Page 6 – Africa Geographic

Serval

With its long limbs, spotted coat and characteristic spring-loaded pounce, the serval is one of the most striking cat species in Africa

CEO note: Free at last + land of grey giants + best pics

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 19

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Tuli

Botswana’s Tuli is a place where the wind carries stories of the past, whispering over rocks, around baobabs and across the vast wilderness

New pack of African painted dogs released

Endangered African painted dogs – a new pack has been released into the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Reserve in another conservation milestone for the species

Changes to CITES listing process recommended

CITES listing process needs to change with careful consideration given to the complicated set of conservation implications for each species.

CEO note: Success | trophy hunting data | Amboseli

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 18

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Amboseli National Park – Kenya

Amboseli National Park in Kenya nestles in the shadow of mighty Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a land of exquisite contrasts, iconic scenery and extraordinary biodiversity.

Recreational hunting: 50 years of scientific research

Trophy hunting: Massive meta-analysis on recreational hunting fails to find answers to the crucial questions of the polarising hunting debate

CEO note: Lions | lions | lions

Community stops avocado farm in the Amboseli region

Success story – avocado farm in Kenya’s Amboseli region loses license after local Maasai people and conservationists protest

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 17

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Chobe River lions face an uncertain future

Lions in the Chobe River area face an uncertain future – pressured by human farmers to the north and a lack of new blood from the south

Lions bones and bullets – bones for sale

Industrial lion farming and illegal trade – Lions Bones & Bullets uncovers how industrial-scale lion farming has adapted to reduced trophy hunting by exporting lion bones to Asia

Captive lions: NO – says South Africa’s minister

Captive lions: SA government announces intention to bring an end to the commercial captive lion industry in South Africa

CEO note: Hope 4 elephants | Mundari | safari tips

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 16

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

The Mundari people of South Sudan

The Mundari people of South Sudan are a fascinating, traditional people with a cattle-based culture forging into the 21st century

Elephant range is just a fraction of its potential

Africa’s elephants occupy just 17% of their possible range, their historical areas fragmented by human activity. There is potential for expansion – new research

CEO note: Lions vs giraffes | parrot voodoo | Gorongosa

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 15

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

The restoration of Gorongosa National Park

Gorongosa: A long-lost doctoral thesis by an ecologist far ahead of his time helps unleash the massive potential of Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

African grey parrots in traditional medicine

African grey parrots are targeted for medicinal and spiritual practices in West Africa. The trade is a significant threat to grey parrots – new research

CEO note: Elephants – good & bad news

Giraffes vs lions

Lions vs a mother giraffe and her baby. This exceptional photo gallery by Kenyan guide James Nampaso showcases real wild Africa

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 14

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

PROTECTING PARADISE – Mauritius

Mauritius – an island beach paradise that also offers volcanic mountains, ancient forest & incredible biodiversity – the perfect green safari

It’s true – elephants are thriving in Namibia

Counting elephants is not easy. It itakes experience, skill and funding. The good news: elephants are thriving in Namibia.

Forest elephants – vanishing ghosts

Forest elephants have finally been granted species status (something scientists have known for decades). With this has come the appalling IUCN classification of ‘critically endangered’

CEO note: Makeup monkey + elephant hunting

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 13

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Mandrill – a colourful character

The mandrill is a colourful, tool-using, socially complex monkey that lives in groups called hordes in the forests of western Central Africa.

CEO note: ‘Problem’ lions + Africa’s 11 dog species

Elephant hunting – Botswana grants 287 licenses

Botswana elephant hunting: The Botswanan government has granted 287 licenses after the previous season was disrupted by Covid

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 12

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Translocating lions does not reduce conflict – research

New research from Botswana shows that translocating lions in conflict with livestock owners is expensive and results in high lion mortality, repeat offences and very little reduction in human-lion conflict.

African canids – 11 fascinating species

Today, 11 African canids, from excitable African painted wolves and shrewd jackals to the tiny fox species, hunt the continent’s desert, alpine grassland, savanna and woodland.

CEO note: Question: Largest mammal migration on Earth?

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 11

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Kasanka Bat Migration – an astonishing natural wonder

The Kasanka bat migration in Zambia is the largest mammal migration on planet earth. It’s a spectacular must-see for nature lovers

Fairy circles – ghostly footprints of dead Euphorbias

Fairy circles – Euphorbia toxins are responsible for the bizarre fairy circles that have baffled and fascinated scientists – new research

CEO note: More shades of grey + Laikipia + jumbo ID

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 10

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Laikipia – land of staggering natural beauty

Laikipia in Kenya – a land of staggering beauty & biodiversity – a mosaic of wildlife conservancies, ranchlands & commercial farms

SEEK and ye shall find – elephant identification

Elephant identification is a difficult task – but a new system based on ear patterns is making the task easier – research by Elephants Alive

Rhino poaching in Botswana – is pride hampering prevention?

Is political pride hurting efforts to stop rhino poaching in Botswana? Reports from the field suggest that rhino poaching in Botswana has reached crisis point while the government denies this is the case.

CEO note: Just in case + fences & elephants

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 9

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

The rhino Cryovault – frozen in time

If all the money, time, blood and sweat fails to save our wild rhinos, Hemmersbach has a solution. The rhino Cryovault holds repositories of rhino DNA, gametes, and tissues preserved indefinitely.

Do fences stop elephant migration in Botswana?

Dr Erik Verreynne discusses the claim that fences are an underlying cause of the elephant mortalities in NG11/12 in 2020 in Botswana. His assessment, based on observation of elephants, the habitat and the actual state of the fences, concludes that there is little evidence to suggest fences stop elephant migration in Seronga or that they had a measurable effect on the 2020 die-off.

CEO note: Diamonds, rhino horn and elephant auctions

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 8

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Nyungwe National Park

Nyungwe National Park is one of Rwanda’s best kept secrets – a magical tract of montane forest bursting with extraordinary biodiversity

The story behind the Namibian elephant auction

Namibian elephant auction: We look at the background, reasons and context of the controversial sale by auction of 170 wild-caught elephants

CEO note: Epic images + livestock loss compensation

Compensation for damage-causing animals near Kruger NP

Compensation given for damage causing animals on the western boundary of the greater Kruger National Park – a contested and emotive issue

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 7

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

African Wildcat

African wildcats are one of Africa’s “Secret 7” – tough little cats are just as untamed and fierce as their iconic big cat cousins

Does the farming and legal trade of wildlife do more harm than good? New study

Farming and legal trade of wildlife could increase demand for wildlife products and so be negative from a conservation perspective – research

CEO note: Hukumuri – the furore

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 6

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

KGALAGADI

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park offers one of the most intimate immersions in nature imaginable – free from the trappings of modern life

CEO note: A poached rhino carcass & the takeaway food wrappers

The death of Hukumuri

Hukumuri the beloved leopard is dead – shot by authorities because he was killing livestock and posed a threat to people in rural villages

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 5

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Meet the world’s smallest chameleon

This dwarf chameleon is officially the world’s smallest chameleon, measuring just 22mm. Found only in Madagascar, this is Brookesia nana

Aardwolf

The aardwolf is one of the most specialised carnivores on the planet – eating termites – and the undeniable black sheep of the hyena family

CEO note: Those dead elephants + hyena shenanigans + best pics

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 4

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Did fences cause the elephant deaths in Botswana?

New study examines whether fences could have impacted the elephant deaths in the Seronga region of Botswana in mid-2020.

Unravelling the elaborate sex lives of spotted hyenas

High-ranked male spotted hyenas are more reproductively successful than their low-ranked rivals – hormone and behaviour analysis reveals why.

CEO note: Kruger rhinos crash + best pics

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 3

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Kruger rhino populations plummet – latest official stats

Rhino populations in the Kruger National Park have plummeted to an estimated 3,529 white and 268 black rhinos – due to poaching & drought

Largest collaring initiative to protect wildlife in Pendjari and W National Parks, Benin

A successful large-scale collaring of elephants and antelopes aids in the restoration and protection of Pendjari and W National Parks, Benin.

CEO note: Gold rush + sordid past + ancient walled kingdom

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 2

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

‘Gold rush’ as Botswana meets appetite for lion parts

Investigation reveals Botswana is exporting both live lions and lion parts to South Africa – possible links to canned hunting

THULAMELA

Thulamela is an ancient and sacred walled kingdom in Kruger National Park that unlocks some of the fascinating history of southern Africa

MAKULEKE

Between two rivers and three countries, Makuleke Contractual Park in northern Kruger is a spectacular biodiversity and historical hotspot

Of ivory, elephants, shipwrecks and slaughter

Ivory recovered from 500-year-old shipwreck reveals details of the ivory trade and how it has devastated forest elephant populations.

CEO note: Best pics + Africa’s rarest parrot + jumbos from space

Photographer of the Year 2021 Weekly Selection: Week 1

Fantastic images from our Photographer of the Year 2021. Enter now to win US$10,000 cash and a Botswana safari

Cape Parrot

This is Africa’s rarest parrot. The Cape parrot is found only in small fragmented patches of the remaining mistbelt forests in South Africa

Spotting elephants from space

Artificial intelligence and satellite images can help conservationists count elephants from space, says new research.

CEO note: A story about perspective

Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve is a malaria-free safari haven and conservation success story that benefits people, wildlife and the ecosystem

Dwarf giraffe seen in Namibia and Uganda

Researchers have recently published a paper describing two dwarf giraffe in separate populations in Namibia and Uganda

CEO note: Boycott Africa + elephants vs villagers

Boycott Africa – good intentions with unfortunate consequences?

Boycott Africa! is the demand by some who dislike the wildlife policies adopted by some African countries. Is boycott bad for conservation?

Stories in the night sky

For centuries, African myths and legends have been recorded in the positions of the celestial bodies in the night sky. Starry starry night

Key Questions for Human-Elephant Conflict Research

Managing elephants amongst rural villages is challenging where elephant populations are increasing due to successful conservation practises

CEO note: Extinction business + 2 success stories

Cheetahs return to Bangweulu, Zambia

Three cheetahs have been successfully translocated from South Africa to Bangweulu in Zambia – the first cheetahs there in nearly a century

Operation Twiga V

15 ‘Critically Endangered’ Nubian giraffes translocated from Murchison Falls to Pian Upe in Uganda – part of ongoing giraffe range expansion

The extinction business – South Africa’s cold-blooded reptile trade

South Africa’s amphibian & reptile trade is a growing industry that is unregulated, unsustainable, and unethical – says report

CEO note: Frack the Okavango + arch enemies + Gorongosa

Paradise is closing down: The ghastly spectre of oil drilling and fracking in fragile Okavango Delta

Okavango Delta under threat as oil drilling and fracking loom on the horizon after Canadian company tests massive prospecting concessions