2020 has been a difficult year for conservation organisations around the world and in their latest newsletter, Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) shares their thoughts on the past few months, and thanks all their friends who have supported them during this unprecedented time.
“What a year 2020 has been! It’s impossible to sum it up in a few paragraphs but I’ll try. Firstly and most importantly, we were only able to get through this year successfully by and large because of you, all of our wonderful friends and supporters who stepped up in every way possible to keep our important work going.”
“I cannot thank you enough. My faith in humanity has been totally restored.”
CEO, Rachel McRobb with Mr Benson Kanyembo, CSL Law Enforcement Advisor
“We started the year with great aspirations and plans but these were quickly thrust in to turmoil in March, along with the rest of the world. It was hard to plan suitably for the year and many projects and activities were cancelled or put on hold, including our in-service ranger training, annual conservation fun run, workshops and other exciting international fundraising events. We decided to focus on the absolute essentials which for us included keeping all of our staff fully employed so that they in turn can protect wildlife and help communities.”
To find out how CSL not only coped during the pandemic, but also formed new partnerships, achieved their major goals, and most importantly, managed to keep everyone at CSL fully employed, as well as even increasing their support to the community, then read their full newsletter here. You can also keep up to date with all CSL’s conservation activities by joining their Facebook Page.
Today is International Cheetah Day. Although these iconic cats are much loved and well known as the fastest land mammal in the world, according to the ICUN Red List their status is ‘Vulnerable’ and their population is in decline. It is thought there around 7,000 adult cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) left in the wild in Africa. The only cheetah left in Asia are a small population found in Iran. They are now extinct in countries such as India, Malawi and Rwanda.
Why are Cheetahs Vulnerable?
Cheetahs have faced extinction at least two times in the past. Their reduced populations has led to inbreeding and so their own genes now pose a challenge to their continued survival. They also have a low rate of reproductive success, and with fewer offspring, their populations are slow to grow and adapt to changes in the environment.
Cheetahs are killed by farmers because they can prey on livestock.
They are affected by loss of prey from human hunting and from the habit destruction by humans.
In some countries they are killed for their skins, both by hunters and by poachers. There is also an illegal trade in live cubs and adults, many of which die during transportation.
Learn more about Cheetahs
To celebrate these amazing animals, the International Cheetah Day, has produced Cheetah Conservation Passports for you to download to find out more about these vulnerable cats. They have also have a fact filled video for you to watch along with lots of ideas on how you can help save these vulnerable cats – www.internationalcheetahday.com
Where to find Cheetah in Zambia
Cheetah range over thousands of kilometres, making them, along with wild dogs, the largest ranging species in the Zambia. You can find them in Kafue and Liuwa Plains National Parks.
You can find more information about cheetah in Zambia on ARC Zambia’s website – www.arczambia.com and all about their conservation at the Zambian Carnivore Programme website – www.zambiancarnivores.org.
With Bat Season 2020 now here, the Kasanka Trust announced the first bats arrived on 28 September – two to three weeks earlier than usual. There are now millions of bats residing in the park and the Trust has been working hard with the local communities to fight off illegal commercial agriculture activities to secure the ecosystem integrity of the Kasanka landscape.
Five New Community Forest Management Areas Established
The Trust has empowered local communities to manage and protect their forests though the establishment of five new Community Forest Management Areas – covering 60,000ha. In July 2019 the Department of Forestry and the Trust found excavators and bulldozers demolishing pristine miombo woodland at a rate of 8 ha per day. This was taking place in a remote area of the Kafinda Game Management Area (GMA), south-west of the national park.
Within a few months, 560 ha had been cleared for an irrigation project. The company behind this destruction planned to irrigate the land using water taken directly from the Luwombwa River – the main artery flowing through the park. This was going to reduce the river to a trickle, as they were planning to take about 90% of the river’s water during the dry season, killing the river downstream and the park’s wildlife along with it. As the migrating bats feed in the park’s surrounding GMAs, it would also mean the end of the world’s largest wildlife migration.
The Trust decided that the answer to stop the bulldozers was to assist their local communities to establish new Community Forest Management areas, covering a massive 60,000 ha. Five of these areas border onto the park, therefore forming an barrier against this illegal agricultural destruction. A further two areas are located on the eastern boundary of Lavushi Manada National Park and are vital in playing a vital role in protecting the headwaters of the Lukulu River – the lifeline of the Bangweulu Wetlands RAMSAR site.
During the course of trying to assist the communities, the park’s staff have received anonymous and threatening phone calls whilst local Community Forest Guards have been physically assaulted. This has only increased local opposition to the illegal destruction of their forests in the Kafinda GMA.
New Pontoon in the National Park
The Luwombwa River bisects the national park. For years there has been unreliable vehicle access the river, restricting the Trust’s ability to manage the wooded area in the west of the park. Scout patrols have revealed that low numbers of large mammals, such as buffalo and the majestic Sable antelope, still inhabit this virtually inaccessible area. The park’s small but growing elephant population also regularly wanders through the woodlands searching for fruit bearing trees.
With the support of the World Land Trust, a new pontoon has been launched that will enable vehicles to cross the river year-round, opening up a new conservation frontier. For the first time the Trust will be able to protect this 10,200 ha woodland.
Further west, beyond the western boundary of the park, lies a vast tract of more than 50,000 ha of intact miombo woodland, leading up to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here, the Trust and the World Land Trust have been working alongside local communities to establish two large Community Forest Management Areas – covering 13,600 ha. Ultimately they goal is to project the whole area, creating a wildlife corridor with the Demalisques de Leshwe Reserve, in the neighbouring DRC.
To be able to project these wild areas will require a significant increase in the number of boots on the ground. So 20 new Community Scouts, including six women, are currently undergoing the Basic Field Ranger Training course at Chunga – funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once trained, these new Community Scouts will join the team on the ground to protect this new wild west frontier.
Find More News in their Latest Newsletter
To read more news from the Kasanka Trust – including updates on mammal counts, new bee keeping activities and how their staff prepared for the busy bat season, you can find their newsletters here
If you would like to visit the park and witness the amazing bat migration spectacle, then check out their website for more information – www.kasankatrust.org
The Volezkow’s chameleon (Furcifer voeltzkowi), which was thought to have become extinct, has been rediscovered during a two-week expedition in the north-west of Madagascar. Since the last official sighting, in 1913, it has been on the top spot of the 25 Most Wanted taxon in the Global Wildlife Conservation’s Search for Lost Species.
This colourful chameleon was first known about from a single male, which had been collected by German biologist, Alfred Voeltzkno, in 1893. Little was known about the species and no females had ever been seen. The expedition, which took place during Madagascar’s rainy season in 2018, was nearing completion when Angeluc Razafimanantsoa, professional guide and member of the expedition, spotted this incredibly rare species in the wild gardens of Chez Madame Chabaud hotel.
The Voeltzkow’s chameleon is closely related to the Labord’s chameleon (Furcifer labordi), which lives for just a few months each year. Their eggs hatch in November with their young reaching sexual maturity extremely rapidly – within just two months. Once these mature chameleons mate and lay their eggs, in January and February, they die within about a month. Biologists believe that it is highly possible that Voeltzkow’s chameleon follows a similar lifecycle, making finding them a challenging task. This is made even more difficult as they are active during Madagascar’s rainy season, when parts of the island become almost inaccessible.
Once rediscovered, the research team found three males and 15 females, which they think indicates a healthy population for such a short-lived species. They also discovered just how colourful the females are, particularly when they are pregnant.
In a newly released paper about their discovery, the team describe how the Voeltzkow’s chameleon is a sexually dimorphic species. Males observed were significantly less colourful than females – although they are both primarily green in colour when relaxed. Like all chameleons, females change colour according to their moods. When antagonized they display highly variable vivid colour patterns of purple, orange, red, green, black, and white.
The paper, which was released in Salamandra – the German Journal of Herpetology – details the 2018 expedition findings and provides new information on Voelzkow’s genetics, morphology and behaviour.
Madagascar is home to about half the world’s chameleon species, with over 100 being endemic. Of these, 52% are threatened due to habitat loss and deforestation. It is believed that less than 10% of Madagascar’s natural forest still remain.
Todays Bats Without Borders Webinar is their last for this year – so don’t miss their speaker, Mr Benneth Obitte, who will be talking about Bat Biologists or Bat Catchers: Building Capacity for Bat Research in West Africa. And you can find out more about Mr Obitte at Kingston Lab – conservation ecology of bats.
To join in their Webinar you can pre-register by visiting their website – www.batswithoutborders.org. If you have missed any of this year’s talks, you can easily watch them all again on their Webinars page.
Their twice monthly webinars will be returning next year, bringing you expert speakers from around the world on all bat related topics. So do keep checking their website and Facebook Page to find out about their upcoming online talks for 2021.
Bats without Borders is dedicated to protecting bat populations across southern Africa. Along with everyone else around the world, this year they have faced difficult conservation challenges. The aim of their popular Webinars is to connect people across Africa, and beyond, to share current research methods/findings and to strengthen bat research and conservation capacity.
They welcome your feedback and new ideas – especially if you would like to suggest a particular speaker or topic that you think others would be interested in or if you have any training needs. You can contact them via their website.
