Bats Without Borders is excited to have their first joint student talk with speakers joining in from two different continents! Natalia Revilla-Martin will be talking about Monitoring cave-dwelling bats using acoustics: a new approach and Oli Aylen will be talking about Bat Lures – Past, Present Future.
They hope their dedicated bat themed webinars are providing a new a way to share, learn and network online. So do join in today’s Webinar, starting at 15 hrs (CAT) to learn more about innovative research.
If you have missed any of Bats Without Borders Webinars, you can catch up and watch them all again on their website – www.batswithoutborders.org
On our 56th Independence anniversary spoil your family and friends with local Zambian products. A legal Game meat lunch with your loved ones sounds like an ideal way to spend the day. Purchasing and consuming legal Zambian game meat has a sustainable ripple impact on game farmers, game meat processors, the tourism industry and our economy at large.
Take a stand this independence day and say no to illegal bushmeat. Illegal bushmeat is unregulated, dangerous and unsafe. Possession of illegal bushmeat can land you a prison sentence of up to 7 years. Choosing legal game meat means knowing exactly what meat you are serving and eating, it is also healthy and safe.
Where to get legal game meat
Locate a legal game meat supplier near you by visiting the This Is Not A Game website and make your order. A lot of legal game meat suppliers offer delivery services for both dry and fresh game meat.
More Information
Find out more on the illegalities and dangers of illegal bushmeat as well as how you can be part of this great movement. Vist;
In their latest September newsletter, Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) reported on a week-long selection course they held with DNPW to identify eight strong and capable women who will be trained and deployed as a Female Community Scout Unit.
In total, 78 women applied from across the Lower Zambezi region. Twenty nine went through to the selection course, with a final eight being selected.
All the women were put through a series of activities aimed at testing their physical and mental strength. These activities also evaluated their leadership skills along with their ability to work effectively together as a team. After a gruelling selection process, the final eight will now undergo three months of intense training with the DNPW before joining their Unit. CLZ would like to extend a ‘thank you’ to the European Union for funding this project through a grant from CITES MIKE.
Cross-border Meeting
In September, CLZ held a cross-border meeting in order to assess and improve cross-border wildlife crime prosecutions. Due to the current pandemic, the Zambian participants and their Zimbabwean counterparts, met virtually. Despite recent limitations that COVID-19 has caused, it is integral to keep consistent and open lines of communication with Zimbabwe to help protect the wildlife that freely travel across the border.
Find out more…
You can find more on these stories and along with other news from CLZ in their September Newsletter and you can follow them on their Facebook Page
Today, 21st October, is Reptile Awareness Day – it is celebrated around the world by reptile lovers, and promotes learning and awareness about the different species of reptiles and their conservation.
What are Reptiles?
Reptiles are a class of vertebrate – they are cold-blooded, have a vertebrae (a backbone), are scaly and have lungs. With the exception of a few species, such as crocodiles and some snakes, reptiles are not dangerous to people. All reptiles play an important role in our bio-diversity.
There are 6,500-10,000 species of reptiles worldwide, which live on every continent except Antarctica. In Zambia we have 150 known species, with approximately 57% being snakes, 37% lizards, 5% tortoises and turtles and 1% crocodiles. Of these, 45 species are considered rare whist we have four endemic species, meaning they are only found in Zambia:
The first reptiles are thought to have evolved around 320 million years ago
Reptiles use a variety of different methods to defend themselves in dangerous situations – such as avoidance, camouflage, hissing and biting
Snakes and lizards smell with their tongue
Reptiles Depend on Temperature for their Survival
Unlike mammals and birds, reptiles cannot maintain a constant body temperature as they do not have fur or feathers for insulation. They cannot stay warm on a cold day and as they do not have sweat glands or the ability to pant, they cannot cool down on a hot day. Instead, they rely on the sun to warm up, or they move into the shade to cool down. Their metabolism therefore depends on the temperature of their surrounding environment.
Their reproduction also depends on the temperature surrounding their eggs. Some reptiles, like pythons, give birth to live young, whilst most other species lay eggs in nests. The temperature around the nest is critical during this time, as it determines if the hatchlings will be male or female. Research has found that crocodiles eggs in both low and high temperatures result in female hatchlings, whilst intermediate temperatures result in male hatchlings.
Will Climate Change affect Reptiles?
Researchers have found that warm blooded animals have a greater success at adapting to new climate conditions than cold blooded animals, because they depend on suitable climates to find food, mates and for their eggs to develop and hatch. You might think that snakes and lizards would be happy to bask in warmer weather, but all reptiles have temperature limits, being highly sensitive to altered temperatures. As global temperatures continue to rise, some habitats might become too hot for their cold blooded inhabitants. This means they will be forced to find new habitats or they will become extinct.
You can find a list of reptiles which are found in Zambia at www.arczambia.com and you can join the Zambian Snakes And Other Crawlies Facebook Page where experts are on hand to answer all your questions and you can share your favourite reptile stories and photos.
The annual Zambian Conservation Careers Fair provides a platform for students and employers to connect and demonstrate to young educated Zambians that conservation is a rewarding and viable career path to take. The 2020 Fair was hosted virtually and took place from the 5th to 8th October.
A lot of questions were asked – one prominent question that was frequently asked by our participants to almost all the speakers was – How can I become a conservationist?
A conservationist is anyone who dedicates a substantial portion of their time and/or resources to conserving biodiversity, single species, or habitats anywhere in the world. So, what should you do as an aspiring conservationist? Our speakers shared a few tips:
Figure out where your passion and talent lie
“Find a job that you love and enjoy doing , not only will you succeed or propel in your career but you will find fulfilment in it’ Peter Simuliapondo , Senior Consultant at Precision Recruitment International Zambia
‘’It takes passion and interest for one to be a safari guide and excel in that field’’. Mpunga Nayangwe, Former Safari Guide and now Front Office & House Keeping Manager at Anabezi Lodge, Lower Zambezi National Park
Find mentors, partners, collaborators that can help you advance in your field of interest.
‘’It is particularly important for one to have a mentor in their life, as this will help them in their Career Development. A mentor is someone with which you can develop a long-term relationship that is centred around building the mentee’s growth and development. A mentor does not work on a day-to-day basis to help a mentee make decisions, but they are there to serve as someone who can offer support, wisdom, and teaching over time’’. Tim Phiri, Co-Founder of Mizu-Eco Care
Be creative, think out of box
‘’We as Creatives need to think outside the box and contribute towards the conservation world, let us use our intelligent ways to create more awareness in conservation’’ Seya Fundafunda, Film Director and Production Manager at Spring TV
We can all be conservationist
‘’You do not have to have studied anything related to conservation for you to contribute to conservation. It should be almost everyone’s responsibility to preserve our environment and nature. We need to intensify efforts that develops an environment that ensures maintaining our natural resources’’. Chanda Mwale, Operations Manager at Wildlife Producers Association of Zambia
Conservation needs to become part of real life, not a fringe activity and for that to happen it needs to move out of science and become part of our everyday lifestyle. We need to create a culture of conservation. And remember, there are a lot of paths to becoming a conservationist, no matter your chosen vocation.
