Archive for June 2012

Jun
29

Okapi Conservation Day July 1st

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Okapi

If you have been following the zoo’s website or facebook page or even those of our friends at the Wildlife Conservation Network’s, you have seen the news about the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the attacks on the Okapi Conservation Centre and the The Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN).

These attacks on June 24th took the lives of 6 people and the rebel group completely destroyed and looted the program, killing 13 of the 14 captive managed Okapi’s at the Centre. By June 26th, the Congolese Army had moved in to secure the area and now the hard work of putting peoples lives back together and supporting these efforts begin. It is important to note that the attack on the Epulu Station was in retaliation for recent engagements by ICCN rangers that disrupted poaching and mining activities in the Southern part of the Reserve. The rebels want to be free to reopen the illegal gold mines and poach wildlife without interference. The rangers and conservation personnel who work in these regions literally put their lives on the line every day to protect wildlife.

On Sunday July 1, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Houston Zoo will join with other zoos and conservation organizations to raise relief funds for the ICCN’s recovery efforts.  Learn more about illegal poaching and its impact on endangered species in Africa and around the world. Proceeds from the sale of elephant trunk prints, coloring books, paintings by the Houston Zoo’s okapis, and raffles at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for ‘day of’ behind the scenes okapi tours will benefit Okapi Crisis Relief.  Donations may also be made on line at http://www.houstonzoo.org/okapicrisis/.

Want your very own Okapi painted painting? Then you can go to Ebay and bid now on your very own Okapi Kwame’s work of “art” at http://www.ebay.com/itm/261055676084?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649#ht_630wt_1139

You can also join our partners at the Wildlife Conservation Network in support of this effort:  http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/355747/b9b6035211/1446536659/212ee14728/

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Jun
26

The World Has Gone Crazy

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research

Africa is figuratively on fire these days. Last year over 400 rhinos were confirmed killed in South Africa alone for the wildlife trade and elephant poaching was reaching new highs for the ivory market. In 2012 rhino deaths continue to soar and elephants are fairing no better. In my last set of blogs during my visit to Niassa Lion Project in Mozambique we noted 7 elephants killed within a 30-40 mile radius of camp and news of a bull elephant killed yesterday adds to that number. If that many elephants are killed in such a small area you can imagine what might be happening in the rest of the 16,000 sq. mile reserve.

Last month there was news from our gorilla project partners that rebel activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo was threatening the gorillas, staff and local communities as a never-ending game of “cat and mouse” plays out between the Congolese army and rebel groups in the area. But yesterday when news of an attack by those same rebel groups on the Okapi Conservation Center in Epulu of the Democratic Republic of Congo came in, we were shocked.

The Okapi Conservation Project was initiated in 1987, and is located within the Ituri Forest, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the most biologically diverse country in Africa. The objective of OCP is to conserve the okapi in the wild while preserving the cultural and biological dynamics of the ecosystem. This is supported by the OCP program areas of agro-forestry, conservation education, alternate livelihoods, and community assistance, coupled with direct support for the Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) to protect the wildlife and forest of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. In 1992 the Okapi Wildlife Reserve was created to provide shelter to the okapi in its native habitat and safeguard the incredible diversity of species found in the region.

Early in the morning on Sunday, Simba rebels (Mai Mai) attacked the Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) and headquarters for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve near the village of Epulu in the northeastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the Okapi Conservation Project, at least five guards were killed, and destruction of buildings and looting has occurred. Fighting his way past the rebels, the reserve’s Conservator Gishlain Somba escaped and walked through the night to Mambassa, where he is coordinating with the Congolese Army (FARDC) being deployed to the area, along with top rangers from Virunga National Park. “We are gravely concerned about the fate of our 100 staff members and the 14 okapi at the breeding and research station,” said John Lukas, Founder of the Okapi Conservation Project. “As soon as the area is safe, we will go and provide whatever help we can.” The Okapi is the flagship species for one of the most biologically diverse spots on Earth—the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Rainforest. Today, there are approximately only 10,000 – 20,000 okapi in the wild.To make a donation to help the local people, rebuild the conservation station and provide assistance to the ICCN to continue to protect the wildlife of the Ituri Forest, please visit http://www.okapiconservation.org/uncategorized/update-on-crisis-in-dr-congo-and-okapi-wildlife-reserve-june-26-2012/. You may also follow the Facebook pages of the Okapi Conservation Center, Houston Zoo and Wildlife Conservation Network for updates and information on this unfolding tragedy.

 

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Jun
20

The Trouble with Elephants

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Travel

The trouble with Elephants is two-fold. First, they carry very expensive pieces of ivory around with them that are valued as trophies and ornamental carvings. Second, they invade peoples crops making it even more difficult for villagers to feed their families through the dry season. Both of these add up to the elephants in the region being very nervous and even sometimes aggressive in their interactions with people.

Three days ago, two of he Niassa Lion Project (NLP) staff went out to gear about a report of two elephants killed about 2-3 weeks ago near the village and they found carcasses with the tusks hacked off. Two days ago, there was a report of poachers in the next concession who killed 2 elephants.  Fortunately, an anti poaching unit was able to get to the scene thanks to a small aircraft in the area that spotted the actives and chased off the poachers while they were trying to bundle up the ivory. Unfortunately, no poachers were caught and two elephants were dead, but at least all the ivory was recovered.

This is playing out constantly across Africa and it is putting serious strains on elephant populations.  Persecuted elephants create dangerous situations where it is difficult to protect both the village people and the elephants. NLP will be looking at new models to approach human-wildlife conflict involving both elephants and lions in the future.

Update: We received a message that on June 15th that 3 elephant were shot in the night behind the NLP camp but by the time they were able to get out to the field with scouts, the poachers and ivory were gone. Nobody lives here except the ~10 NLP staff. The closest village – Mbamba Village – is an hour plus walk away and due to their fear of lions and elephants at night, it makes it all the more likely that these poaching syndicates are now reaching into areas from distant villages in the reserve.

 The photo below was not from a poached elephant but from a ~1 year old predated on by lions. The belief these days is the more adults that are being killed, leads to more orpahned elephants which are being taken by predators rather than being protected by the herd. The value of this ivory in the local village is very small – maybe $30USD but once into a larger city its value is around $400 and then internationally that price can double. These tusks were deposited with the National reserve which maintains a vault to keep confiscated and found ivory.

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Jun
15

One last look at the lions

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Travel

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

It is June 10th, and we have headed back out to the Inselberg Lipumbulu , the mid size of the three we have climbed, to find a signal for the lions we have not seen. There is quit a bit of roaring around us at night and it could be a new male across the river moving in or the females Flavia and Fatima behind us who have been moving about lately. We picked up a distant signal on James again as well as Akomwana but that was all. Akomwana and her cub had moved between 6-7 miles since yesterday and we were hoping she had caught up with her sister, who is not collared, so we headed in her direction.

Let me start by saying that Land Rovers are the equivalent of a tank without the turret. The one thing private foundations, grants and awards rarely cover are vehicles and salaries. Without vehicles and salaries how can you even have a project? This 1997 Land Rover went places you would not think possible, nearly vertical drives into and out of riverbeds, through acacia thorn scrub brush habitat, over elephant made pothole covered grasslands and 45 minutes later we reached a strong signal point where she was most likely resting among boulders with her cub. We got a GPS point, but no visual but in this landscape seeing her once this week was lucky enough. If anyone is interested in helping fund a new “used” Land Rover, give me a call, the project cannot grow with only one field vehicle capable of following lions and visiting villages.

Work continues on the layout of the environmental center housing for the workers Niassa Lion Project are bringing in from the community for construction. There was a visit to the village by one of the staff to advise a villager on better goat-corral construction now that one of his goats was taken by a leopard. Now that the NLP camp has been up and running for over a month, everyone is becoming very busy on top of tracking lions.

Tomorrow we will spend some time back at environmental education center and see what else the Houston Zoo can do to help from funding salaries and bush meat surveys to equipment for lion tracking and educational materials for the new center.

 

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Jun
14

A Chance Encounter

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

Last night heading back from a trip downriver, we encountered the lion, Jabru at 5:30pm (it is dark here by 5pm) who is James’ brother and the dominant male in the territory.  He is suspected to be the Father of Akeelha, Akomwana’s cub. We had not picked up his signal recently so it could be the collar or he was just among the riverbeds.

In the morning we headed out to find him again but could not locate his signal. Akomwana, James and Flavia could be heard so we went out looking for Flavia assuming she would be with her sister Fatima and 17 month old son Fabio who we met earlier and I mistook for a 3 year old male. We found Flavia easy enough, relatively speaking given the Land Rovers ability to traverse the moon apparently, and Fabio was with her as was her sister Fatima and a female lion with no collar who we were not sure about.

Then out of the brush popped two little ears!  Fatima had given birth during the wet season as this cub was less then 6 months old and he/she was hanging out with big brother Fabio. This was great news given some of the losses we have seen, clearly there was only one cub which is odd as their litters are 3-4 cubs. The cub was named Fantine (pronounced Fon-teen) as all animals in this line will start with the letter F to keep all the lineages straight in the researchers heads, and it was good to see three generations of lions, a rare sight here given the high mortality to dominant males. The sire of this cub is Malandro who we reported dead just a few days ago after locating his cut collar in the river.

We have seen more lions than we suspected in our short time here and this last sighting  of 3 adult females, their 17 month old son and the 6 month old cub was very special.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

 

 

 

 

 

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Jun
13

Honey Guides and Honey Collecting

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Travel

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

The people living in this region have grown up with wildlife. They are excellent trackers and fisherman, and know how to turn a palm frond or grass reeds into dozens of products. Certain individuals have also learned to collect honey from wild beehives without damaging the hive. This is passed down from father to son over many generations and the tree we are visiting has been used for this purpose once a year for the past 4-5 generations.

So when we were invited out with staff to watch them collect honey from a Baobab tree, it was something not to pass up.

Mozambicans in the north have grown up learning to read wildlife. There is a species of bird here called the Honey Guide which will literally lead you to an active hive. First thing to do is head out into the field and mimic one of the birds calls and when you find it (or it finds you), follow its call and it leads straight to a beehive. The benefit to the Honey Guide in leading animals or people to the hives is they cannot raid the hives themselves so having someone else do it assures them of leftovers and the safety of not having to go against a hive of angry bees.

These are not just any beehives; they are massive in size – sometimes up to 4 feet long x 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep. To hold something so heavy you need a strong tree and the bees use Baobabs which can live for hundreds of years and have broad branches.

To get at the hive in the tree (this hive is easily 150 feet up), they place pegs made from a specific hardwood tree into pre set holes that have been used for decades and climb up into the upper branches of the tree and with a bamboo torch and push the bees away from the hive and then collect a few of the honeycombs hanging from the hive.

There is no processing here; the honey goes directly into jars for use straight from the hive.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

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Jun
12

Akomwana: A Lion Cub in Mozambique Named by Kids in a Texas School

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique

Photo by Keith Begg

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

You may have seen on our website a photo of 3 lion cubs peeking out above a rock ledge. Those are Akomwana’s cubs, born around May-June of 2011. Earlier this week, we met a lion, James: either he or his brother, Jabru, is the father to these cubs.

Today, we headed back to the large Inselberg to get a signal to find Akomwana and the cubs, as they had not been seen since the researchers left during the wet season in December. Niassa Lion Project (NLP) staff member Xavier went scurrying up the hill like a sure-footed mountain goat while we waited below, and in no time at all he was back down with a direction for where to find this female.

Driving though the bush is never easy, as there are very few trails and the grass is 6-8 feet tall in places, though we did manage to wake up a nocturnal civet taking a nap in the shade! 30 minutes later, we found ourselves on the edge of a dry, sandy riverbed. Directly across sat Akomwana. After a few minutes of watching her, we see an ear twitching in the grass: it is one of the cubs. While mom was seemingly ignoring us, she came down into the shade of the sandy riverbed to lie down, and one of her cubs followed. It was great to see how well Akomwana looked. The cub was active and playful, but it was also sad to know only one of three cubs survived. Every positive moment is balanced out here as NLP tries to find solutions to strengthen the lion population.

This cubs name is Akeelha, as named by the Velasquez Elementary school of Richmond, Texas.  They parnter with the Zoo in supporting the Niassa Lion Project.  They hold fundraising events every holiday season to raise funds for lion conservation.

Akeelha and Akomwana spent 45 minutes in the riverbed. Akeelha stared at us to try and figure out what we were, and her mom napped on and off. This was, of course, until the cub became bored and pounced on her mom. Now awake, they turned and climbed up the bank. The adult female disappeared in the grass, but Akheela stayed a few moments more to watch us before heading off after her mom.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

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Jun
11

The Lions Collar

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Travel

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

After hearing Malindro’s ( it is actually Malandro, but my American ears did not hear it correctly originally) collar with the distress signal on June 6th and not locating him or the collar on the 6th or 7th, we headed back to the river as the signal was definitely coming from the middle of it. After a 30 minute drive, 15 minutes paddling and a few minutes of diving by the NLP staff in 4 feet of water, Xavier found the collar another foot under the sand. 25 yards from the bank in 4 feet of water, the collars leather strap was hacked off by someone at the edges so it could be slipped off the lion and tossed in the river. I mentioned two days ago the game concessions were good at notifying the camp when they come across a collared lion. This looked very much like the local fisherman who set out snares while fishing to try and catch impala, kudu or waterbuck as well and the lions become a bycatch of the snares.

Malindro's Collar (right), Found in the River

This male was 6 and was traveling with his brother Madevu. They have been traveling with females and maintained this territory for hunting. For NLP who had just collared this male 1 year ago, the story repeats itself every year with males not able to survive in a territory for more than one year without being killed due to poaching or accidental snaring. If left alone, these males may have found a female, reproduced and grew the pride within their territory, instead it leaves Madevu traveling alone to hunt and not being able to hold this territory alone.

NLP’s research is a bit different here. Many programs look at diet, habitat suitability, reproduction rates, etc. The reason these lions are collared are simply to track how many are killed to try and develop solutions to the random snaring and poaching of lions.

Here is what most likely happen next: the females Fatima and Flavia are pregnant and Malindro and/or Madevu are the sires. Now that Madevu is alone, he will lose the territory to new males who will come in to take the territory and would then kill Fatima and Flavias offspring so they can reproduce. One lion killed (Malindro) is equal to 4-6 more being killed when new males move in.

I will bring home one of these broken collars to show the public during keeper chats and will send an update when we  follow Flavia, Fatima and hopefully Akomwana and her three cubs from last year before we leave.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

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Jun
10

Mozambique Nightlife

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Travel

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

After dinner on a few evenings we have taken the opportunity to drive back out looking for lions and leopards, and have been surprised at the amount of wildlife we are coming across that is not as visible during the day. Impalas are everywhere in much larger numbers than the daytime, but it is the random encounters with hippo, African buffalo and elephants that show how much wildlife is out here.

Then, there are the small animals including genet, civet, bushbaby, white-tailed mongoose, and my favorite so far – the four-toed elephant shrew, which help us wind down from a long day.  There is not much information on many of the smaller species up in this region. Most field guides cover South Africa and southern Mozambique as well as Tanzania to the north, but there are some subtle differences to a few of the animals here that make them hard to identify exactly as they shuffle out of photo range.

Niassa Lion Project is not just about lions, it is about protecting the whole ecosystem and the communities that live within it.  If we don’t make everyone more aware that this grand wilderness can be lost if there are not plans in place for managing hunting concessions and assisting the communities with food and water security issues, Niassa will be quickly lost and with it populations of lions, elephants and even the small things we only see at night.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

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Jun
09

Diving for collars and the trouble with Guineafowl

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research,Peter with lions in Mozambique,Series,Travel

I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.

Another  possible malaria case in camp today so we’re splitting up. One group will try to figure out what happened to Malindro the Lion whose collar was sending a distress call, the other is visiting Nkuti Village (about 15 miles but 2 hours on hand cut dirt road) to look at their chicken and Guineafowl set up as they had high mortality in the guineas this year.

Diving for collars is quite literally diving to find this lion radio collar with the distress call.  Xavier and Joaquim from Niassa Lion Project (NLP) went back to our same location today with a kayak and headed across the river until the signal was so strong they felt they were right on top of it.  With no sign of the lion, they dug through debris and spent 2-3 hours diving into the river to sift through the sand to see if the collar was stuck in debris on the riverbed.  As easy as it was to find the lions, Fabio and James by their collars, this one is becoming very frustrating.  These collars store movemnet information in them, so it is important to recover the collar to discover what happened to Malindro.

On the other side of the concession we went to a very remote, small village of about 50 people so remote that teachers only made it there one to two times a month for school lessons. In 2011 NLP helped the village construct an enclosed chicken hut to bring the chickens in at night and protect chicks from the hawks and eagles in the area. They actually prefer Guineafowl to chickens and have had the same issue with these chicks being taken by predators in the wet season (January-February) and since they only reproduce once a year, this is a problem. This year, a new problem arose. Even though they are protected from predators, all 27 Guineafowl chicks died at bout 4 weeks of age.  A mystery that I will bring back to some of my colleagues in the US to help solve.  In the meantime I have asked the villagers to save any chicks that die next season to send to a lab in South Africa to investigate disease issues.

Few things work properly the first time around but NLP and the communities will keep working through to figure out how to support community iniitives.

Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.

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