Today we thought we would share some exciting news about the birth of an ‘African Unicorn’ and the future of this very rare species which only lives in the wild in our neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Conservationists at Chester Zoo, in England, are celebrating the birth of Nia Nia, a rare ‘African Unicorn’ – also known an okapi or forest giraffe (Okapia johnstoni). Seven year old mother, K’tusha, gave birth to Nia Nia after a 14 month pregnancy at the Zoo.
“The birth of an okapi calf is cause for great celebration – they are incredibly rare and incredibly special. Mum K’Tusha is so far doing a wonderful job of caring for her new born. Watching her gently encourage her new baby to its feet in those precious moments shortly after her birth was a real privilege to see.”
“Okapis are incredibly secretive animals and, for a little while following her birth, Nia Nia had not wanted to venture too far and had instead remained snuggled up in her cosy nest area, with mum returning to her every few hours to allow her to feed. But now she’s gaining in confidence every single day; she’s bouncing with energy and eager explore. She’s a joy to watch – she’s all ears and long, spindly legs!” Sarah Roffe, Team Manager of the okapis at Chester Zoo
The zookeepers named Nia Nia in tribute to the village in the centre of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, where their field partners are based in the DRC.
Okapi were only discovered in 1901 and are nicknamed the ‘African unicorn’ due to their shy and elusive nature. Their zebra-like stripes on their back legs allow offspring to easily follow their mothers into DRC’s dense forests, helping them to keep hidden from predators. They are the only known living relative of the giraffe and are the national symbol of the DRC, being protected under Congolese law. Despite this protection, okapi have suffered a 50% decline in the past two decades – being hunted illegally for its meat and skin and due to habitat loss. Okapi are also listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threated Species.
“These gentle creatures have been heavily targeted by poachers in recent years, mainly as a result of the illegal bush meat trade, which is growing across nearly all of its natural range – making conservation efforts to protect these animals really difficult. With only 76 okapis in zoos across Europe, and with sightings in the wild becoming even less common than before, every birth is therefore vital to the endangered species breeding programme. The safety-net population in progressive zoos is protecting future conservation options for the okapi, so not only is Nia Nia’s arrival an important moment for us, it’s an important moment for the species.” Nick Davis, Deputy Curator of Mammals at Chester Zoo
You can see more photos and find out how Chester Zoo is helping with the conservation future of DRC’s wildlife at their website – www.chesterzoo.org and see more pictures of Nia Nia on their Facebook Page
This week Bats Without Borders #WingedWednesday Webinar is featuring Dr Hayley Clements and Professor Ara Monadjem. They will be discussing Quantifying a Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa: Insights from 24 bat experts. Their webinar will take place on Wednesday 10 March at 15 hrs central African time.
If you have not joined in before, then you can easily pre-register on their webinar page at www.batswithoutborder.org
All their previous webinars are now available to watch again on their new YouTube channel. You can also leave a comment, ask a question or start a discussion.
Bats Without Border’s vision is that bats and their habitats in southern Africa are valued, protected and conserved for the well-being of bats, biodiversity and people. They are dedicated to conserving bats, biodiversity and healthy ecosystems within southern Africa’s changing landscape, by supporting and conducting applied research that informs targeted conservation action, strengthening local capacity and promoting a positive attitude towards bats through public engagement.
Their twice monthly #WingedWednesday Webinars encourage people from around the world to get together to share and learn more about our wonderful world of bats!
Today is the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) World Wildlife Day.
This year’s theme is – Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet – which is highlighting the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas.
This year, UNGA is virtually bringing together representatives of UN member States, UN System organisations and multilateral environmental agreements, civil society, and the private sector for a series of discussions along this year’s theme. They will be highlighting experiences and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities whose livelihoods rely on forests and wildlife, and who have a long history of managing and sustainably using forest ecosystems.
For ideas on how you can get involved or to join in the first-ever virtual celebration of the United Nations’ World Wildlife Day via YouTube, then check out their website – www.wildlifeday.org
This year’s theme aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments to alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life land.
Rivers, lakes and wetlands are some of the most biodiverse places on earth. Covering less than 1% of our planet’s total surface, they are home to just over half of the world’s freshwater fish species – 18,075 known species. One in three of these now face extinction.
Yesterday saw the end of this rainy season’s fishing ban within Zambia. This three month ban takes place every year during the peak fish breeding season, allowing the fish to safely breed and restock our rivers and lakes. When first announced last year, the ban initially was to be in place for six months. Fisheries and Livestock Minister Professor Nkandu Luo had said this had been done “to preserve the indigenous fish species that are becoming extinct due to indiscriminate fishing”.
This extension was withdrawn in early February, just before a new worldwide conservation report – The World’s Forgotten Fishes – was published. This report highlights that worldwide freshwater fish numbers have plummeted due to pollution, unsustainable fishing, and the damming and draining of our rivers and wetlands.
“Migratory fish populations have fallen by three-quarters in the last 50 years. During the same period, populations of larger species – the so-called ‘megafish’ – have crashed by a staggering 94 per cent. Nearly a third of all freshwater fish species are threatened by extinction” (WWF).
Locally, the Labeo worthingtoni fish species has recently become extinct in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. Worldwide, 80 freshwater fish species are known to have become extinct – 16 species in the last year. Research shows that our remaining freshwater fish are now threatened by habitat degradation, pollution, over-abstraction of water for illegal irrigation practices, unsustainable mining, the introduction of invasive non-native species, illegal fishing and climate change. Within Zambia we have the challenge of fishermen using the wrong sizes and types of fishing nets, including the use of life-saving mosquito nets. These illegal nets take out even the tiniest of fish from our rivers, with the added factor of leaching pollutants into our waters, decimating our freshwater fish stocks.
Worldwide hundreds of millions of people rely on freshwater fish for food security and their livelihoods. It is thought freshwater fish provide food for 200 million people and livelihoods for 60 million people. These fish are also critical for the health of differing types of ecosystems, supporting food webs that include birds and mammals.
Zambia’s Freshwater Fish
Zambia has a rich diversity of freshwater fish species. Cichlids (Cichlidae) are one of the most diverse families of freshwater fish, with almost 2,000 known species. They are found in South America, with 1,600 species found in our Great African Lakes – Victoria, Malawi and Tanganyika.
African Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) are world renowned by anglers as being the number one fish to try and catch. Sports Anglers fly in to the Zambezi River system from around the world to ‘hook a tiger’, and this tourism revenue is a major source of income for local communities. Maintaining healthy freshwater ecosystems that support healthy tigerfish populations, directly benefits our local communities.
“We know what needs to be done: the world must implement an Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity.” (WWF)
Freshwater fish experts and scientists have developed a six part, science based plan, which can be implemented in countries around the world:
Let rivers flow more naturally
Improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems
Protect and restore critical habitats
End overfishing and unsustainable sand mining in rivers and lakes
Prevent and control invasions by non-native species
Protect free-flowing rivers and remove obsolete dams
“Only by implementing this plan, which is echoed in the Convention on Biological Diversity 5th Global Biodiversity Outlook, can we hope to restore the world’s freshwater ecosystems and reverse decades of decline in freshwater fish populations. By committing to this plan, countries can enhance the health of their rivers, lakes and wetlands – and secure the future of their fish and fisheries.” (WWF)
Two British Zoos have been working together, photographing their resident elephants, to create a unique elephant database. They hope these elephant photographs will help reduce human/elephant conflict in the wild, in both Africa and Asia.
Colchester Zoo in Essex, and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, have been collaborating on a project called HEAT (Human-Elephant Alert Technologies) using thermal cameras to identify the heat signature of elephants.
“We are so proud that our elephants can be involved in innovative work to contribute to the conservation of their wild counterparts!” said Colchester Zoo.
Colchester Zoo is home to ‘vulnerable’ African elephants (Loxodonta africana) whilst Whipsnade Zoo has a small herd of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) which are now classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
They have both set up cameras around their elephant enclosures, taking thermal pictures from different distances, at different angles, whilst the elephants are doing different things – such as reaching up to eat food and playing. Colchester Zoo has said that the images of their African elephants can also be compared to the 30,000 images of the Asian elephants at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, to detect differences in size and shape of the different species.
Thousands of thermal photographs have been collected, and are now being used to ‘train’ camera technology using unique heat signatures, so that it will be able to recognise what an elephant looks like. Currently, the ‘model’ created can confidently identify elephants, and people, up to 30 metres away.
“Our footage yielded some fantastic photos, perfect for confusing and then teaching the “model”, with our keepers in close proximity to the elephants whilst training and our elephants reaching up to feed off branches, thus presenting a different body shape for the technology to recognise so that it doesn’t falsely identify the image as that of a human.” Colchester Zoo.
The project’s ultimate aim is to develop a low cost early warning camera system that can be used in the wild. It it hoped it will be able to detect elephants during the day and at night, as it can ‘see’ thermal shapes of elephants in the dark. This will then send an alert text to local communities, to try and help prevent any human/wildlife conflicts. Their next step is to develop prototype cameras, before testing this new technology on the ground.
Human/Wildlife conflicts occur as human populations expand and animal’s natural habitats shrink, so people and wildlife are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. Within Zambia, and across Africa, a small scale farmer can lose their entire year’s crops in just one night due to an elephant raid, whilst sometimes lives are lost when trying to protect their crops. Sometime elephants are then killed in in retaliation or to prevent future raids.
The elephant alert system is being developed by the Arribada Initiative (a UK-based technology NGO), the Zoological Society of London, WWF Netherlands and WILDLABS (an online conservation technology network).
