AWF Blog

• Lion Cubs Found in Samburu

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 11:20 am by Paul

  Samburu National Reserve has not had lion cubs since May 2006. This was a major concern considering the lion population here has been declining, according to lion researcher and AWF Charlotte Fellow, Shivani Bhalla.

  But in a place full of surprises, we received the good news that three new lion cubs had been found in the reserve.

  I joined Shivani to locate the cubs, identify the mother, and check their health status. Shivani can read dirt like nobody’s business. Where I see sand, she sees tracks and can tell how many different individuals there are, which sex, and roughly when they passed. So after several hours driving along the roads of the reserve, she had a good sense that the lioness and cubs were in a thicket of Salvadora bushes about a hundred meters from the river in a place called Hippo Circuit.

  We killed the engine, stood out of the roof hatch, and listened. We heard rustling noises and soon three tiny cubs popped out from behind a bush. They chased each other, wrestling and biting. Pure kitten cuteness. Then the mother emerged and Shivani immediately recognized her as Nabo.

  Three new lion cubs were found in Samburu National Reserve. The reserve has not had cubs in over two years.

  It’s a great relief to see three healthy lion cubs in the reserve. Reserve officials were concerned that the dry spell of cubs could indicate a reproductive problem with the resident males; so this should dispel fears. And with lion numbers dropping in the area, new cubs brings hope.

  The cubs are about 8-9 weeks old, which means they’ve only just been brought out by their mother. Lion cubs are born in well-hidden spots like these Salvadora bushes. Their eyes open at 3-11 days; they can walk at 10-15 days. The mother will keep the cubs hidden and leave them while she hunts. The cubs are often left alone for over 24 hours. But at around 4-8 weeks, the lioness will begin leading the cubs from their hiding spot to feed on kills. The cubs will be weaned at 7-9 months.

• Camera Trap Tally

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 10:27 am by Nakedi

  The use of camera traps has proven to be a useful way to get an idea of leopard activities in the N’wanetsi Concession. I’ve been able to capture good quality photographs were taken during the survey. There were 20 leopard photographs taken during the study and about 13 individuals. However, because we only have one camera per station it is difficult to say this with confidence.

  Cameras were placed in areas of known leopard activities and areas which were perceived as suitable leopard habitats. Care was taken to cover as much area as possible while not compromising the capture probabilities for leopards, i.e. to give each leopard an opportunity of at least one capture.

  Due to the sheer size of the N’wanetsi Concession (15,000 hectares), and limited number of camera traps, a considerable amount of land is yet to be sampled in the north of the concession. The results obtained in this study are therefore a partial sample of the leopard population in the area.

  After this study, I will now be faced with the humongous task of sampling a 2 million hectare Kruger National Park. To put this in to perspective it is about the size of Wales or about half the Netherlands. As a result more camera traps are required if this mammoth task is to become a reality. Ideally 50 cameras may be sufficient enough to cover the whole Park in a period of 1 year.

  Camera Tally

  1.  Two cameras were broken by elephants. This requires that the steel casings be sprayed with pepper spray and the inside be fitted with some sort of padding to provide shock absorption during elephant encounters. Remedy: pepper spray

  Elephants 2: Cameras 0

  2.  Rhinos did not have an impact on cameras as much as elephants did except that they use them as rubbing posts, which they subsequently manage to bend. Well hidden cameras were not affected by rhinos at all. Remedy: conceal the cameras

  Rhinos 0.5: Cameras 1

  3.  Hyenas were not a factor probably because of the use of steel casings.

  Hyena 0: Cameras 1

  4.  The weather did not affect cameras in a negative way except that during low temperatures battery life was shortened tremendously. As a result if one is surveying during the winter months. The use of rechargeable batteries will in the long run prove to be environmentally and economically friendly. Remedy: wear warm clothes!

  Cold temperature 1: Batteries 0: Nakedi 0

  5.  Rain was also not a factor.

  Rain 0: Cameras 1

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes