In response, the Born Free Foundation kindly offered to coordinate some donations for us.  So we put our wish list together…and who would have thought all of this would turn up!  Both the construction team and animal care team have been falling over themselves to use the new toys, and they have made a huge difference to the team. 

Jam, our Head of Construction, has been building our new volunteer chalet at a rate of knots now he doesn’t have to use his blunt bow saw, and we’ve been keeping well clear when he is brandishing the nail gun!  The animal care team have been communicating using the new radios and Frank our education guide has been proudly walking around with his binoculars slung over his shoulder on every tour.  Nellie is in love with the new camera and used it especially to film our quiz championships this weekend.

Here’s the full list of donated items: radios/walkie talkies, a torch, a solar battery charger, four extension leads, an AC meter and multi-meter, an AC-DC clamp meter, tone generator and tone tracer, gas soldering iron kit, drills, orbital jigsaw, nail gun, drill bits, circular saw, spiral saw, heat gun, flex shaft, video camera, binoculars,  carnivore vitamins, veterinary lubricant gel, bulk powder, lab coats and waterproof jackets, trousers and capes.  So, you can see just why the team look so excited in the picture!

Thank you so much to those who donated via Born Free: Lin Adams, Frank Lomas, Ann Peachey, Jeff Watson at Food Safety Direct Ltd and Worldwide Veterinary Service.

By: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre

The camcorder has been used to film a variety of Sea Sense activities including training workshops, school education programmes and sea turtle nesting and hatching events. Clips of these activities will be posted to the new Sea Sense website.

The camcorder has been used frequently to document Sea Sense education and outreach programmes. An endangered marine species education workshop was held in November (left) targeting village leaders and members of local Fishers Associations. A ‘Theatre for Development’ project was also organised in November to stimulate discussion in coastal communities about the impact of poor resource management on marine endangered species such as sea turtles and dugongs (below).

Most recently, the camcorder was used to document the attachment of a satellite tag on a sea turtle. The subsequent release of the tagged turtle was also filmed using the camcorder.

This is the first ever sea turtle satellite tagging project in Tanzania. By following the tracks produced by the satellite, it will be possible to identify the location of important feeding grounds in the region and assess the level of sea turtle interaction with industrial fisheries during the migratory period.

In the age of digital media, it is essential that Sea Sense has the means to communicate this kind of information to international audiences to raise awareness of sea turtle research and conservation programmes in Tanzania. The new camcorder has been an invaluable piece of field equipment for this purpose.

The marine binoculars proved extremely useful during a recent dugong survey in Mafia Island. Once abundant in Tanzania, dugong populations have declined dramatically in recent decades due to subsistence hunting, incidental capture in in-shore artisanal gillnets and disturbance to critical seagrass habitat from commercial prawn trawling and dynamite fishing. Sightings are rare and the Rufiji Delta is thought to support the last remaining population in Tanzania. However, in October 2009, there was a live sighting of a dugong in Mafia District which represented the first live sighting of a dugong in Mafia waters since the 1970’s. The same individual has been observed on several occasions since then. The binoculars have assisted Sea Sense staff to observe the dugong and identify specific areas of seagrass habitat that the dugong is utilising.

Sea Sense is extremely grateful for the donation of these two pieces of field equipment and we wish to express sincere thanks to the donor, Lin Adams from Sussex, who responded to our request via the Born Free Foundation Wish List.

To find out how you can help by raising your concerns about Yupi’s plight please visit the letter writing page of our website here.

When the little cheetahs first walked free from the crate, they were in the care of Günther Wirth, of German Agro Action, an NGO working in Somaliland.  Günther and his colleague Janice cared for the cubs for over three months. One sadly died, one remained wild but three calmed down and adapted to life in Günther’s compound in Boroma.  But they grew fast and something had to be done to find a permanent home for them.  That’s when the no-fun and games really started.

Günther managed to secure approval from the Minister of the Environment and Rural Development for the transfer of the cheetahs to either Ensessakotteh our Wildlife Rescue Centre, here in Ethiopia, or Bertrand La France’s facility in neighbouring Djibouti.  However, the local power brokers – knowing the value of the cheetahs – wanted to keep them to sell.  Tensions were rising.  Knowing we were the closest “safe” destination, Born Free contacted Günther to say we would receive the cheetahs – if he could get them out of Somaliland.

In a dramatic showdown, Günther was actually locked inside his own compound, guns were cocked and Janice had an extended wait in their Land Rover just outside the compound.  With amazing bravery, Günther and Janice negotiated their way out, loaded the cheetahs into the Land Rover and began the dash for the Ethiopian border.

They made it!  With assistance from our partners at the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, the cheetahs were allowed into Ethiopia. Günther and Janice then drove through the night.  They arrived on the outskirts of Addis early on the morning of Sunday 22 April.  Bereket, BFF’s deputy project director, was there to meet them and he led them to Ensessakotteh.  There, Alison Hood from the UK, Adam Roberts from BF USA, and our Ethiopian team were ready to receive them.  Poor Günther and Janice were exhausted, not surprisingly, but surprisingly, the cheetahs were full of life, seemingly no worse the wear for their ordeal. 

We kept them in the secure area for a week, so they could acclimatise and get to know Sinke and Meseret their new carers.  Then, last Sunday, we moved them down to their new proper home; an enclosure alongside the three other juvenile cheetahs in our care.  The three, called the “Tinkat” cheetahs after the religious festival which was being celebrated on the day they arrived last year, are about 18 months old.  The four new arrivals are only about six months old.  When the two groups first saw each other, there was curiosity rather than aggression.  Later, there were a few hisses through the fence which separates them, but nothing serious. 

The Somaliland cheetahs explored their new surroundings, climbed into the trees and then, as cats will do, lay down and went to sleep.  It was great to see them so relaxed but, we also know now the hard work begins.  They are in our care.  We have responsibility for their future.  The dream is it will be a future in the wild.

This month’s seizure figures represent at least 19 dead elephants, bringing the total since this time last year to at least 3,228…*

? April – Kenya
A British business man is arrested and on 12th April charged with possession of an undisclosed amount of ivory while attempting to leave the country. Full report 

19th April – Kubisera area, Isiolo County, Kenya
Two elephant tusks are recovered along with weapons and ammunition when four suspected paochers are arrested following engagement with wildlife rangers. Full report

19th April – Rumuruti, Laikipia County, Kenya
3kg of ivory, eland meat, a rifle and ammunition are seized and two suspected poachers arrested. Full report

21st April – Kapenguria-Ortum Road, West Pokot County, Kenya
In a shoot-out with wildlife rangers, one of whom is injured, five poachers are killed and 50kg of ivory, three rifles and ammunition recovered. Full report

25th April – Suvarnabhumi Int’l Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
In boxes sent from Nigeria and labeled as containing gemstones, customs officials locate 22 whole and 44 pieces of tusks. Full report

29th April – OR Tambo Int’l Airport, Cape Town, South Africa
Two bags bound for Hong Kong are found to contain two tusks. Full report

African elephant poaching news this month includes reports of continued poaching in Tanzania’s protected areas, with the latest casualties of 8 poisoned elephantsbringing the official death toll to 87 so far this year. 

* Customs authorities and police agencies can only do so much – seized tusks, carvings, chopsticks and jewellery represent a small percentage of all the illegal ivory in trade at any point in time. It has been estimated that in order to supply this total amount, 38,000 elephants – at least 8% of the entire African elephant population - are being killed annually.

Help fund anti-poaching efforts to stop African elephants from being killed for their ivory

Sign the petition to ensure elephants are safeguarded throughout their range 

One particular success story was Anosha Surangi (pictured with her mother) – the youngest of four children in a local farmer family. She managed to get 5 As and a B and a C – the best results for the entire educational division area! She said, "Born Free's support for extra classes made a huge difference in my life. Before, if we needed more teaching we had to travel a long distance and the lessons would cost us so much. The extra classes will be extremely helpful in the coming years for the students from poor farmer families. I am thankful to Born Free!" Anosha now plans to go and study for A-Levels at the nearest school that teaches them, some 25 miles away by road.

ALDE MEP Chris Davies (Liberal Democrats, UK), who tabled the oral question in the Environment Committee, said:

"We have many excellent zoos but also hundreds that make no contribution towards the protection of species and where animals are kept in miserable conditions. The problem stems more from ignorance than cruelty.

"No one wants to see animals that are suffering. The Born Free Foundation has identified the extent of the failures and we must now work to ensure that standards in zoos everywhere are raised to match those of the best."

ALDE MEP Bill Newton-Dunn (Liberal Democrats, UK), who hosted the EU Zoo Inquiry Exhibition in the European Parliament, added:

"The three year intensive research by the Born Free Foundation has shown the urgent need to raise the standards of many of our zoos not only in terms of improved living conditions for animals but also with regard to education and conservation. There is a real case for facilitating the exchange of best practices across Europe and for modernising the law."
 
Daniel Turner, spokesperson for the EU Zoo Inquiry (commissioned by The Born Free Foundation and ENDCAP) said:

“We have been very clear that The EU Zoo Inquiry is the first step towards positive change. We hope to secure the support of Member State Governments, together with that of the European Commission, to ensure enforcement agencies have the means to effectively enforce the law. Many animals in European zoos are suffering needlessly, and without assistance from the European Community the shameful problems we have found are likely to continue.”

The European Commission welcomed the work of the Born Free Foundation and announced that it was to prepare a Code of Best Practice for zoos across Europe.

The following link will take you to an overview of the project and a short film (6 minutes), which was shown at the event, and describes the overall project and its outcomes:www.euzooinquiry.eu

For your information, there are more details on the EU Zoo Inquiry REPORT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS here.

The Born Free Foundation would like to thank the European Commission, ALDE and particularly MEPs, Bill Newton Dunn, Chris Davies, Julie Girling, Daciana Octavia Sarbu, Keith Taylor and Jill Evans for their on-going support.

While the Born Free Foundation seeks to phase out zoos in favour of keeping wildlife in the wild, it is recognised that there is the need in the short to medium term to eradicate unnecessary suffering.

We switched off our Land Rover engines as we tiptoed to the 10 foot fence. To have minimum disruption to the calf, most of our team members had to watch from a distance as we made an effort to save the young animal. With the nearest opening to the 10 foot fence more than ten kilometers away, we had to make sure the calf (that was luckily lying down by the fence) didn’t move. The young calf luckily trustingly submitted to us, allowing Martin our senior driver, to lift it from under the fence through a temporary exit we had created. Once outside the enclosure, the startled calf attempted to run off. With the herd of hartebeest now kilometers away, we had to drive the calf to a distance where the reunion with the mother would be easy.

After  a short time, we were happy to witness the reunion of the mother and calf. The calf appeared totally at home in the midst of the other wild animals. It always excites us when animals in such circumstances are able to be absorbed back to their wild families. With the Konza situation weighing heavily on our minds, we moved on, starting to plan for another go at the Naivasha area with our anti-poaching message.  With all the challenges facing our animals, time is of the essence.

Victor Mutumah- Born Free Foundation Kenya.

You can make a donation to Born Free Kenya here