AWF Blog

• Leopard Sightings in the Kruger

  Posted: August 28, 2009, 12:59 am by admin

  I wanted to give you a quick update while Nakedi is away: after a long time of not finding any leopards, and getting very discouraged, I was thrilled recently to get some great data on the leopards that use the concesson. A few of the camera traps at different times captured three different leopards–two males and a female. After encountering only tracks for the longest time, and wondering whether even these were just tricks of the eye, it was a great relief to see lepoards alive and well for the purposes of the project. The elephants of Kruger, though, are not so great for the project. They recently damaged two cameras beyond repair, and now we will have to find funds to buy more. Although we have succeeded in protecting the cameras from hyenas, we just haven’t yet been able to protect them from the big guy. We’ll just have to keep experimenting.

  Nakedi is doing well at Oxford but is eager to get back to his leopards—I’ll try to see if he can give us an update soon on what it’s like to be out of the field for so long. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this photo of surely the most beautiful of the three leopards photographed recently.

  Winner -- best looking. © AWF

• African Wildlife Foundation–Represent!

  Posted: August 28, 2009, 12:28 am by Erin

  “I am an avid AWF supporter and always receive compliments about my AWF Travel Tote Bag. Do you have other merchandise for sale, and if so, where do the proceeds go?”

  –Lyssa, Annandale, VA, U.S.A.

  Do we have stuff available for purchase? We have lots of great stuff available for purchase! In fall 2008, AWF redesigned and relaunched our online store with even more fun, fierce, African-made items than before. And all of the proceeds go to support AWF’s work to protect African wildlife

  As a born shopper, believe me when I say AWF’s online store has something for everyone: we have both Women’s and Men’s Apparel sections that have everything from AWF-branded baseball caps to sweaters to golf shirts to everyday t-shirts. Visit our Jewelry section to view our extensive array of African-made necklaces, bracelets and earrings. For the young conservationists in your family, visit our Kids section to take a look at our CD-books that tell the story of African animals (as read by an actual AWF Heartland director), coloring books, CD’s, punch-put masks, clothes and more. For our more eco-conscious supporters, drop on by our Green Living section for books that give great tips on how to live green (or greener, if you’re already hip) and some eco-friendly accessories. For our more fashion conscious supporters, come on by our Made in Africa section, which has great accessories, including our brand new Maasai Belts.

  Maasai Belts like these are available in our Made in Africa section.

  Wait! Before You Go…
  There are a couple of really great family holidays coming up: Labor Day (the day where you do anything BUT labor) is September 7th and Grandparent’s Day is September 13th. With all that we’ve covered today, I don’t have to tell you how many great items we have available for you to be stylin’ at the neighborhood block party. We also have great gifts for Meemaw and Pap Pap in both our store and adoption center. Please visit us here to make an adoption today!

• What’s in a Name?

  Posted: August 14, 2009, 1:39 am by Erin

  “I recently discovered that a group of rhinos isn’t called a herd, like other animals such as elephants, but a crash. This got me to thinking: where do names for groups of animals come from? How do scientists come up with these kinds of names?”

  –James, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

  I have to admit, I have often wondered this myself. Upon doing some research, I found that a good portion of the seemingly oddball collective names are believed to come from a singular source: a 15th century woman by the name of Dame Juliana Barnes.

  Dame Barnes was the prioress of the Sopwell Nunnery near St. Albans and in addition to running a convent, she was also an avid student of animals and outdoor field sports (hawking, hunting and fishing were particular favorites). She is the author of the classic wildlife collective, The Book of St. Albans, which has also become known as The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasting of Arms.  This three-part book is the first tome by a woman to accurately detail outdoor field sports and animal husbandry.

  Many collective terms used for groups of animals (such as ‘a melody of harpers’ or ‘an unkindness of ravens’) are believed to come from Dame Barnes’s clearly vivid imagination and are found in the section List of Animal Names in The Book of St. Albans. This particular section has struck the curiosity (and funny bones!) of countless numbers of people over the centuries and has undoubtedly kept the book in the spotlight since it was first published more than 500 years ago.  Most of the collective terms used have nothing to do with any scientific deductions (which answers the question- How do scientists come up with these names? Answer-They don’t) and are thought to stem from the images that come to mind when seeing a group of animals. If this is true, Dame Barnes was mighty successful: a crash of rhinos is an image that most definitely sticks in one’s mind!

  Crash into me: two black rhinos a crash makes.

  Fun Facts: Some great collective terms for groups of animals
  OK- everyone knows that a group of elephants is called a herd but did you know another term for a group of elephants is a memory? Listed below are fun collective terms for some of our favorite African animals. For fun, tried to add some of your own to the list.

  Zebras: A zeal OR dazzle

  Gorillas: A shrewdness OR troop
  

  Butterflies: A kaleidoscope
  

  Hippos: A bloat
  

  Rhinos: A crash OR stubbornness
  

  Warthogs: A sounder OR singular
  

  Buffalo: A troop, gang OR obstinancy
  

  Cheetahs: A coalition
  

  Giraffes: A tower
  

  Hyenas: A cackle

  Wait! Before You Go…
  We had some serious fun today discussing all the fun collective terms for groups of animals but making sure these groups can survive over the long term is serious business. You can help AWF protect Africa’s unique animals by stopping by our adoption center, where you can adopt your very own shrewdness of apes, dazzle of zebras, tower of giraffes, crash of rhinos, leap of leopards, sounder of warthogs and more.

• Putting Out the Fire

  Posted: August 7, 2009, 8:17 pm by admin

  Hi everybody. This is Media, the Programme Officer for IGCP Rwanda. It’s taken me a bit of time, but I wanted to write about the recent fire in Volcanoes National Park and all of the heroic efforts of people working in and living near the Park to put it out. Fortunately, the mountain gorillas IGCP works to protect were nowhere near the flames, but we are honored to have joined all the brave people who helped contain the destructive fire.

  It started on what seemed like an ordinary weekend. I got a call in the morning from a beekeeper telling me that Volcanoes National Park was on fire! At that time, however, I didn’t realize the magnitude of his words.  I immediately contacted the park authorities only to be informed that they had just received the information and started mobilizing communities. For me, I thought “well this is just a one-day matter, then we can go back to our normal life, especially during the busiest time of the year in the Park: tourism high season.”

  The fire rages on Muhabura Volcano. © IGCP

  I was very wrong. Saturday evening I got a call from the Park’s law enforcement warden rushing back to Musanze from his school in Kibungo to deal with the fire emergency.  On Sunday during lunchtime, I was anxious and decided to call him regarding the progress in putting out the fire. “Do you know what Media? I have never seen this before.  If it continues to spread at this speed it will take three weeks to get rid of it!” he exclaimed. “What? Then the whole park would be gone!” I countered. On my way to Musanze near the Park from Kigali that day I checked to see if I could see the fire from the road, but could not see a thing.

  Fire spreading in the ravines of Muhabura Volcano. © IGCP

  On Monday morning, I decided to go into the field and see for myself what was happening and what IGCP could do to help. I had been informed that some people spent the night there, led by the warden in charge of law enforcement. Thus I passed through town to buy something for the teams, such as water, juice, biscuits and chocolates. In the Cyanika area we could see smoke in the forest from the road. The village was completely emptied of young men, and women were cooking for people fighting the fire in the forest.

  On community land we met exhausted people coming back from fighting the fire. “Hi madam!  Are you coming to help us to put out fire?” I was asked by one exhausted and sooty man. “Yes we need everyone for this work and we will get rid of it today”, he added. “For us we are going to rest a bit and come back in the afternoon to replace our friends; it will end today. We will make sure!”

  I started climbing the volcano, meeting various people on the way: military, police, community members. Everyone had brought whatever they were able to find: pangas (machetes), hoes, sticks – just anything they had to fight the fire. I finally reached the Park boundary completely exhausted, and said to myself that the people who went up to fight the fire are brave. Climbing these endless steep hills and the volcano, one needs to be patriotic and a true conservationist! The terrain was extremely difficult in some areas where people had to try and extinguish the fire in ravines, climbing over big hot rocks. People were really selfless in this exercise.

  A fire fighting team treks up the mountain to battle the blaze. © IGCP

  On top I met up with the chief park warden, the executive secretary of Cyanika sector and the police commander of Northern Province. One hour later we were joined by the vice mayor of Burera District, the governor of Northern Province, and even the minister in charge of Natural resources. The Minister made the trek? What an encouragement for the teams! The fire on Muhabura Volcano was not only the local communities’/park authorities’ problem anymore, but a national and transboundary problem.  The fire had crossed the Rwanda border into Uganda, and on the other side teams from Uganda joined their Rwanda counterparts to put it out.

  In the meantime, a military helicopter flew overhead, monitoring both areas.  A minute later another one equipped with a water pump dropped water in an area where the fire was raging on the Uganda side. They continued the same exercise until late in the evening. The coordination of all the teams and helicopters was amazing.

  A fire fighting helicopter drops water on a hot spot. © IGCP

  While discussing our continued response with the park warden, we decided to call in organized groups, such as volunteers who work with park staff for different conservation activities, and buy dry rations for them so they could spend the night in the forest extinguishing the fire. Many came during the evening, and on Tuesday more people came: approximately 4,000 from the disaster management center, police, military, Tigistes from Northern Province (genocidaires who do community work in lieu of jail time), local communities and park staff.

  The teams worked intensively and laboriously in collaboration with the Uganda teams to contain the fire by Wednesday at 5:00 PM. Job well done, they met to share drinks and boiled maize at a primary school in Cyanika before the trucks dropped them off in their villages and camps.  We eventually found out the beekeeper accidentally started the fire when high winds took a flame he was carrying to keep back bees while harvesting honey near the Park, which ignited the surrounding grass, eventually spreading to the Park.

  Teams being thanked by the authorities for their selfless contribution in putting out the fire. © IGCP

  In the aftermath, authorities thanked the teams and urged local communities to communicate in a timely manner these kinds of accidents, as well as avoid activities that can harm them and/or the Park. Everyone was dead on their feet, but you could see satisfaction in their eyes for a job well done.  And luckily, the fire was in an area not known to be frequented by gorillas, with all groups reported out of harm’s way.  Gorilla and human families safe, the clean up and rehabilitation process for the affected Park areas has now begun.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

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Yet more fish cakes

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The end of the fish cakes