hotel is ten years old and it has been illegal to offer chimpanzee meat for 15 years. In any case, we have witnesses who have eaten chimpanzee meat at this hotel”.

Speaking to Africa Geographic, Cassinga said that Beatrice Hotel owner Mr André Kadima has popped up on his radar a few times over the last few years, in connection with allegations of wildlife trafficking, of both dead and live animals. He is a former employee of ICCN (the parastatal in charge of DRC fauna and Flora) and owns a zoo 60 km north of Kinshasa – ‘Kadima’s Pride of Africa.’

Conserv Congo has instituted legal action against Kadima, on the grounds that it is a criminal offence to hunt, injure, kill, sell or buy, gift or detain a protected species of animal or plant, and that the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) falls into the protected species category. Potential punishment is 1-10 years in prison and/or up to US$20,000 fine.

Cassinga said that Conserv Congo recently won the first wildlife trafficking case in DRC, when three bonobo/pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) traffickers were sentenced to five months in prison and a fine of US$5,000 each. He went on to say that, at any given time in Kinshasa alone, there are at least ten great apes for sale. Red-tailed monkeys are butchered in hundreds daily as bushmeat, and many are held as pets and as symbols of wealth and status. He suggests that conservation plans are failing in Africa because of the demand for wild animals, which is based on greed, superstition and bad habit – and had nothing to do with cultural identity.

Consumption of bushmeat across the central African rainforests has escalated due to increasing commercialisation of what was previously a localised food source. Road and trucking networks provided by mining and hardwood forest logging companies facilitate easy access to otherwise remote and inaccessible areas, and meat is now being transported to major African cities and even to Europe and the United States, which host expatriate African communities.

Recently we exposed Instagram influencers Jessica Nabongo and Sal Lavallo for eating pangolin meat in a Gabon restaurant, and promoting the experience to their followers.

The Conserv Congo mission statement is to ‘preserve the biodiversity of the Congo basin’ and they do this primarily via investigating illegal trafficking and assisting the authorities in arresting and prosecuting offenders. They also educate members of the public about wildlife laws, promote alternative livelihoods to poaching and rescue trafficked wildlife, which they place in sanctuaries. In this video founding director Adams Cassinga explains more about Conserv Congo. Cassinga is a Mandela Washington Fellow, Young African Leaders Initiative Fellow, DRC honorary park ranger and a member of the Game Rangers Association of Africa.

How can you help?

Conserv Congo director Adams Cassinga has requested supporters to donate money that will be used to fund the legal action taken against Beatrice Hotel owner Mr André Kadima, who is a wealthy man with significant legal resources at his disposal. Please contact him via this email address: aminiadams16@hotmail.com

Read more about chimpanzees here– includes wonderful images.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 4

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing and open for submissions!

A red-billed oxpecker and a buffalo take a drink together. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Alan Nixon

Juvenile painted wolves (African wild dogs) with the remains of their meal. Selinda Concession, Botswana © Gerhard Thom

A lion after a fight with his brother. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Kevin Dooley

An elephant calf, too young to know how to use its trunk yet, drinks from the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Willem Kruger

? An elephant calf, still too young to know how to use its trunk, drinks from the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Willem Kruger

Moments before a spotted hyena catches an eland calf. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

? A springbok enjoying the flowers after the first shower of rain. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

Children by a traditionally carved door. Stone Town, Zanzibar © Kathryn du Toit

A Namaqua chameleon surveying its surroundings in the Namib Desert. Near Swakopmund, Namibia © Alastair Marsh

A baboon picks up a baby after time spent drinking from the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Willem Kruger

? A baboon picks up its baby after time spent drinking from the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana © Willem Kruger

A very curious lion cub on a red dune. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Margie Botha

A gabar goshawk takes off after bathing at a waterhole. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Willem Kruger

Zebra playing at dawn. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Ivan Glaser

Juvenile bateleur. Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, South Africa © Daniela Anger

A lion sits in the rain. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

A tawny eagle having his share of a carcass. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Alan Nixon

Impala with reflections on a waterhole. Londolozi Private Game Reserv, South Africa © Pranav Chadha

A great white egret catches his lunch at Sunset Dam. Kruger National Park, South Africa © Leon Heyes

Millipedes – 10 facts that we find interesting

Millipedes of all shapes and sizes are a common sight in Africa, particular after rain, when they are seen marching around in search of decaying plant matter to eat. Some are HUGE – easily the size of your hand, and many have brightly coloured bodies and legs – possibly to scare off predators.

We rounded up ten interesting facts about these beautiful creatures:

• The indigenous people of southern Africa call the millipede ‘shongololo’, which is derived from from the Xhosa and Zulu word ‘ukushonga’, meaning to roll up…

• The name “millipede” is derived from Latin, meaning “thousand feet”. However, no known species has that many legs, and the record for the most legs on a millipede species belongs to Illacme plenipes, who has 750 feet.

• There are about 12,000 described species of millipedes!

• Their primary defence mechanism is to release a foul-smelling toxin, which is made up of hydrochloric acid (which burns) and hydrogen cyanide (which asphyxiates). This keeps most predators at bay, except for shrews and civets, which appear to be immune to these toxins. Millipedes also curl up into a tight ball when threatened, to protect their soft underparts.

• When disturbed, millipedes escape predation by moving away in a slithering, snake-like motion, which may scare off some predators.

• Hornbills have been observed using crushed millipedes to line their cavity nests in trees – possibly to avoid mite and other infestations. Some primates have been observed intentionally disturbing millipedes to obtain the foul-smelling toxins which they rub onto their bodies, also as a repellent.

• Millipedes are some of the oldest land animals on Earth. The first known millipede, Pneumodesmus newmani, was only 1 cm long and appeared during the Paleozoic era, 252-541 million years ago. This is the oldest known creature to have lived on land, and was discovered in 2004 from a single specimen in Scotland.

• Some extinct prehistoric millipedes (Arthropleura spp.) grew up to 2 metres in length!

• The longest living millipede is the giant African millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas), reaching a length of up to 38.5 cm.

• It is thought that the bright body and leg colours of some millipedes is to warn off or repel predators.

Photographer of the Year 2020 Weekly Selection: Week 3

Our Photographer of the Year 2020 is now in full swing and open for submissions!

A sub-adult lion comes in to steal a kill made by spotted hyenas, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Pranav Chadha

? A sub-adult lion comes in to steal a kill made by spotted hyenas, only to find very little for himself. The hyenas did not bother getting their meal back because they had had their full. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Pranav Chadha

? This huge bull elephant was busy drinking water in the Zambezi River. I crawled down to the riverbank and, with a low angle, I got this image. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe © Kevin Dooley

A meerkat enjoys a scorpion as a meal. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? An orange-breasted sunbird in search of the sweet nectar from a common pagoda. Taken Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? A mother baboon looks protectingly over her baby as another adult endeavours to gently touch the young one. Chobe River, Botswana © Braeme Holland

A variable bush viper in its rainforest habitat. Mityana district, west of Kampala, Uganda © Daniel Wakefield

? A variable bush viper in its rainforest habitat. This area of Uganda is mostly agricultural, and only a few small pockets of lowland rainforest remain. Mityana district, west of Kampala, Uganda © Daniel Wakefield

Week-old lion cubs suckle from their mother. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Matrishva Vyas

? A macro closeup of a male carpenter bee on a salvia plant. Carpenter bees construct their nests by boring tunnels in wood – hence their name. They are important pollinators of open-faced flowers. The males are greenish-yellow in colour, and the females are black with two yellow bands over the hind thorax and first abdominal segment respectively. Cape Town, South Africa © Peet J. Van Eeden

A leopard descends a large tree. South Luangwa National Park, Zambia © Raymond Stone

Straw-coloured fruit bats. Kasanka National Park, Zambia © Ralph Stutchbury

? Every year between October and December the largest mammal migration on Earth takes place when over ten million straw-coloured fruit bats take up residence in a few hectares of the ‘Bat Forest’ in Kasanka National Park’s mushitu swamp forest. Each evening at sunset, they leave their roosts to search for food. Kasanka National Park, Zambia © Ralph Stutchbury

A cheetah cub rests against the curved wall of a concrete pipe. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Nick Dale

? A purple heron proudly displays a Mozambique tilapia before swallowing the sizeable fish. Intaka Island Wetlands, Cape Town, South Africa © Braeme Holland

The Milky Way and night sky over our tent. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Bill Klipp

An elephant mother with her calf. Okavango Delta, Botswana © Kevin Dooley

A lioness in the process of moving one of her cubs. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Lennart Hessel

? A lioness in the process of moving one of her cubs to a new den site. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Lennart Hessel

An elephant family herd pass by with Mount Kilamanjaro in the background. Amboseli National Park, Kenya © Josef Friedhuber

? An elephant family herd pass by with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background. Amboseli National Park, Kenya © Josef Friedhuber

? Interwoven brittle stars with a sandy anemone. Outer Photographer’s Reef near Simonstown, South Africa © Peet J. Van Eeden

A caracal spotted by the Rooiputs waterhole. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Margie Botha

A leopard sits in the forked trunk of a tree. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania © Nick Dale

Migrating wildebeest – nature's most accomplished endurance athletes – soar through shadows and dust as the hurl themselves into the Mara River. The few minutes required for this crossing are the most perilous of their hazardous, 800-kilometre trek. Mara Triangle, Kenya © Deji Odetoyinbo

? Migrating wildebeest – nature’s most accomplished endurance athletes – soar through shadows and dust as they hurl themselves into the Mara River. The few minutes required for this crossing are the most perilous of their hazardous, 800-kilometre trek. Mara Triangle, Kenya © Deji Odetoyinbo

A gemsbok in the early morning. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa © Hilda Le Roux

Lion cubs play on their mother while she tries to rest. Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Julie Escoffier

? A water monitor carries a fish through a rocky section along the Sand River. Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve, South Africa© Cal Butler

A rather mischievious-looking vervet monkey eyes out the photographer. Greater Kruger, South Africa © Braeme Holland

Two painted wolf (African wild dog) puppies folic playfully in the later afternoon sun. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

? Two painted wolf (African wild dog) puppies frolic playfully in the late afternoon sun. Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa © Braeme Holland

Up close of lichen growing on a bougainvillea plant. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa © Leon Heyes

A rock kestrel on the lookout for potential prey. Giant's Castle, Drakensberg, South Africa © Leon Heyes

The lioness named "Longneck" and three of her cubs. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya © Ivan Glaser

? A lilac-breasted roller carrying a dead grasshopper in its beak lifts its wings to take off. Tarangire National Park, Tanzania © Nick Dale

An aardvark foraging in the evening light. In winter these elusive animals tend to come out of their burrows in the afternoon to maximise their feeding time. Southern Kalahari, South Africa © Laura Christie

? An aardvark foraging in the evening light. In winter, these elusive and usually nocturnal animals tend to come out of their burrows in the afternoon to maximise their feeding time. Southern Kalahari, South Africa © Laura Christie

6 Swahili food dishes you won’t want to miss!

Safaris are made all the better when you eat local food, and Swahili food dishes are delicious. With a beautiful blend of Arab, Indian and Portuguese influences, Swahili cuisine uses a variety of spices like coriander, clove, chilli and black pepper together with a range of staples like maize, cassava, rice, wheat and sorghum.

Here are a few examples of delicious East African safari food – as eaten by the local people:

Nyama choma

This “charred meat” is a rich, filling barbecue of beef, chicken or goat, marinated in garlic, lemon juice, curry powder and turmeric and slow-roasted over hot coals until supremely tender. It’s a very social food and a dish that’s enjoyed by communities everywhere in Africa.

Wali na maharage

Swahili beans is a favourite of vegetarians or meat-eaters alike and blends dried beans with local, flavoursome ingredients to produce a filling bean stew that could be sweet or spicy. Cooked beans are sautéed with onions, ginger, tomatoes and coconut milk.

Pilau

Pilau is a typical rice dish all over the world, but the secret to the Swahili version is that it’s flavoured with the spices fresh from the “Spice Island” – Zanzibar. Famous for clove and cinnamon, and with the addition of cardamom, Swahili pilau is a delicate and fragrant rice dish.

Chipsi mayai

Think of this dish as a delicious sautéed potato omelette – and it’s easy to prepare! After you’ve sautéed your potatoes, whisk up an egg or two and add it to the pan. Mix it around a bit, and soon it’ll cook into a slab of eggy-potatoey loveliness.

East African meals — Chipsi mayai – potato chip omelette

Ndizi na nyama

Got meat? Got bananas? Then you’re ready for ndizi na nyama – a meat and banana stew. For those of you who think that fruit and meat are an unholy alliance, think again. This tasty, unusual stew uses unripe rather than sweet plantains which, when added during the last ten minutes of cooking, become tender and delicious.

Ugali

The most ubiquitous food across all of East Africa is ugali – a starchy accompaniment made of cornmeal, semolina or sorghum flour and water. Because it’s easy to make and the ingredients are low-cost, it’s a popular food, and you’ll see it often during your safaris in East Africa.

Swahili food dishes — Ugali – a firm flour porridge

And to drink?

Tea and coffee are plentiful in East Africa, as are fresh-pressed pineapple, orange, sugar cane and papaya juices – a sweet and thirst-quenching way to end your safari day. There’s also a variety of refreshing local beers available – such as Tusker, Serengeti and Kilimanjaro. Be aware though that in Muslim areas, alcohol is only sold in the tourist hotels, bars and cafes.

These are only a taste of some of the delicious Swahili food choices that East Africa offers. In the end, there truly is nothing better than watching an African sunset with a beer in hand and a full, satisfied tummy! And next time you order your safari meal, be sure to speak Swahili like a local!

Mountain gorilla population continues to rise

Silverback mountain gorilla in Bwindi, Uganda — A silverback mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda © Christian Boix

NEWS DESK POST by International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP)

The population of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), one of the world’s most endangered species, is on the rise, and now stands at an estimated 1,063 individuals (1,004 in 2018).

This after a population survey was performed in the Bwindi-Sarambwe area, one of the two remaining areas where this critically endangered great ape is still found (the other being the Virunga Massif area).

The survey results revealed that the population in Bwindi-Sarambwe has increased to 459 from an estimated 400 in 2011. When combined with the previously published figure of 604 mountain gorillas from the Virunga Massif area, the total population now stands at an estimated 1,063 mountain gorillas.

“Slowly but surely a solid future for mountain gorillas is emerging, proving that long-term, collaborative conservation efforts can pull species back from the brink of extinction. This was demonstrated last year with the IUCN reclassification from ‘Critically Endangered’ to ‘Endangered’.” said Anna Behm Masozera, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), which provided technical and financial support to the exercise under an agreement with the intergovernmental Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration.

The increase in mountain gorillas is attributed to the effectiveness of conservation policies and strategies, regulated tourism, daily protection and veterinary interventions, intensive law enforcement, community conservation projects, and transboundary collaboration among government institutions and NGOs. Further, these results are a testament to the tireless effort of the rangers and trackers who daily protect and monitor mountain gorillas and their habitat, including those that have been killed in the line of duty.

It is also essential to recognise the role of the communities that live close to these national parks who co-exist with mountain gorillas and contribute to conservation efforts. That said, the survey findings also indicated that the threat of illegal human activities to mountain gorillas and other wildlife has not declined in Bwindi-Sarambwe since 2011, despite the positive developments in community engagement and conservation and tourism initiatives. For instance, survey teams found and destroyed 88 snares during their work.

Team members collect faeces at a mountain gorilla nest site for genetic evaluation © Winnie Eckardt

The exercise involved more than 75 trained survey members from 13 participating institutions along with the support of local governments and communities living around the protected areas. Survey teams walked pre-determined reconnaissance trails, ensuring thorough coverage of all forest areas to sweep the Bwindi-Sarambwe and search for signs of gorillas, other key mammals, and human activities. When fresh gorilla signs were detected, the teams followed the gorilla trail to locate three recent night nest sites. At each of these nest sites, the teams collected faecal samples from nests. The process was completed twice; first from March to May 2018 (62 days), and second from October to December 2018 (60 days). A second sweep allows finding gorillas that were undetected during the first sweep and thus provides more reliable numbers of gorillas. Faecal samples were analysed genetically to determine individual genotypes. Additional scientific publications are expected from the survey.

Despite the rise in numbers, the two populations of mountain gorillas remain relatively small and vulnerable to a potential rapid decline due to factors such as their limited habitat, climate change, dependence on resources in the park by people, and the risk of disease transmission.

Team members in Bwindi preparing for mountain gorilla population census — Team members practice ahead of the census start © Winnie Eckardt

Swahili – a brief safari guide to key words and phrases

Swahili (Kiswahili) is a Bantu language that’s spoken by the Swahili people across and beyond East Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Strongly influenced by and initially written in Arabic, Swahili is now more commonly written using the Latin alphabet. Visitors to East Africa should master at least a few Swahili words and phrases – and enjoy friendly banter with local people. Of course, Swahili culture has its idiosyncrasies and subtleties, which may embarrass all involved – but expect a high degree of forgiveness if you get some things wrong.

Here then are a few general guidelines to rewarding interactions with the peoples of East Africa:

Greetings are important

In Swahili culture, greeting etiquette is tremendously important, and it’s considered impolite not to greet correctly. How you greet someone in Tanzania has an impact on how they will behave towards you. For instance, if a person doesn’t greet their neighbour, it’s usually assumed that they dislike each other.

Ask questions

Key to a rewarding conversation is to spend some time asking about the other person – such as their health and that of their parents and family, and how business/farming is going. Social relationships are very important in Africa, so it’s important to take the time to understand their situation and wellbeing. You will probably not have too much Swahili in your vocabulary, so this conversation will probably be in English, after the initial Swahili greetings

Physical contact

Handshakes (right hand only) are extremely important and sometimes hands are held much longer than you might be used to – sometimes for the duration of the conversation. Your hands might meet and gently entwine fingers, or perhaps there might be some wrist-holding. There are a few variations, so don’t get hung up about what and how – relax and enjoy the moment. If you’re respectful and friendly, no one will take offence at your awkwardness.

Key Swahili phrases

Learning a few basic Swahili phrases will help you during that initial, sometimes awkward, greeting phase, and earn the respect of your Swahili-speaking friend. Here are a few of the most useful phrases (the syllables to stress are in bold):

♦ “Hello”: “Hujambo”, often shortened to “jambo”. You can also use “habari” which roughly translated means “What’s the news about….?”. Use any of these, and smile, as you’re going in for the handshake

♦ “Good morning!”: There’s nothing like a cheerful “habari za asubuhi!” to show friendliness and good wishes. Use “habari za mchana” for “good afternoon.”

♦ “How are you?”: Ask “habari gani?”. But if your friend gets in first with “habari gani?” then answer: “nzuri, ahsante!” (“good, thanks!”). You can also say, “poa” or “safi!” or, if you’re already on good terms, you can be less formal: “Poa, kichisi kama ndizi kwenye friji” (“I am cool like a banana in the fridge”)

♦ “Please”: “Tafadhali”

♦ “Thank you (very much)”: “Ahsante (sana)”

♦ “Goodbye”: “Kwaheri”

♦ “Good night”: “Usiku mwema” or “habari za jioni”

♦ “Enjoy your trip”: “Safari njema“:

“Habari” – the most useful Swahili word

“Habari” is a handy word as you can use it to say “hello” AND to ask what’s the latest news. You’ll impress if you ask “habari za familia?” (“how is your family?”) and follow it up with “habari za kazi?” (“how is work?”). You can also try “habari za kutwa?” (“how was your day?”).

If you invest the time to master the above smattering of Swahili, your social credibility will sky-rocket, and you will enjoy the familiarity and respect that adds layers of enjoyment to your safari. Safari njema!

Survival against the odds – 2 special elephants

These are the stories of two elephants who display enormous tenacity and will to survive, despite significant obstacles. As told by Dr. Michelle Henley – Elephants Alive Director, Co-founder and Principal Researcher.

MATAMBU

Most of the staff and residents of the Associated Private Nature Reserves – Klaserie, Umbabat, Timbavati, Balule & Thornybush (APNR) in the Greater Kruger – have come to know Matambu. He is a true gentle giant amongst elephants, in every sense of the word, often bestowing on us the great honour of contact rumbling when he senses us. This could be because we have regularly visited him since first sighting him on 16 June 2005, and so he has come to recognise the sound of our research vehicle and the scent of its passengers. You see, Matambu is almost totally blind. During our recent annual aerial census, Matambu was seen walking closely on the heels of a younger bull, tracking him as he weaved his way through the bushveld. We have often found him in the company of Whispers, who would protectively charge at us when we immobilise his ailing companion – surely a sign of loyalty and concern for his safety.

In May of this year, we thought we were going to lose Matambu after he suffered a severe infection near the base of his tail and his underparts, probably after being attacked by another bull. We turned to Wildlifevets (Drs. Ben Muller and Joel Alves) three times to treat Matambu’s wounds.

Wound on elephant, Matambu, being treated by vets in Greater Kruger, South Africa elephants — Matambu’s wound is treated by vets © Dr. Michelle Henley

A deep sadness hung over our team at Elephants Alive when we were told during the last treatment that we needed to let him pass on. But, as we mentally prepared ourselves, Matambu had other plans and a clear will to live, and slowly but surely his condition improved. Almost six months after his injury he is still thin and has a less severe infection, but the flushing green grass will hopefully give him the kick-start he needs to boost his immune system and fight off the infection. We are delighted to be approaching the festive season and the New Year with this special elephant. Keep fighting Matambu, as we need your continued existence to bring us added joy!

RHANDZEKILE

Rhandzekile, meaning ‘loved’ in Shangaan, was first sighted in 2009 in the Umbabat Private Nature Reserve as a young sub-adult cow. Through the years since then, people who see her have expressed shock and awe that she has kept going. Rhandzekile has a large hole below her forehead, through which she breathes. Our vets suspect that her handicap is congenital. She appears on and off in the APNR and recently was seen lactating, with a calf in tow.

The hole in her forehead was recently oozing puss, and so we again called Wildlifevets to the rescue, who examined her and administered booster injections. Miraculously, only 2% of her breathing is through her trunk – the rest is via the hole in her forehead, with much audible sucking and blowing. Subsequent to this treatment she moved out of Balule Private Nature Reserve all the way down to Skukuza over the period of a month, clearly showing us that her handicap does not hold her back in anyway.

Elephant cow, Rhandzekile, sedated while vets look at hole in head, Greater Kruger, South Africa — Rhandzekile is sedated while the vets inspect the hole in her forehead © Dr. Joel Alves

Rhandzekile has the company of her family herd, and we wonder who in that herd helps her to drink by squirting water into her mouth, as she will not be able to suck water very effectively?

So it is in the lives of elephants – they care for each other – and sometimes we are privileged enough to catch a glimpse into their world of absolute bonds and friendships that last a lifetime and allow handicapped individuals to live long and fruitful lives.

Elephant cow with hole in head, birth defect, Greater Kruger, South Africa elephants — The vets believe that the hole in her forehead is congenital © Dr. Joel Alves

Thank you to all the landowners of the APNR for reporting sightings of this cow. We would like to monitor her more closely and fit a collar so your sightings are valuable. Thank you to the wardens and especially to Ian Nowak (general manager of Balule) for helping with the location of this cow for examination.

Collared elephant hunted in Botswana, tracking device destroyed

elephant collar, Botswana elephant hunting — A typical elephant collar with tracking device (not the collar in question) © Mara Elephant Project

NEWS DESK POST by AG Editorial

A collared elephant has been hunted in Botswana, and the tracking device destroyed. Four other elephant bulls were hunted by the same party. The hunts took place in a remote area near the Dobe border post between Namibia and Botswana.

The hunting party destroyed the tracking device, according to a statement by Botswana Wildlife Producers Association chairman Basimane Masire. He went on to say that the professional hunter and owner of the elephant hunting license subsequently forfeited their hunting licenses and have cooperated with the official investigation.

The Botswana Government’s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism confirmed yesterday that professional hunter Michael Lee Potter and Botswana citizen Michael Sharp, a citizen who holds the hunting license, claimed not to have noticed that the large bull elephant had a research collar around its neck.

Collared elephant bulls are usually older animals with large tusks, making them attractive hunting trophies. Despite the hunting of collared elephants being contrary to most trophy hunting ethics protocols, and often illegal, incidents of this occurring are not infrequent.

Journalist Don Pinnock reported in Daily Maverick that Zimbabwe professional hunter Adrian Read had the following to say about trophy hunters claiming not to notice that their targets carried research collars: “The collar is very visible from the front as well as from the sides. And you wouldn’t shoot an elephant facing directly away from you because you have to assess the tusk size. In my opinion, anyone shooting a collared elephant and saying he did not see the collar can only be shooting after dark (which is illegal).”

Map showing location of Botswana elephant hunt — The elephant hunt took place in a remote area known as NG3, near the Botswana/Namibia border post of Dobe

Controversy has reigned since the Botswana government made the decision to resume the hunting of elephants, including chaos during the auction process when Botswana citizens had the opportunity to bid for elephant hunting permits.

Included in the reasoning provided by the Botswana government when they made this decision, was that elephants would be hunted in areas with high incidences of elephant-human conflict so that the local people derive benefits from the hunts. In his report, Pinnock continues that a representative of the local San people, Dahem Xixae, explained “We have no conflict. Only the hunters are the winners here, whereas local poor people remain in sorrow… There’s no benefit to the community from the hunting of elephants and there are dangers. First of all, the Ju/’hoansi do not eat elephants, because elephants behave like human beings. The five elephants hunted were not transients but local ones. This will make the (other elephants) more aggressive and if any were wounded they will be very dangerous to the local community.” Xixae went on to say that “his community was not advised of this elephant hunt”.

For further information about the process leading up to the decision by the Botswana government to resume the hunting of elephants and other species read this compendium of articles.