The Conservation Lower Zambezi team (CLZ) are very excited to announce the addition of two new village puppies who are joining their DNPW/ CLZ Dog Unit. The puppies, called Smoke and Skye, were specially chosen from local villages using Volhard’s Puppy Aptitude Test. They are now being trained by Resolve Wildlife as detection and tracking dogs.
Their addition will bring the total number to the Unit’s dogs to four, with four handlers. CLZ’s goal is for them to be able to track suspects and detect illegal wildlife products, such as ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horn, bushmeat, cat skins, firearms, and ammunition.
This pilot programme using village dogs is the first of its kind within Zambia. It is hoped that these local dogs will be more resilient to local diseases and the environment than imported dogs. CLZ thanked the International Elephant Foundation for supporting this initiative.
Camera Trap Project
For the first time since the pandemic, Katie Muninger, Kansas City Zoo’s Animal Care Manager, was able to visit CLZ. Katie is once again assisting with the annual camera trapping project and water hole surveys.
Data from the project provides visual evidence of which wildlife species are present in key areas. The photo above shows exciting evidence of a rare sighting – a caracal (Caracal caracal)). Although this species is known to live in the Lower Zambezi they are nocturnal, being highly secretive and difficult to observe. CLZ thanked the Kansas City Zoo for supporting their camera trap project as well as the DNPW and CLZ patrols in Luangwa.
CLZ’s Annual Report Now Published
Last year was a demanding yet productive year for CLZ with many accomplishments across all their programmes, including wildlife protection, environmental education and community empowerment. They are now pleased to share their Conservation Lower Zambezi’s 2021 Impact Report. You can now find out what they achieved during 2021 by reading their full report online.
Clickhere to read CLZ’s full newsletter and to keep updated about all CLZ’s programmes and projects, then check out their Facebook page
Why not spend this weekend exploring one of Zambia’s amazing National Parks or important birdlife areas?
October is the height of the dry season, when you can find wildlife crammed around watering holes, being the best time of year to spot your favourite wild animals.
Zambia has 20 national parks, with the largest being Kafue NP, home to the most diverse species of antelopes in the world. One of the smallest is Kasanka NP, who is currently hosting the world’s largest mammal migration – millions of Straw coloured fruit bats who have migrated to the park in search of wild fruits to feast on. Next month, Liuwa Plains NP will be showcasing Zambia’s spectacular wildebeest migration – around 45,000 wildebeest trek to seek fresh grazing in this remote part of the country, only second in size to the more famous Masai Mara-Serengeti migration in Kenya.
Zambia is also home to a huge range of colourful bird species – estimated to be 858 at the last count, along with 42 Important Bird Areas. The magnificent African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is our national bird – being the largest species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Living close to water, you might spot them as they swoop down into the rivers and lakes, snatching a fish from the waters for its supper.
So, this Independence weekend, why not set out to discover more about Zambia’s amazing and diverse wildlife and the stunning biodiverse habitats in which they live. Check out www.zambiatourism.com and start exploring!
Over the past couple of weeks, hundreds of Straw-coloured fruit bats have been arriving at the Bat Forest in Kasanka National Park. These are the first of the millions of fruit eating bats that will descend on the park over the coming weeks.
Thought to be the largest mammal migration in the world, every year, between October and December, about 10 million bats migrate to the park in search of food. They will have flown for thousands of kilometres, from Equatorial African countries, to converge at Kasanka’s Bat Forest. As their name suggests, they come in search of wild fruits and berries, such as the Masaku (wild loquat) and waterberry, which they fly out to feast on every evening.
During the day, these bats roost is a small Mushitu forest within the park. This huge mammal gathering also attracts predators such as Crowned, Fish and Marshal eagles, making this a bird lovers spectacle as well. Visitors can view the bats, and the predator birds, from tall platforms overlooking the Bat Forest’s canopy and watch as these amazing bats fly out to feed at sunset.
Kasanka National Park’s unique habitats are home to over 109 mammal species, so whilst you are there, look out for the shy sitatunga, Kinda Baboons and blue monkeys, as well as elephants, hippos, zebra, buffalo and many different species of antelope. The park is also a dedicated Important Bird Area, with over 500 species of birds and its rivers are home to almost 70 species of fish.
With a range of accommodation to suit all budgets, why not visit the park and experience this ultimate wildlife experience for yourself this year? For more information on the bats and this year’s resident’s specials, then check out www.kasanka.com and the Kasanka Trust’s Facebook Page
The Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) team have been working tirelessly to ensure that the wildlife in the South Luangwa Valley is protected – this is now even harder as temperatures rise to over 40° Celsius. Although wildlife viewing is at its best during this hottest and driest time of year, it also means that there are higher incidences of snaring and human/wildlife conflict.
New Anti-Poaching Team Developed
During the last few months, the DNPW-CSL Quick Reaction Force (QRF) have been focusing on intensive refresher training, with an expansion of their team under the guidance of Frontier Collective. A new unit – Target Team – has also been formed. This includes members from the DNPW Intelligence and Investigations Unit, QRF and the CSL K9 Detection Dog teams.
Their K9 Detection Dog team also underwent intensive training, to build up the capacity of CSL’s four detection dogs and their dedicated handlers. Sessions focused on conducting joint tracking patrols, role-playing arrest scenarios and a refresher first aid training and dog welfare workshop.
The aim of their new Target Team is to streamline operations, to build a close cohesive anti-poaching force to specifically apprehend suspects before wildlife crimes are undertaken, to stop the illegal killing of wild animals.
Community Farmers Enjoy Successful Chilli Harvest
As part of CSL’s community work, their Community team has been busily supporting local rural farmers around South Luangwa – especially with the chilli harvest. The team helps to connect rural farmers to buyers, as well as purchasing chillies to use in their human/wildlife coexistence projects. This year the farmers harvested over 3.3 tonnes of chillis – with over K60,000 (about US $3,800) income being generated through sales. This supports rural farmers across seven Chiefdoms bordering the South Luangwa National Park.
The majority of the harvest was purchased to support CSL’s human/wildlife conflict work, which includes their new ‘smelly fence’ mitigation technique. An environmentally friendly mixture of ginger, garlic, cow dung, eggs, cooking oil, onions and, of course, chillies, is fermented. The resulting liquid is then suspended in plastic bottles along a farmer’s field’s fence line. This nasty smell is enough to deter elephants from crop raiding.
Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2022
CSL’s entered two teams in this year’s Wildlife Ranger Challenge. Over 100 organisations, in more than 20 African countries took part in this gruelling 21km run, carrying their 22kg backpacks. Excitingly, CSL’s women’s team came second, completing the challenge in just over 2 hours and 23 minutes! Both teams raised a staggering US $250,000 which is vital to maintain CSL’s daily operations, ensuring their community scouts can remain employed, trained, equipped and safe whilst they put their lives on the line every day to protect South Luangwa’s wildlife.
For more information on the Wildlife Ranger Challenge and the 2022 21km leader board results visit www.wildliferangerchallenge.org
As our weather warms up, snakes are becoming more active. There is no natural way to stop snakes from entering your garden – using oil, wild garlic or other plants is not effective! Instead, keep your yard swept, cut your grass and make sure you have no rodents living nearby. DO NOT start a fire – at this dry time of year your could set your home or your neighbour’s house alight!
If you do find a snake, which you would like safely removed from your home or office, and do not want to do this by yourself, then call a Helping Hands in Snake Safety (HHISS) registered snake handler from the list below:
Learn more about snakes
HHISS have also recently published Snakes and First Aid in Snakebite in Zambia which provides valuable information on what to do (and what NOT to do) if you are bitten by a snake. It also informs you which Zambian snakes are actually dangerous as not all are! Along with how snake venom works in the human body which will help you to understand why traditional medications are unable to work in curing snakebites.
You can find out where to buy their new informative book, as well as discovering lots more information on local snakes, by visiting their Facebook page and on their website www.hhiss.com
