Category: findings | Date: Nov 04 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Written by Rhishja Larson

Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa - particularly Kenya.

According to Tanzania’s The Citizen, both Tanzania and Zambia have prepared to appeal for the lift of the ivory trade ban at the March 2010 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Quatar. Read More

Technorati : CITES, EAC, Elephant poaching, Ivory Trade, Kenya, Tanzania

5 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Oct 17 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

I received this comment on a blog post I published regarding the rapid growth of the human population and the dire effects this could have on the planets resource particularly on protected areas which may give way to agriculture to feed the growing population. The comment raises the controversial issue of GMOs. Would you rather die from eating genetically modified foods than die from starvation? Is starvation a technological problem not a population one? Read the comment below and let me know your answer to my question.

Iregi Mwenja

Wildlife Biologist

The dire predictions assume one thing - that technology and/or agricultural efficiency remain about the same as they are now.

Does anyone need reminding about the poor agricultural prospects of southern California and Israel, if it weren’t for technology? Yet both have become breadbaskets for their areas, if not other areas as well.

In fact, improved efficiency and productivity in agriculture are responsible for a large amount of the increased agricultural output over the last several decades. I don’t know exactly how much, but it’s got to be at least 50%.

As I read in a newspaper recently, one man said (paraphrasing): “I’d rather die from eating genetically modified foods than die from starvation.”

Starvation is primarily a technological problem, not a populational one.

Technorati : Agricaulture, GMOs, food, human overpopulation, land, starvation

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Category: findings | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Finally, the long awaited rains are here! No one seems to care whether it is El nino or normal rains. But if my experience today is anything to go by, we will soon forget the ravages of drought and start wishing away the rains!!

I left Nairobi as usual for my monthly fieldwork in Taveta. As I approached Manyani, I noticed that the clouds were gathering, a sign that it would rain. This was confirmed a few kilometers ahead where I encountered a heavy downpour. Finally, the rains had arrived!! It was a great feeling watching the clouds, the drizzles and seeing the dry earth soak up the rainwater as if to quench its thirst after the prolonged drought. As I drove further along I realized that the downpour was getting heavier and what seemed normal rains soon began to change into what the Meteorological department predicted to be the long awaited El Nino rains.

It got worse as I approached Voi where small streams of raging flood water had formed along Mombasa road and at one point the road was completely flooded causing a heavy traffic snarl-up at the Mombasa road Voi railway crossing. Here, we thought that we may spend the night on the road as traffic come to a complete standstill for about an hour. Luckily, my 4X4 vehicle managed to meander through the two feet of flood water crossing the road and we safely arrived in Voi albeit late. At the Voi junction some shops were submerged in 1 foot of muddy water as you can see in the photos below. Finally, the long awaited El nino had announced to coming in a very big way here in Tsavo. The hippos of Tsavo River can now swim again!

Driving towards Voi at Kibwezi where the first sign of rains started showing

Signs of the rain coming in past Manyani

Flooding caused by the heavy downpour at Mbololo

The traffic jam at the Voi Mombasa Junction at the railway crossing

Building under water in Voi

Livestock caught unaware by the raging water

Technorati : El nino, Iregi Mwenja, Tsavo, Voi, flooding, heavy downpour

6 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

With the population of the world at 9 billion in 2050, we may have 370m people facing famine worldwide. FAO says more land is needed to increase food production by 70% in 2050. In a country like Kenya where land is scarce now and famine is the order of the day, the situation will be grave serious in 40 years time when human population will have grown to over 60m people. We may be forced to sacrifice some land in our protected areas to feed this overblown human population!!! If you don’t want to contribute to this catastrophe, let us limit the number of kids per couple to 2. Please read the BBC NEWS article below for more details on the FAO report.

Iregi Mwenja

Food production ‘must rise 70%’

BBC NEWS Page last updated at 16:20 GMT, Monday, 12 October 2009 17:20 UK

Food production will have to increase by 70% over the next 40 years to feed the world’s growing population, the United Nations food agency predicts.

Read More

3 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Sep 30 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Kenya’s National Parks Not Free From Wildlife Declines

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2009) - Long-term declines of elephants, giraffe, impala and other animals in Kenya are occurring at the same rates within the country’s national parks as outside of these protected areas, according to a new study.

“This is the first time we’ve taken a good look at a national park system in one country, relative to all of the wildlife populations across the whole country,” Read more..

Technorati : Drought, Elephant, National Parks, Poaching, Wildlife, wildlife decline

One response so far

Category: findings | Date: Sep 20 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Yesterday I went to Kedong outside Tsavo West to witness another victim of the drought - a baby elephant being rescued. However, though calls were made to relevant authorities, no one turned up to help! This morning the sad news come, drought has claimed yet another life of an endangered species.

The weak and emaciated baby elephant found at Kedong outside Tsavo West NP

Community’s effort

The sad ending less than 10 hours later

Iregi Mwenja

Technorati : Kedong, Tsavo West, community, drought, elephant rescue

5 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Sep 13 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

Jane Goodall Sees ‘Hope For Animals’

September 13, 2009

Sometimes, it seems like there’s no hope for the planet. Thousands of species go extinct every year, and climate change is closing in. But famed biologist Jane Goodall says she refuses to give up.

In her latest book, Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink, she writes, “There are surely plants and animals living in the remote places beyond our current knowledge. There are discoveries yet to be made.”

And, she says, there are species that have been pulled back from extinction by dedicated environmentalists.

The book is a collection of stories about those species and a celebration of the spirited efforts that saved them. Goodall tells Weekend All Things Considered Host Guy Raz that “if we think about only the downside of it, then we lose all hope, and then we are so discouraged that we don’t do anything.”

Goodall says one of the most important factors in saving a species is the emotional bond that develops between scientists and their subjects - like her attachment to the chimpanzees she studied in Tanzania.

“People I’ve talked with perhaps come from a discipline where it’s not considered scientific to have any kind of empathy with the animal you study,” Goodall says. “You’re supposed to be cold and scientific. But … we do have a personal connection with these creatures, and we do this work because we love it, and because we just couldn’t bear to let them vanish.”Read more

3 responses so far

Category: findings | Date: Sep 11 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

DNA barcodes, a new tool for tracking illegal wildlife trade

By John Platt in 60-Second Extinction Countdown

The illegal trade of bushmeat-meat and products made from wildlife-has grown dramatically in the past several years, thanks to high demand, enormous profits, a lack of law enforcement and minimal sentencing for criminals caught trafficking in bushmeat. The worldwide market for these illegal products reached an estimated $5 billion to $8 billion in 2008.

One of the major challenges in combating the bushmeat trade is identifying the source species for the meat and products…. Read more

Technorati : Bushmeat, Bushmeat trade, DNA barcoding, Poaching

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Category: findings | Date: Sep 06 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

For East Africans reading this article on bushmeat from Ghana, be warned! The bushmeat situation in East Africa is different from West Africa. The drivers are different, the dynamic of the trade is different and the Laws on hunting are very different. For example, eating bushmeat is strongly founded on the West Africans cultures while in East Africa most culture did not allow eating of game meat (not anymore today). That is why bushmeat is a delicacy that only the rich can afford in urban centers in Ghana. In Kenya, bushmeat (not game meat!!) is mostly for the poor - those who cannot afford domestic meat. It is illegal and unscrupulous traders sell the meat through underground trade networks, posing a serious public health hazard to the unsuspecting consumers. In Ghana, you are able to buy bushmeat on the streets as you can see from the photos below (however, I didn’t buy);

Bushmeat sellers on the roadside on Accra-Mankessim road. I am holding two Cane rats worth about $ 40!! No Kenya would pay even $5 for that!

Smoking the cane rat, ‘akrantie’

Ghana: We Love Bush Meat

Cephas 28 August 2009

Ghanaians spend over US$200 million annually on grass cutters, antelopes, bats, even monkeys! A story going round the sites of many websites on Ghana and which has hardly received any mention in the local Ghanaian media is about a Ghanaian culinary delight that unites Ghanaians. Read more

Technorati : Bush meat, Bushmeat trade, Ghana, Health risk, Poachers, hunting

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Category: findings | Date: Sep 06 2009 | By: bushmeateastafrica

TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK, Kenya - Kenya’s persistent and bruising drought is having a serious impact on the country’s wildlife, one of its main tourist attractions, obliging the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to feed hippos to keep them alive. Read more

My picture on this story taken on 26th August, 2009

The emaciated hippos lying in a shallow pool on Tsavo river.

I hope the feeding by KWS will see these animals through the drought. Tsavo West looks really bad with most elephant having migrate to Taveta near L. Jipe and Ziwani where they are causing enormous damage to the local agricultural economy.

The hippos are uncharacteristically laying 1 metre from the busy road. they done seem bothered by the vehicles passing.

The dry Tsavo river on the other side of the road

Technorati : Drought, Hippos, Tsavo West

One response so far