Christmas is a time for giving! And we have found some freebies that we thought we would share with you over this Festive Season.
New Bird ID App for Zambia
Cornell Laboratory have launched the Zambia pack for the Merlin Bird ID App. Everyone who took part in the Global Big Day submitted their sightings which were then used by Cornell to create the Zambian Pack. Friends of Birdwatch Zambia field-tested the pack before its launch and commented that it is extremely accurate in its IDs, particularly from the photos – Cornell claims a 93% accuracy.
Merlin is a full-featured field guide covering over half the world’s birds and includes many useful features. It covers 774 Zambian bird species with ID tips, sounds, photos and maps. There is Photo ID to automatically identify your images and a beginner ID help to guide you to your bird with 5 easy questions.
This free bird identification and field guide app, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, puts the power of the eBird community in your pocket. They combine data from eBird, expert-curated photos and sounds from the Macaulay Library, and text from identification experts. Merlin features an automatic photo identification tool, a step-by-step identification wizard, and a field guide customizable to your location. It is a powerful tool for beginners and experts alike. Over 7,500 species worldwide can also be discovered.
The Merlin App, including the Zambia pack, are free to download and to use from both the App Store and Google Play – merlin.allaboutbirds.org
You might have noticed there is a distinct lack of 2021 charity calendars for sale. This year The Bushcamp Company decided to bring their 2021 calendar online and are offering both a downloadable and printable version. Previously they have sold printed copies to raise money for their community projects, but this year is it is free – as a big thank you to all their supporters who are helping them through these difficult times.
Their calendar usually features artwork from the talented school children in Mfuwe, on the outskirts of the South Luangwa National Park. But, with the schools remaining closed this year, they had to get creative… therefore their 2021 calendar features wonderful drawings of the staff of The Bushcamp Company. And if you look closely, you might just recognise a few names!
Whilst on their website, you might also like to check out their downloadable Cook & Conserve cook book. This is a collection of their chefs favourite recipes, collated into a beautiful, photo-filled book. It is available to download for US$15 with the proceeds go directly to Conservation South Luangwa and our Commit to Clean Water programme.
They hope you enjoy the new, downloadable version of their iconic calendar. You can print it and keep it on your desk, or simply download it and use it as a reminder of South Luangwa – The Bushcamp Calendar 2021
Bats About Kasanka eguide
There is still time to visit Kasanka National Park and witness the amazing Straw-coloured fruit bat migration that only happens once a year. This year park visitors were given the opportunity to receive a free copy of the Bats About Kasanka eguide – and this offer is open until the end of January 2021. So if you are planning to visit or have visited but not yet downloaded your free eguide, then contact the Kasanka Trust for your free copy.
The updated Bats About Kasanka eguide brings you fascinating information on all 36 diverse species of bats that live and visit Kasanka National Park. It includes a bat guide with full colour photographs to help with identification, along with a useful bat species check-list. The eguide is packed full of information for visitors – detailed park maps, a history of how the bats became famous, advice on planning your Kasanka bat safari, along with handy travel tips and useful links.
So whether you are planning to visit, or just want to find out more about the world’s largest mammal migration and the wide variety of bats that live at Kasanka, then Bats About Kasanka fact-filled guide is your ideal bat safari companion.
This revised edition for the 2020 Bat Season has been published by ARC Zambia and The Kasanka Trust and is now available for just US$ 2.99. Get your Kindle edition from Amazon or your pdf and epub versions from ARC’s website, and find out more about these fascinating mammals. All proceeds go directly into Kasanka National Parks conservation projects. And don’t forget, if you are visiting the park, then do ask about how you can receive your free copy!
We hope you will take advantage of all these free offers and our team would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2021!
We look forward to bringing you more exciting jobs and conservation news in the New Year!
If you are thinking of working in conservation, what do you envisage yourself doing?
According to the National Geographic Society “the Earth’s natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, fuels, plants, and animals. Conservation is the practice of caring for these resources so all living things can benefit from them now and in the future.” The primary focus of conservationists is to care for and manage existing resources, with a primary focus on sustaining biological diversity.
Whilst conservation tends to focus on human relationships with nature, environmental science is more concerned with natural processes – how complicated dynamics of our air, water, and soil interact. You could say that people working in environmental sciences study overarching causes, whilst conservationists focus on working with the practical effects of those causes. However, in practice there is a significant degree of overlap between these two fields of work.
There are also differences in the programs of study. You will find that environmental science is often more interdisciplinary in nature, including studying mathematics and statistics; science; and, the humanities and social sciences, for instance politics or economics. Whilst conservation programs focus more on the sciences and education, although there is often a social-science component.
Conservation careers
Conservation careers are as broad and diverse as nature itself. So what types of careers can conservationists look for? Here are a few examples:
Wildlife biologists study animal behaviours, determining their roles within an ecosystem and their interactions with other wildlife as well as with humans. For example, the health of a particular animal population within a set area may be studied. Apart from the more hands on field work, wildlife biologists may also spend time conducting experiments and research in laboratories.
Horticulturists study flora, applying their expertise in plants in careers such as eco-agriculture; designing ecological landscapes; promoting sustainable, pesticide-free growing; managing green spaces; running a nursery; or, even advising towns and cities on sustainable green practices.
Sustainability Coordinators are hired by governments and businesses to assist them perform their activities in a more sustainable way. Along with developing, coordinating and promoting sustainability initiatives, they also might find themselves working in education and research. So if you don’t want to work in the wild then this could be the career for you!
Conservation Scientists manage the quality of an area of land, whether it is a forest, National Park, Game Management Area or private Game Farm. Their work can range from advising on best land practices; establishing plans for resource management; supervising timber activities to reduce environmental impact; or to create fire-suppression programs.
Whatever field of study you choose you will find that if you work in conservation, no two days are ever is the same. We are sure that when the people who formed the team to make an usual giraffe rescue in Kenya earlier this month, when they were first thinking of which career to choose, they never though they would be floating down a river with a giraffe on a barge!
So, if you are thinking about a career in conservation, do your research and check out the varied and diverse range of jobs that are on offer, not just here in Zambia, but in other countries around the world.
2020, along with all the conservation projects and lodges in Africa, has been a very quite year for the Luambe Conservation Project (LCP). But they realised that with few tourists, this quiet year have given them a chance to reflect.
“We realised that the happiest guests we have hosted at Luambe were the guests who got to join us in our conservation activities and projects. Guests who had enjoyed a safari with a purpose. Guests who had combined their safari time with activities that helped us track the wildlife recovery and benefit our local communities. So in response to our guest feedback, we have decided to change direction! Change for good and for wildlife.”
They are delighted to launch the re-branding of Luambe Camp within the national park to the Luambe Conservation Project. Over the past 6 years the project has quietly been achieving amazing results and their new tourism initiative will invite guests to join in with their conservation projects – saving animals whilst on their safari holiday.
Guests are invited to:
Track wildlife – helping the LCP team with their mammal census on game drives or tracking and monitoring large carnivore movements to find out which areas of the park they utilise.
Study animal behaviour – guests can listen to underwater hippo communications, learn the basics of anti-poaching or take escorted walks around the park, setting up wildlife cameras traps to capture photographs of leopards to help with their identification.
Special interest projects – experience what it is like to work in conservation by joining in with bat echolocation, vulture and crane tagging projects.
Local communities – guests will gain an understanding of the human dynamics of the project by learning about human/wildlife conflict issues and seeing law-enforcement first hand by helping the scouts to remove snares.
Luambe National Park
The wildlife found at Luambe National Park is similar to its larger neighbours, with over 200 species of birds and increasing elephant, lion and leopard populations. Set on the Luangwa River, it has a wide range of habitat diversity, from riverine forests to floodplains and open grasslands and plains.
At just 254 km², the park, which is in the heart of the Luangwa valley, is one of Zambia’s oldest conservation areas – being declared in 1938. It is located in Eastern Province, north-east of the well-known South Luangwa National Park and south of much larger North Luangwa National Park.
You can find out more about Luambe Conservation Protect’s new tourism initiative on their website – www.luambe.com and keep up to date with what is happening in the park on their Facebook Page.
International Monkey Day is celebrated on 14 December every year to raise awareness about the many threats that monkeys around the world face in the wild.
Monkey Facts
Although difficult to pinpoint exactly when monkeys first emerged as a unique species within the animal kingdom, it is thought that their appearance took place approximately 60 million years ago
The word ‘monkey’ originated in Germany in the Reynard Fox fable in the 1580s
There are 262 monkey species worldwide, half of which are endangered.
Monkey species are often separated into two groups – Old World Monkeys who live in Africa and Asia and New World Monkeys who live in South America
The smallest monkey species is the pygmy marmoset. Fully grown adults weigh just 120 – 140 grams. They are a New World monkey and are found in countries located in the Amazon Basin in South America
Which monkey species are found in Zambia?
Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrusI) which is very common throughout a variety of woodland types across the country
Blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) which live in evergreen forests and can be found at Kasanka National Park
Maloney’s white-collard monkey (Cercopithecus Mitis Moloney) which is very rare and can only be found Muchinga Escarpment
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus) is the largest of the baboon species, weighing up to 45kgs and can be found in Southern Zambia, especially in Kafue National Park
Yellow Baboon (Papio cynocephalus) can be found living in very large ‘troops’ of up to 200 individuals and can be found across central, northern and eastern Zambia, especially in the Luangwa Valley
Kinda Baboon (Papio kindae) are smaller than other baboon species and can be found in Northern Zambia, especially in Kasanka National Park. You can find out more by visiting the Kasanka Baboon Project
History of Monkey Day
International Monkey Day was started in 2020 by two pioneering college students from Michigan State University. Whilst trying to overcome the winter blues during the holiday season, Casey Sorrow and Erik Millikin, jokingly jotted down “Monkey Day” in a friends calendar. Sorrow then took up the idea and on the 14 December he and his fellow art students dressed up as monkeys and ran amok as they put on their best monkey impressions. They went on to incorporate ideas related to their newly-formed holiday into their artwork and homemade comics. When they published these online, the notion of a Monkey Day spread.
Today, Monkey Day is observed in countries all over the world and also by international organisations, such as National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institution and Greenpeace.
So what started out as a bit of fun has evolved into an internationally recognised day to celebrate monkeys, serving as an important anniversary to raise awareness of the plight of monkeys worldwide. Both Sorrow and Millikin are still active and utilise their monkey-themed art as a vehicle to promote monkey day. Their work has brought an entirely new understanding to the phrase ‘monkey business’!
Why not celebrate Monkey Day?
Watch monkey media – from Curious George to Aladdin’s Abu, entertainment featuring primates can be fun for the whole family. So find an ape-propriate film and get watching!
Visit a National Park – monkeys and baboons can be found in nearly all of Zambia’s national parks, so why not get out and watch them in the wild.
Visit Chimfunshi located 65kms from Chingola. Chimfunsi is one of the largest and oldest chimpanzee sanctuaries of the world. They have over 130 chimpanzees which have been rescued from bushmeat/pet trade coming from all over the world. They also work hard to protect Zambian local wildlife, such as vervet monkeys, yellow baboons and birds of prey. Find out more at www.chimfunshiwildlife.org.
Create Monkey Day Art – carry on Sorrow and Milikin’s tradition by painting and drawing monkey day art
And if you would like to work in monkey conservation then check out our jobs board as the Zambia Primate Project are looking for a new Executive Director.
The Second Annual Southern Zambia Birding Festival will take place in the New Year, from Monday 25 January to Friday 5 February 2021, in Southern Province.
For 2021 it was decided that the Festival should take place during Zambia’s ‘green season’, taking full advantage of peak migration, along with the Livingstone Museum’s biennial waterbird count – which has been running for nearly thirty years. It is also one of the best times of year to visit the magnificent Victoria Falls whilst the waters are still rising. Visitors can also take full advantage of local tourist operators ‘green season’ rates.
Cornerstone events for the 2021 Festival include:
A major Art Exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Livingstone, which will focus on conservation, in particular emphasising the importance of birds. The exhibition starts on Monday 25 January and will feature Zambian artists.
The Second Annual Bob Stjernstedt Memorial Lecture, given by Mwape Sichilongo, Co-ordinator for Southern Africa, International Crane Foundation, held on 28 January.
The Nampene Island Introductory Bird Ringing Course which will run from 30 January to 2 February.
The Nationwide Birds of Interest Second Zambia Big Weekend, held on 30 & 31 January.
The Second Annual Chiinga Siavwapap Memorial Lecture, given by Alec Cole of the Conservation and Tourism Society (CATS), Livingstone, on 4 February.
Throughout the Festival, many of the Southern Province Tourism operators will be offering special discounts for the Festival’s birding visitors, so do ask when booking.
For these offers, and to find out what else is happening during the 2021 Festival, then keep checking Birdwatch Zambia’s Facebook Page.
