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Dear friends, I just received an email outlining the plight of wildlife in Zimbabwe. I am going to post it here in case any of you can follow up. I am trying to find out where you can send donations…but for now I have only an email or website. I just cut and pasted so the photos didn’t come through…. “ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE 15th June 2008 As the economic situation rapidly deteriorates in Zimbabwe, we are receiving reports that poaching is escalating at an alarming rate. Five white rhino have recently been killed by poachers. 3, including a baby, were shot in the Chivero National Park. Prior to this, the rhino population in Chivero has always been very well protected and these are the first rhino that have ever been killed in this area. The other 2 were also shot in a National Park but we have not yet confirmed the exact location. We are receiving reports that elephants are being shot regularly in the Kariba area. One informant reported that he personally knows of 18 that have been shot this year. A fortnight ago, poachers shot a zebra and 3 cows at Imire Safari Ranch. The number of animals caught in wire snares is increasing and there is a shortage of the drug needed to tranquilize the animals in order to remove the snares. Many animals are therefore dying an agonizing, lingering death. Some elephants that are part of the Presidential Herd in Hwange have been sighted with wire snares on them. As the tranquilizer is not readily available, it is not possible to remove the snares and some of these elephants are now presumed dead. In 2005, we raised funds to purchase 12 vials of M99, the drug required to tranquilize the larger animals. One vial is sufficient to tranquilize approximately 4 elephants or possibly 8 buffalo. Thanks to the people and organizations who assisted us with funds, numerous animals of all species have been saved but our supplies are now depleted. These are photos of a small selection of the snare removals that have been carried out using this drug. SNARE REMOVED FROM A ZEBRA SNARE REMOVED FROM A BUFFALO SNARE REMOVED FROM AN ELEPHANT The drug, which is not available in Zimbabwe, costs R2 200 or USD300 per vial and we are urgently appealing for assistance in replenishing our stocks. If anyone is able to help, please contact us - contact details below. Johnny Rodrigues
4 Comments posted on "Help needed for elephants and other wildlife in Zimbabwe"
TheTeach, Seattle on June 17th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I regularly discuss the situation in Zimbabwe in my students’ current events class. We knew it was only a matter of time before the crisis there would begin to devastate the wildlife, since so many people are living in desperation in the present political impasse. Hope something can be done to help both desperate people and save the wildlife. Very complicated situation there.
TheTeach, Seattle on June 19th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
P & J, Just got wind of the impending severe drought situation in Amboseli. How will this impact your work? Will you be doing field research in Amboseli over the summer? Very sorry to hear about Tulip. Also visited your “elephant voices” website, finally. What a gold mine of information and photos, history, etc. Enjoyed it immensly. I strongly encourage the blogging community here to check it out. Best Wishes
elephantvoices on June 20th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hi TheTeach, Droughts would most often lead to less communication and movement - and smaller groups. The elephants (and other wildlife) just cannot afford to waste energy. Studying their communication may be a waste, as well, since not much happens. We will in any case not be in the field for a few months, mainly because of a huge workload related to ongoing data analysis and other important tasks. We’re also rebuilding and expanding elephantvoices.org - and will include a database with selected calls and call descriptions. Hopefully you will like it even more… Cheers, Petter
Amy on June 20th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Petter — I know that some research has been done that showed that when food supplies are short, elephants travel less and when there’s more food they travel more — exactly opposite to zoos’ claim that elephants migrate to find food (and thus don’t need large spaces in captivity). Do you know about this research? Has it been published? Is anyone else doing work on this topic? Thanks! Amy Post a comment
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