AWF Blog

• A day with a mountain gorilla census team

  Posted: October 27, 2011, 8:51 pm by Anna

  We went out knowing that we were in the known territory of unhabituated groups of mountain gorillas as well as the recently habituated tourism group Oruzogo. We were conducting reconnaissance trails in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s Sector I and while we couldn’t expect to find anything noteworthy on that particular day, anything was possible.

  Photo courtesy of IGCP

  Last week, I told you about the Kyaguliro family group and how it has already been counted in the ongoing census of mountain gorillas of Bwindi. What lays behind the census are hundreds of dedicated and intrepid conservationists from Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo (and a handful of ‘muzungus’ from the US, UK, Germany, and Australia). We started the day at ‘command central’ in the ITFC meeting room going over the map of Bwindi including the Sector that we were responsible for on that day. I say ‘we’ because I was and still am very proud to be considered as part of their ranks, even for one short day.

  Team members review the map and the plan before entering the forest.

  What teams are currently doing in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is referred to the sweep method and its the forth time it’s been used to census mountain gorillas in Bwindi. The sweep refers to the systemmatic movement of coordinated teams from east to west through Bwindi, making sure that no solitary gorilla or gorilla group is left uncovered. Again, with the idea that the goal is not to encounter gorillas themselves, but to uncover evidence of their existence, most specifically their night nests and feces.

  Results from the previous censuses using the sweep method plus the additional genetic analyses initiated in 2006. This will be the second census in which the sweep method and genetic analyses are used.

  In 2006, the last time a census of Bwindi’s mountain gorillas was conducted, census teams systematically walked 600 km within the forest looking for gorillas and signs of other fauna as well as illegal human activities.

  Ismael's team takes a trail cut for tourism to the starting point of the day's focused census work.

  For my honorary day searching for gorillas with the census team, I accompanied the team led by Ismael Bakebwa from Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, participating in his 4th census. On the trail out to where we would start our ‘recce’ trail, he described to me how everyone on the team had a job to do. “Everyone has a job to do in the team,” he said. “There is a trail cutter with a machete, David, in front, followed by Lawrence, who is guiding him as to which direction to go.” Ismael himself was in charge of the mapping and recording. Harriet was in charge of all the work with the GPS, taking waypoints, and logging the distance covered in relation to the map (not the actual hills!). Raymond was a spotter and Olison was armed with a riffle to protect the group should any chance encounters with elephants or other temperamental animals. My job was to stay on my feet and keep up. While I can’t say I performed with flying colors, I actually didn’t do too badly.

  Lawrence sets the barring for our 'recce' trail.

  With a map, a compass, and a GPS, the team is fully equipped to navigate their way through Sector I, doing ‘recce’ trails of about 500 m distance between, sweeping back and forth in tandem with other teams working in neighboring sectors. They did this effortlessly, with little delay as the entire team was briefed on what was planned and the roles they had to play.

  As we went off trail and started the ‘recce’ trail, the team fell silent as they looked for evidence of gorillas. We moved slowly, one of the benefits of cutting a new trail, until someone shouted “Chimpanzee” and pointed up. What we saw was not a chimp, but a week-old nest high in a tree. Several others were located and the GPS point and the number were quickly noted and we continued on.

  A chimpanzee nest is spotted high in a tree.

  Over the course of a few hours, we covered 1.5 km of ‘recce’ trail and encountered evidence of forest elephant, bush pigs, and mountain gorillas! We first crossed paths with an old gorilla trail and toward the end of our ‘recce’ trail, we came right through a gorilla nest site. This site was also older than the one week period considered for detailed recording as part of the census, with the idea that that group of gorillas will have moved quite a distance in that time and will be encountered by another group. It was discussed that it was likely the nesting site for the recently habituated Oruzogo family group as the team quickly counted at least 14 nests.

  Ismael’s team has completed up to 8 km of reconnaissance trails in one day, which is just absolutely amazing and a true testament to the endurance and dedication of the team. And makes you realize how it is possible for teams to traverse the entirety of Bwindi (330 square kilometers) in the span of 6 weeks. Our day also brought some interesting discussions surrounding the issue of women participating in the census, as this team contained the only (yes, only) female participant in the census, Harriet Kyakyo, a volunteer with the Uganda Wildlife Authority stationed in Bwindi.

  Harriet reads the coordinates to her fellow team members.

  Harriet performed her duties the same as others in the team without trying to prove herself or make others accommodate her as a woman. My companion in this visit, Dr. Allan Carlson from WWF-Sweden, a member of the IGCP coalition, raised the issue over our packed lunch together. “Maybe next census we’ll see Harriet leading an all-women census team,” he prompted. Met with a lot of laughs and responses of, “not possible,” it made us think and discuss about why and why not? This has me thinking especially as I write this today, a day marked by the loss of Wangari Maathai, a champion for the role of women in conservation.

  After leaving the team in Sector I to continue with the ‘recce’ trails, we encountered the team of porters on the trail that were responsible for moving our team from the base camp at Ruhija to a campsite deeper in the forest. Their contribution cannot be underestimated as well.

  Community members from Ruhija serve as porters helping to shift campsites and keep the census teams well-stocked throughout the 6-week census.

  I am extremely proud of my 1.5 km of ‘recce’ trail completed in Sector I. I am also extremely proud of the people who are the unspoken heros of mountain gorilla conservation, like Ismael on his 4th census and the rest of his team, and Harriet for putting herself out there, not knowing what she would encounter. The fact that she had a taste of the work and has again signed herself up for the last phase tells me that she just may emerge again and hopefully we can find more women like her to put themselves forward for a tough job and not one considered the norm for young women in Uganda. May the next census of Bwindi be not only trans-boundary (the subject of tomorrow’s blog) but also trans-gender! Absolutely no pun or joke about it.

• Tour Ngoma Lodge in Botswana

  Posted: October 25, 2011, 6:42 pm by Becky

  A photo diary from Becky Walter, an AWF intern in the field. Click on any of the stunning images below to view it in full size.

  “While in Botswana with Enterprise Officer Wilfred, we visited Ngoma Lodge.  A new lodge, Ngoma is nestled into the landscape with spectacular views out over the plains and the Chobe River below.  Using local woods and stones, the lodge has been built with beautiful detailing, and a nice incorporation of African design.  As you enter the lodge, you walk into and through the reception area, coming out onto a large open area on the back, stretching across in wooden walkways.  Tables are set underneath a Baobab tree, and a viewing platform offers you a closer look at animals coming through the area.  Like Machenje Lodge that is currently under construction in Zambia, Ngoma Lodge is tied to the local community and people, with profits tying back into further land conservation and community enrichment.  Offering beautiful views and a unique ­African experience, Ngoma Lodge is an eco-tourists dream.”

  Wood work and a stone pathway leads you into the Ngoma Lodge entrance.

  Entrance of Ngoma Lodge.

  Hand made baskets and bead work provide detailing in the lodge interior.

  Large wooden decks stretch across the front of the lodge, overlooking the plains and the Chobe River below.

  Ngoma Lodge nestles into the land and provides guests opportunities for game viewing and taking in the African Landscape. Tables are set under a large Baobab tree, and a pond with local plants gives an air of tranquility.

  A viewing platform offers guests a view out over the plains and river below.

• Census Team Discovers a Newborn Mountain Gorilla

  Posted: October 20, 2011, 7:51 pm by Anna

  Through the vegetation, meet the newest member of the Kyaguliro family group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Born to Tindamanyire on Thursday, September 15th, it was born just in time to be counted in the census of mountain gorillas that is currently underway.

  A glimpse of the infant while Tindamanyire rests and eats on her back while the baby rests on her chest.

  This little infant was born just in time because on Friday, September 16th, a census team following a systematic reconnaissance or ‘recce’ trail, encountered the trail of the Kyaguliro group, meaning that it was at that point in time that the Kyaguliro family group was counted. For a habituated group of gorillas, like Kyaguliro, the known number of individuals in the group will be included in the final count. Kyaguliro is habituated for the purpose of research, the only research group in Bwindi and is monitored on a daily basis by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Dr. Martha Robbins of the Max Planck Institute and a team of field assistants and students.

  Earlier this week, Dr. Allan Carlson with WWF-Sweden, part of the coalition of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, and I were offered a behind-the-scenes look at the amazing mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as well as the amazing people in the field as I write that are collecting the data and samples for the census. For this blog, I will focus on the raison d’Ítre for the census- the mountain gorillas themselves.

  Bwindi may not have the volcanoes of the Virunga Massif, but it is no less impressive. Bwindi’s defining feature is the dense forest the folds over the steep hills and valleys. It makes it simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful and very difficult to maneuver in, if you are an average person that is. But the efforts are well rewarded as a turn in the trail could bring you to a lush stand of tree ferns or tall forest stands with a high canopy, black-and-white colobus monkeys, hornbills, or even a brightly colored snake.

  Walking through one of the many forest types of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

  On Monday, those are just a few of the things we found. After a quick stop at the base camp near Mbwindi swamp for some tea and a chat, we hiked to where the Kyaguliro group was known to be feeding.

  A cup of tea and a chat at base camp.

  Immediately we got a look at Tindamanyire and her new baby followed by a glimpse of the group’s silverback, named Rukina. Although Rukina sat down and started eating, he was regularly communicating to us new visitors as well as his family group. As Rukina was grunting to assure his group that all was fine, all of us humans were instinctively responding as well with our own back of the throat calls to also confirm that all was truly ok.

  A gorilla peeks at us through the dense vegetation.

  We stopped to watch a young male systematically strip and eat the vegetation around him. See the video of this eating behavior via YouTube here. We also stopped to chat very quietly about this group and its history.

  Rip, strip, eat, repeat. A member of the Kyguliro family group carries on with his meal as we observe.

  The juvenile named Happy, right, tousles with his brother down a tree stump.

  Dr. Allan Carlson with WWF-Sweden, part of the IGCP coalition, photographs gorillas while Dr. Martha Robbins observes.

  Toward the end of our time with the Kyaguliro group, we found ourselves on a steep slope with vines. Although the other members of our group gracefully maneuvered their way back more level ground, I missed a step and found myself tumbling backwards and much to my dismay, I was not only tumbling but rolling in backward somersaults not once, not twice, but a spectacular three times. With all parts of my body and equipment intact, I clamored back up the slope and joined Martha.

  A few moments later we saw Rukina nearby and he sat and looked at us. We also stopped moving and sat down ourselves. Maybe he didn’t have a good view of things, or maybe it was for a different reason, but he came closer and intensely looked at both Martha and I. It was a very intense experience as you can imagine, but he was likely just curious and possibly curious about the commotion he had heard and was there to check out the situation.

  Silverback Rukina moves closer to us.

  Rukina sits close to us as he communicates with the members of his group.

  We sat for quite a while as Rukina communicated back and forth with other members of the group, Martha telling me that he was likely indicated to them that it might be time to transition from one area to another. He eventually did move up and away from us, allowing me to finally exhale completely and revel in what an amazing species mountain gorillas are.

  Although the Kyaguliro group is habituated and intensely monitored on a daily basis, the census will give researchers and us important insights into this particular group. For example, Martha is very keen to see if the silverback named Ntegenisa is found. In 1999, Ntegenisa emigrated out of the Kyaguliro group, but not before he had been genotyped from genetic material extracted from fecal matter.

  Although the entire population was not genetically tested (again from fecal matter) during the census conducted in 2002, he was identified as a solitary male. And in 2006, when the entire population was genetically tested he was identified as the silverback in a group of nine individuals. So, although he has not been physically seen since 1999, Martha knows that he is out there leading an unhabituated family group in the hills of Bwindi. I can’t wait to find out if Ntegenisa is discovered again in this current census as well.

  As I alluded to before, the people involved in this census are equally amazing and deserving of individual recognition as the mountain gorillas of Bwindi and the individuals of the Kyaguliro family group. But these stories, I will save for another day.

  Special thanks to Dr. Martha Robbins, her field assistants, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority for facilitating and authorizing us for this special visit to the Kyaguliro group.

• The “Save Vanishing Species” Stamps are Here!

  Posted: October 18, 2011, 8:32 pm by AWF

  The U.S. Postal Service is working to “stamp out” extinction with the release of its new “Save Vanishing Species” semipostal stamp. Only the fourth ever semipostal to be created, this stamp will help fund the conservation of some of the world’s most iconic endangered species—including those in our African Heartlands.

  Artist Nancy Stahl created this compelling image of an Amur tiger cub to symbolize all of the endangered wildlife this stamp will help protect—including many in our African Heartlands. Purchase your stamp today and support species conservation! Photo courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.

  The stamp is the culmination of a decade-long effort by the Multinational Species Coalition—a group of conservation organizations, of which AWF is a longtime member—to increase the funding available to the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF). The MSCF supports Congressionally authorized grant programs that fund the conservation of rhinos, elephants, tigers, marine turtles, and great apes. AWF and some of our programs in the Heartlands have been beneficiaries of these grants in the past, including most recently our work to study and protect bonobos in the Congo Heartland, and before that, our efforts to secure elephant habitat in the Zambezi and Kilimanjaro Heartlands.

  “The creation of this stamp is an innovative way to ensure the continued survival of some of the world’s most celebrated—and also most threatened, endangered, and vulnerable—wildlife,” said AWF Director of Program Design & Policy Jimmiel Mandima, who is AWF’s representative for the Multinational Species Coalition. “It represents a significant achievement in international conservation efforts, and we believe it will greatly benefit African wildlife.”

  Sales from the stamp will help to combat illegal poachers and protect wildlife like this black rhino, photographed in our Samburu Heartland in Kenya. Photo courtesy of Teeku Patel.

  The stamp will sell for 11 cents more than a First Class Mail stamp, and those extra 11 cents will go toward Congressionally authorized grant programs that support the conservation of rhinos, elephants, tigers, marine turtles, and great apes. Eleven cents may not seem like much, but a little helps a lot: The three semipostal stamps that preceded “Save Vanishing Species” raised an average of $30 million for their respective causes over the course of several years. At AWF, we have high hopes that these stamps will be equally successful in raising revenue for the MSCF.

  Fewer than 800 mountain gorillas remain, and all of them live in one of the most impoverished and war-torn regions of the world, at the intersection of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This stamp will help prevent the very real threat of extinction that mountain gorillas face. Photo courtesy of Mohamed Hashim.

  Funds from the stamp will be divided between grant programs for the conservation of African and Asian elephants, great apes, marine turtles, rhinos, and tigers. The funds distributed through these grant programs often serve as “seed money” for conservation projects, on occasion leveraging up to three times as much in additional funding from corporate, governmental, and private partners. These programs have the strong support of groups as varied as animal welfare groups, sportsmen, conservationists, veterinarians, zoos, and circuses.

  In addition to helping to protect vanishing species worldwide, this stamp is also a collector’s item. The U.S. Postal Service is selling a special First Day of Issue Collection of 20 stamps and other items for the philatelists out there. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.

  Thanks to all our partners and members who worked hard to make these stamps a reality and created this easy way for all Americans to support the conservation of elephants, rhinos, and great apes.

  We should not, however, rest on our laurels too soon. We have a lot of work left to do to make sure that this stamp is the success story for wildlife that it has the potential to be. And for that, we need your help getting the word out about the “Save Vanishing Species” stamp. Share our link to buy the stamp on Facebook, Twitter, or however you communicate with your network. Let’s all do our part for wildlife. And, of course, put in your 11 cents and buy the stamp today.

  Elephants like this one, photographed in Tanzania, roam over vast territories. Sometimes that means passing through human settlements or crops. The “Save Vanishing Species” stamp supports projects that minimize the conflicts between humans and elephants and encourage peaceful co-existence. Reach out to vanishing wildlife, and buy a stamp today. Photo courtesy of Billy Dodson.

• The trip of a lifetime on an AWF safari

  Posted: October 13, 2011, 7:20 pm by Ellie Heller

  This summer, AWF hosted an exclusive member safari to Uganda and Rwanda. There, the nine intrepid safari goers trekked through dense bamboo thickets to see mountain gorillas, spied chimpanzees in the rainforest, and snapped photos of tree-climbing lions. But what AWF member Ellie Heller remembers most fondly of her trip is the people.

  
  

  Our guest blogger Ellie (second from left) loved her AWF member safari experience - especially the memories she created with her fellow safari-goers, pictured here. Photo courtesy of Ellie Heller.

  This safari to Uganda and Rwanda was the trip of my life, and more than I could ever have anticipated. The staff was attentive and knowledgeable, and succeeded in making the entire experience interesting and expansive. (The food was, unfortunately, expansive, too!)

  I have never taken a tour with strangers except in 1986 to Kenya. I’ve been fascinated with animals my whole life and convinced my husband to go on this earlier trip, but it just wasn’t the same. It was just a different kind of group—I would never think of getting in touch with those people again. But on the AWF safari, we were such a family, so cohesive.

  I’ve been checking with people who have been on many tours with strangers, and they tell me they never developed the kind of rapport we had on this AWF safari. The people were so great, in Africa and on the trip… the whole thing was spectacular.

  Usually I’m the only one in my family who likes to talk about animals and they would just shush me up, but now to be in a group where everyone wants to talk about animals, it was just amazing.

  The following photos are courtesy of Ellie's fellow AWF safari-goer Brian Voynick. In addition to mountain gorillas, AWF members saw a host of different wildlife on their travels.

  One thing I remember is when we were at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, which was unbelievable. We had hot water and everything, no need for mosquito nets, and it’s a huge lodge, with a huge room and bathroom—just gorgeous. At the end of the third mountain gorilla trek, my friend Adele and I had had the masseuse come in and work on each of us, and afterward we had each taken a shower. So there we are with our bathrobes on, and we’re sitting in front of this roaring fire with our feet up on the coffee table, drinking free wine. And this lodge staff person comes in to see if everything is all right. Is everything all right? We just saw mountain gorillas, had a terrific massage, and we’re drinking free wine! I told him, “Our big problem is that we’re leaving tomorrow.” That was the kind of trip this was.

  Adult lions do not normally climb trees, but the lions of Ishasha, Uganda do frequently take to the trees to escape bothersome biting flies. Photo courtesy of Brian Voynick.

  This safari has sold me on AWF as my link to any future trips to Africa that I plan to take. The AWF folks we met in our travels shared much insight into AWF missions and their successes and future goals. They just broadened your outlook and made you feel this hope for these animals. It makes you proud to be one of them.

  It’s been a few months now since our safari, but I am still on a high over the trip. I cannot stop telling friends and family.

• A new census of mountain gorillas is underway in Uganda

  Posted: October 11, 2011, 6:09 pm by Anna

  A census of the critically-endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, is scheduled to begin September 7, 2011. If security allows, this census will also include contiguous Sarambwe Nature Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo.

  The census is being conducted by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature with support from the Rwanda Development Board, local governments and partner organizations including the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP, a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna & Flora International, and the World Wide Fund for Nature), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Conservation Through Public Health, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, the Institute for Tropical Forest Conservation, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.

  Photo courtesy of Maryke Gray/IGCP

  Six trained teams will systematically collect data within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with an additional team dedicated to Sarambwe Nature Reserve. In a coordinated effort, teams will move from region to region searching for recent trails of mountain gorilla groups.

  When a trail is found, teams will follow the trail for three consecutive nights, recording detailed data from their night nests. Mountain gorillas build an individual nest out of vegetation each night. It is the nests that will be recorded and counted, that data serving as a basis for scientific analysis of the population as a whole. This technique is referred to as the indirect sweep method.

  Additional measures and analysis are in place to ensure as accurate a count as possible. Most notably, fecal samples will be collected from the nests for genetic analysis to ensure that under-counting or double-counting of individuals or groups does not occur. In addition, a team is already in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park doing a pre-census sweep. It is also worth noting that fecal samples will also be collected for a complete health screen of the entire population.

  This is the second time genetic analysis will be used as a census tool with the Bwindi-Sarambwe population. Results from the last census in 2006 yielded 302 genetically-unique individuals, whereas the indirect sweep method yielded 336 individuals. In this case, it was determined that some of the gorillas were making more than one nest a night, and several groups and solitary males were counted more than once as different individuals. The genetic verification ensures that this potential double-counting does not occur during the analysis of the results.

  As is now the practice, only the result incorporating the genetic analysis will be released as the most accurate estimate of the population. Because of this, we anticipate the results of this census will be released no sooner than nine months after the field census is complete.

  This census of mountain gorillas, like others IGCP has led in the past, is a truly collaborative effort. Staff from NGOs and government agencies throughout the region will be participating in this census, including a team from Kahuzi-Biega National Park in South Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, outside of mountain gorilla territory, said Maryke Gray, Technical Advisor for the International Gorilla Conservation Program and a lead coordinator of the 2011 Bwindi census.

  In advance of this census, there are an estimated 786 mountain gorillas in the world, existing in and near transboundary protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. While habituated groups of mountain gorillas, those accustomed to researchers and tourists, are monitored on a regular basis, the unhabituated gorillas are not. It is only through periodic scientific census that the entire population size can be estimated. A census of the Virunga Massif population of mountain gorillas in 2010 yielded 480 individuals along with four orphaned mountain gorillas in a sanctuary outside Virunga National Park.

  Funding for the census is coming from the World Wide Fund for Nature-Sweden via the International Gorilla Conservation Programme with supplemental support coming from Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe e.V. and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

• The Passing of Ozias Kubayi

  Posted: October 4, 2011, 11:10 pm by Nakedi

  I am very sad to announce the passing of Mr. Ozias Kubayi who worked with us on the Leopard Project from November 2010 to May 2011. The time he spent with us, albeit brief was very pleasant and educational. He was passionate about the African wilderness and was very professional in his approach. During my work with him I learned a lot, beyond just survival in the bush, but a whole new perspective on life. With this, my condolences go out to his family.

   

  A picture of Ozias while we were out doing field work. He was proud of his SANParks Uniform and loved being out in the field.

  After a day’s work we normally sat and relaxed a little. Here we are sitting with Mark Freeman, a volunteer from Israel who became good friends with Ozias. In the afternoons when we got back from the field we would cook supper, but before that Ozias would shave, polish his shoes, and make sure that his uniform was properly folded and ready for use the following day.

  When there was an opportunity to take a picture Ozias always made sure that he had a proper pose. This was his favourite rifle and he refused to use any other weapon. The rifle is for protection in case we are in danger, but he never had to use it because he always made sure that we avoided thickets and places that were likely to harbour dangerous animals.

  Here we were walking back from collecting cameras and found the two elephants foraging and thought it would make a good picture. Again you can see Ozias’ dignified pose versus mine with broken battery shells on both hands and a roughed up shirt.

   

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Fish cakes

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Yet more fish cakes

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The end of the fish cakes