Elephants love water. You know that by now (at least some of you do). I love watching breeding herds rush to the water as they start to smell the nourishment. One of the best places to do this is around the waterholes of Etosha National Park in Namibia, which is exactly where I am headed […]
Tag: Elephant
Critically endangered species in Sumatra on the road to extinction
Critically endangered wildlife, including some of the last Sumatran tigers as well as rhinos, bears and eagles, could be wiped out if plans go ahead to construct a major road through an Indonesian tropical forest reserve currently being restored by British conservationists. The 51km-road, which would enable 850 truckloads of coal a day to be […]
New campaign: hey China, stop killing the ‘pandas of Africa’
A new public-service campaign in China will ask potential ivory and rhino horn buyers to see the victims of these illicit trades in a new light: as the “pandas of Africa.” The posters are a part of WildAid’s “Say No to Ivory and Rhino Horn” campaign, which was launched earlier in the year. “These new […]
Namibian government and people lauded for conservation successes
Global conservation organization WWF has recognized Namibia for its outstanding conservation achievements. The Namibian President, His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba, is being presented today with a WWF Gift to the Earth Award – the second the country has received – by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former President of WWF International. The ceremony is taking place in the […]
Google Earth and drones help save Kenya’s elephants
Conservationist Marc Goss touches “take off” on his iPad 3, sending a $300 AR Drone whirring into the air – his latest weapon to fight elephant poachers around Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. “It’s an arms race,” said Goss, whose green khaki clothing shields him from thorny acacia branches in the 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) […]
Execute elephant poachers on the spot, Tanzanian minister urges
A government minister in Tanzania has called for a “shoot-to-kill” policy against poachers in a radical measure to curb the mass slaughter of elephants. Khamis Kagasheki’s proposal for perpetrators of the illicit ivory trade to be executed “on the spot” divided opinion, with some conservationists backing it as a necessary deterrent but others warning that […]
Zimbabwe poachers kill 80 elephants, poisoning water holes with cyanide
Zimbabwean ivory poachers have killed more than 80 elephants by poisoning water holes with cyanide, endangering one of the world’s biggest herds, a minister said on Wednesday. Saviour Kasukuwere, the country’s environment minister, said the elephants had died in the last few weeks in Hwange national park, the nation’s largest, while security forces were preoccupied […]
Playing with Food
By now you should realise that I am crazy about a little stretch of Africa known as Mana Pools. Not only is it a place of immense beauty and a real sense of wilderness, but the fact that you are allowed to traverse the floodplains on foot at will (and at own risk, I might […]