Input unfortunately has been very limited. Other than some pretty controversial conservation matters general news from the lads has been in a word, sparse.

Receiving little feedback certainly doesn’t help in the writing of a newsletter. It is just as well there are no rules and regulations dictating the frequency of the letter, fortunately it’s not monthly or even a quarterly, if it was there would be a multitude of blank spaces under the various headings! Requesting information is a hassle and takes time that I really don’t have. To be fair I quite enjoy putting this thing together but some input would make it a little easier!

In this Newsletter:

Condolences and Tributes.
Frank Junor

Ron Hartley

Dagaboys news
The Harare Get Together
Matabeleland / Bulawayo Reunion – June 11th
Conservation Issues
1. Hwange National Park

The Bumi Incident
San get permission to kill elephants in park
Baboon Behaviour – Mike La Grange
Giraffe Lightning Deaths
Snippets
Tailpiece – Candidate for the Darwin Award?
___________________________________

Frank Junor

Frank passed away on Friday night the 4th of February following a long battle with cancer. The funeral arrangements were not publicised as such and were, I understand, a private family affair.

From Ian van der Lingen (Chief Research Officer Fisheries)

Frank will be remembered by colleagues from op Noah days to his days at the

Lake Kariba Fisheries Research Institute, from the Zambezi as a river and a

Great lake. Alongside the personal memories of a great colleague and friend

are his achievements of the leadership of a team who made a most important

contribution to the life of the country in the development of the fishing

industry and conservation on Kariba Lake. Like so many I was blessed to know

Frank as a colleague and friend and treasure many happy memories of the

privileged times we had in the bush and on the Lake

Colin Saunders, Chairman National Parks Board wrote: “Frank loved the wildness of the Gonarezhou’s rivers. He spent many happy days researching the fish fauna of the Park, constantly searching for new species, and seeking understanding of their life cycles and inter-relationships. Why, for instance, were there four separate species of "mud-suckers" (Labeo) which he found, and what defined the habitat niches which permitted them all to live together in the isolated pools of the Runde?

Frank Junor was a delightful companion on trips to the Gonarezhou, always eager to share his knowledge and his fascination for the fishes of the lower Save’ and Runde rivers. Whenever I think of fish in the Gonarezhou, I recall Frank’s enthusiastic participation in several ecological camps which we organised for schoolboys. He had a way of making everybody around him feel welcome. Incidentally, he also slept more soundly at night than anybody else I ever met - apparently totally oblivious to the noise of happy schoolboys having rowdy fun under the stars.”

I have unfortunately mislaid Graham Child’s email and tribute to Frank

In earlier newsletters note was made of Frank and Jean’s sincere appreciation to those Dagaboys who wrote, phoned and called on the Junors during those difficult times, Jean writes “Mike please tell the members of our extended “Parks” family that I really did appreciate and still feel the warmth of their concern over Frank’s illness and death, it really meant a lot to us both.”

Jean is currently in the process of tidying up Frank’s estate and notes that bureaucracy, the continual forwarding of documents, basically just the shuffling of papers, keeps her pretty busy (Living in the electronic age one would have thought matters may have been simplified, but alas not!! Paperwork provides jobs and that Jean, I’m afraid, is the Africa of today.)

Bon voyage – hopefully the UK weather in July and August will be kind to you.

Ron Hartley
Ron, a leading conservationist in the raptor and falconry fields passed away tragically early this month in the Cape.

Excerpts from the tribute from Ron Thomson: An honorary officer (Falconry) of the Department and long-standing President of the former Rhod/Zim Falconer's Club. Ron was ranked by his

International peers as one of the top ten falconers in the world. He was also the Director of the Peregrine Fund (Central Africa) an American based international raptor NGO. An ex-Plumtree boy he made his mark in recent years as a teacher at Falcon College near Bulawayo. At the time of his death Ron had been in South Africa for only a few months.

He will be sadly missed by everybody who knew him.

Our sincere condolences go to his wife Deirdre and their daughter Emma

Excerpts from Peter Steyn’s tribute.

“None of us wants to be here and we still struggle to suspend our disbelief. Any man’s death diminishes us, but when the bell tolled for Ron we were left bereft and devastated.

Now let us leave the dark wood for the sunshine, and the sunshine of Ron’s remarkable life has enriched the lives of every one of us here and far beyond this gathering.

It is a mark of the love and regard in which he was held that messages have come from every corner to comfort the family – Willy and Clare Robinson from Australia, David Maritz in Seattle, Graeme Arnott from Kenton-on-Sea, Dave Rushworth from Hoedspruit, and a whole range of Zimbabweans including Pete and Verity Mundy, Fynn O’Donohue, Ngoni Chiweshe, Michael Irwin, Julia Dupree, Jonathan Timberlake and Alan Sparrow, as well as from innumerable past and present members of the Falcon College community. The list is endless.

Generations of schoolboys to whom Ron was teacher, housemaster and falconer have had their lives enriched by him, and one wonders how many who may not have been adept on the sports field found an outlet for their talents though falconry and natural history; many have gone on to achieve distinction in the field of conservation.

Boundless enthusiasm and energy were the hallmarks of everything that Ron did and no one can forget his zest for life and that explosive laugh of his that made you laugh with him. He bestrode the scientific world of raptors like a colossus and his publications will continue to appear long after today.

Friendship was so important to him, and to go out into the field with Ron was a never-to-be-forgotten experience, whether it was nighttime Bunny Hunting with his beloved Scylla, or flying his favourite Peregrines and swearing volubly at his pointers if they didn’t obey his commands. Ron had a rapport with birds and animals that was unique.

Ron has slipped the surly bonds of earth and death can have no dominion over our recollections of him. We will each sift our individual and special memories of him like beads on a rosary – and this will be his living memorial.

I like to think that Ron has gone to Elysian Fields where he will fly those Peregrines that went ahead of him to prepare the way. Happy days Ron! “

_______________________________

Dagaboys News

1. South Africa

Jeremy Anderson

Mention was made in December’s newsletter of Jeremy’s visit to Angola during the latter part

of 2004. It was however not just a jaunt per se but an arranged exercise or survey to try and establish the status of the giant sable. For one reason or another it was not possible to include Jeremy’s news on the sable in the last letter, this now follows with an update:

“Last year at the World Parks Conference in Durban, I met an enthusiastic young Angolan, Pedro vas Pinto who told me about the problems he was having in finding out if there were any Giant sable left. I suggested that he use microlights as I have found them great for doing surveys in remote areas in Mozambique. He managed to get all the Angolan ducks in a row and me request for help to “ The Bateleurs” for volunteers was successful. The Bateleurs is a group of aircraft owners who give their time and use of their aircraft for non-profit conservation projects. Two microlight owners Joe Holmes and Peter Vosloo offered to bring their planes up and fly the survey. Brendan O’Keefe organized some donor funds from the Shikar club and this paid for fuel, food and other odds and ends.

The initial plan was to fly in July before the miombo had flushed but for unforeseen reasons, the trip had to be delayed until late September, by which time the miombo had started to flush and the first rains had arrived. We got a lift from Johannesburg to Luanda in the hold of a cargo Ilyushim, We has to fit is last, after all the fee paying cargo and passengers, so it was like squeezing into a taxi heading for the Trasnkei at Christmas. The engine noise was deafening and I stuffed chewed up paper into my ears. As expected, I couldn’t get it out, so was deaf in one ear for two weeks.

We landed in Luanda at about 2 am and moved our kit and the microlights over to the Air force side of the airport and tried to get some sleep. At about 7:30 we loaded everything into an Antonov and flew to Malange where we assembled the microlights. Joe and Peter flew these in to Luando Reserve (about 150 km away) and we got a lift down by chopper. The road bridge over the Lundao River was blown up in the civil war and the area controlled by Unita for a number of years. No vehicles had been able to get into the area for about 20 years.

The survey started off badly as Joe Holmes had a problem with his fuel on the first morning and had an abbreviated landing 52 km from camp. The microlight was virtually a write-off but the crew off only shaken not stirred. Using the other microlight we dropped them water and food and they were back in camp by midnight.

Game was very scarce and we did not actually see sable, but checked up on recent sightings reported to us by the locals. We confirmed the sightings from spoor and there were four groups within a radius of 15 km of our camp. These totaled 21 animals and spoor of calves showed that they were breeding. We brought back blocks of earth with fresh spoor, fresh dung and sable hair.

If one extrapolates the density of sable in the area we searched to the still good sable habitats in Luando, there must be at least 200 animals and could be many more.

We had sightings of a small herd of red lechwe, a couple of waterbuck along the Cuanaza a bushbuck and a number of duiker, warthog, bushpig and one roan. There appears to be no deliberate hunting for sable, but we found snares set for antelope and sable must get caught from time to time.

Predators are also scarce, but a couple of days before we arrived a young male lion grabbed a youngster from a family group on a path Capunda village. The parents attacked the lion with knives and killed it, but the boy was killed. It seems that lions pitch up intermittently, but with the low prey densities people are frequently killed.

We weren’t looking for birds but saw a couple of “lifers” and one memorable sight of 20 Pygmy geese packed into a squash court size pool.

The stars of the trip were undoubtedly the Angolan Air Force and Pedro. Next year we hope to drive up and see Iona National Park on the way and then fish in the mouth of the Cuanza for tarpon. Next time we will get a sable photo!

On the 4th of February I received the following note from Jeremy:

“Many thanks for holding things back.

The announcement was made yesterday. Here is the photo.

This was taken with a Trailmaster camera over a salt lick. Pedro vaz Pinto set up the cameras in October and has been driving up to Cangandala once a month to check them. Lots of problems such as ants invading the camera and a few photos of duiker and bushbuck. Then in Feb it all came right. These are the first photos of Giant sable for about 25 years. The face markings can be clearly seen.. Like a panda! The nearest animal is an adult female and looks fairly heavily pregnant”.

A good effort and great news. Most of us thought they had disappeared, shot out in the war.

Sorry cannot attach photographs to the newsletter but I will gladly forward the two to hand to those who are interested.

Ed Ostrosky

Ed and Trelda are still in Howich. Ed has gone from being the only firearms instructor to now heading up a nine-man field training team. Ed notes:” We are presently breaking trail for the rest of the formal conservation agencies by fighting our way through the incredible mass of bureaucracy, training authorities, and the legal morass that surrounds firearms in RSA. Each day the goal post moves with the Central Firearms Registry, or one of the Training Authorities, making more 'administrative decisions' and bringing everything to a grinding halt. Extremely frustrating.

As it stands though we are ahead for once, being the only National or provincial conservation organization that is accredited as a training provider to conduct both conservation and firearms training” and concludes by mentioning that he sees Bill Howells, Pete Thompson, Ian Thomson, and Tony Conway, and Ann van Essyn occasionally.

Angus Anthony
Whilst in the Wilderness area early in March I met up with Angus Anthony in George. I suppose it’s twenty years plus since our paths last crossed, very difficult to pick up from before! Between a couple of cups of coffee two odd hours were spent catching up on recent happenings, mutual friends and news of colleagues etc. Angus has, as I previously mentioned left De Beers and now resides in George and keeps himself busy with his apiary and pottery businesses plus of course his interest in birds of prey, vultures in particular.

Excerpts from a recent email from Angus – “It was good to see you the other day and catch up on who is where and what has happened in the intervening years.

At the Vulture Conference which is now the Bird of Prey Working Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust met up with Billy Howells, KZN are taking the conservation of their Raptors very seriously and had a team of six at the conference, Anyway I got up to Magaliesberg early so popped round to see Bruce on the Sunday afternoon. I thought he was looking quite well considering what he’s been through. He is still shaky on his feet and uses a walker or stick to help get around. We had a long chat piecing together where we were in Parks over the years and whom we had worked with. Then Billy and I went over on Wednesday evening and Billy went back again on Thursday so Bruce and Paula had quite a “blast from the past” that week!

Not much to report from here. We have now got nearly all our possessions down from Kimberley and it is now a matter of making space so I can get on with some pottery, the bees are quite now with the cooler weather, but I still have honey to bottle and to prepare site for the coming summer.”

Tommy Fynn
As a result of the get together at Midmar a couple of new addresses were acquired one of which being Mike’s brother Tommy who recently wrote

“We are all well here in Pinetown where I have been based for quite some years now and still get to see many of the stalwarts from this area such as Pete and Cherith Thomson, the Howells family and Ed Oestrosky. Ben Hoffman runs a very successful raptor rehabilitation centre just outside PMB and his wife, Shannon (Ed’s step-daughter) runs a superb tourist attraction in which she operates with birds in free-flight demos. Really good stuff.

I still do Wilderness trails for KZN Wildlife in Umfolozi but am getting a bit m’dala for walking with a backpack, We do see a lot of good sightings, particularly Rhino (which Umfolozi obviously is famous for so one would hope to see them!!). I did have an interesting experience recently where I was watching a very large elephant bull on foot with a group of trailists. To my surprise he lay down right in front of us, in a mud puddle, and fell asleep. I have never previously come across such a large specimen, or a report of one, fast asleep on the ground. He was so out for the count I took two of the group (not supposed to do this!) right up to him – he was completely gone and snoring gently. The only similar incident I recall was at Marangora when an army call sign reported coming across a dead elephant. As we were about to leave to get to their location and investigate, they radioed again and told us not to worry any further, the elephant had just got up and walked off!”

I know of a few instances of chaps walking onto elephant that are lying down, snoring and very much out for the count but not heard of anyone actually witnessing one bedding down and taking a siesta.

Dave Rushworth

From Hoedspruit – “ I have had the opportunity for some good, nostalgic chats to Paul Coetzee, who I have bumped into on several occasions recently. He is looking very well and still has his normal calm, unflustered spirit, despite what must be a frustrating job with the elephants and tourism at Kapama near here.

We had lunch, and time to chat, with Roland and Ursula D'Ivry Russell, at Phalaborwa, not long ago. They are looking very well for their 70+ years and he is still running his estate agency and surviving in the property business.

Billy Howells phoned me from KZN a short while ago, in regard to birds of prey. Still well and enthusiastic after 35 years in conservation and despite having an untrained, politically appointed, rookie supervisor with two years involvement in conservation. This seems to be the frustrating trend in conservation in SA now.

Brother John (Botanist Wankie Main Camp) and Colleen, who stay on the farm with us, are keeping well and fully involved in plant research. He is the top source for plant ID in this area and helps out the pvt nature reserves, KNP and universities etc.

Ron van Heerden is just north of us near Mooiketsi, running a section of game /hunting area for a big landowner of there. He is near Rory Hensman and his new elephants. Haven't seen him.”

Appended to one of Dave’s emails was this report on the Thai elephant, which, Dave notes as “being interesting but not surprising. Most humans are so drugged and wrapped up in materialism that they have lost all natural senses”

“KHAO LAK, Thailand.

Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves.

"I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said on Sunday on Khai Lak beach at the eight -elephant business-offering rides to tourists.

The elephants started trumpeting, in a way Dan, 36, said could only be described as crying - at first light, about the time an earthquake measured at magnitude of 9.0 cracked open the seabed off Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

The elephants soon calmed down, but they started wailing again about an hour later and this time they could no be comforted, despite their mahout's attempts at reassurance.

"The elephants didn't believe the mahouts. They just kept running for the hill" Said Wit Aniwat, 24, who helps tourists onto the back of elephants. As the elephants retreated inland ahead of the tsunami, they picked up about a dozen people and carried them on their backs.”

Paul Coetzee
I spoke to Paul for a short while very recently – he’s back in the bush and, as noted above, working with elephant at Kapama. As always still keeps himself superbly fit although now only walks about fourteen kilometres a day which is a far cry from the vast distances he covered whilst hunting on “Tsetsi Ops.” with the likes of Dave Scammell, Tokkie Lind, the late Robin Hughes and others – some things never change! Paul notes that Kapama is one of the few privately owned areas in South Africa where big game occurs naturally.

Paul’s email and postal address details are noted under “new address details”

Bruce Couper
Bruce is all but up and running following his new year’s eve fall when he broke his hip. Now again able to walk unaided. I saw Bruce for an hour or so in March and as Angus noted was surprised how good he looked following that nasty accident – great to see him back to his chirpy old self.

The “Wiltshire Tribe”
Good to hear of the Wiltshire’s - from Jan: “John graduated as top student in his architectural degree and is now working in Nelspruit. Seems very happy. We have just returned form his graduation where he received prizes from the SA and Free State Institute of Architecture for top 5th year student and top student of whole second degree. Harry completed his honours a year ago, internship last year and is now the Biokinetisist at Virgin active in Bloemfontein, loving the work he does. He is also in the 2nd year of his Masters, which is on the rehabilitation of sports injuries and other injuries. Stephen is back in Eshowe working with computers and has started his own small business. He wants to study more and then go back into farming or conservation, when he knows what I want to do. He is busy helping me turn my outside rooms into a granny cottage. He is just as helpful and as gifted as his dad. I am working presently at a Christian school in Eshowe, serving the Lord and loving it. I also run the computer centre and work with a group of Zulu ladies teaching them, computers, art and craft, product development and design. 'We have an order to fill from Europe which is great.”

2. New Zealand

The Murrays write – “Well we are now heading for winter but have had a wonderful summer, and a very dry autumn so far. Long may it last you can hear us saying. The mornings are crisp and often misty and have had frost twice so far, but once the mist clears and the sun manages to reach mother earth, it is lovely. The skies are blue and out of the wind it is lovely.

On the job front we are leaving here at the end of May (28th) and moving up to Westport. This is a small town to the north of us, still on South Island on the west coast. Rob is going back into dairy, having been turned down by DOC, but the hours are far more friendly than we are doing at the moment. They start herding at 5.30a.m. and start milking at 6.00a.m. and there are going to be 550 cows as opposed to the 1100 that we are looking at now. The house is not a patch on our present on, but we will make it as comfortable as possible. Our biggest worry is if we are going to get all our furniture into the house. It is half the size of our present home. We will make it as cosy as possible though. Again we are perched on top of a hill, but due to the winds up there it is surrounded by trees to give a bit of protection, but cuts off any view. It is very much flatter and we have the sea a couple of kms away, but in sight. There are mountains behind us. Ann will try to find a job in Westport on our return from UK at the end of June.

We finish work here on the evening of the 24th and our furniture is going from here on the 28th May. This will then give us a couple of days to get it sorted out before we head over to Christchurch on the afternoon of the 30th, and we will be spending the 31st with folks there and they will drop us off at the airport on the 1st June to catch our early morning flight.

On the immigration side, we have still heard nothing. I contacted the office last week to be told that the Minister will be making an announcement end of April now.

Kate Middleton Stokes
As a result of the efforts and good correspondence of Margaret Peach I recently received an email from Kate Middleton Stokes, “Lofty’s widow, who lives in New Zealand. Many of us would not have not known Lofty or Kate as they emigrated shortly after the amalgamation of the two departments in ’63 a few of our more senior colleagues will recall the times that Kate so delightfully describes -

“Margaret Peach (Maggie to me - always was) asked me to send you an email with some memories from way back. Hard to know where to start, and once started, where to stop. Over a couple of days and a few beers I am sure there would be a lot to talk about.

They were wonderful times and a wonderful country - have never been back - left in February 1964 with 2 small girls, 2 1/2 years and 10 months. I prefer to live with the memories I have, rather than see what 'freedom' has done.

I was a real townie when Lofty and I were married, and had much to learn - cook on an old wood stove was not easy like a lot of other things - doing the ironing with flat or charcoal irons - for Christmas once, Lofty bought me a tilly iron and I was so thrilled with it - buying groceries for 3 months or so - no telephone other than the radio phone which usually worked well in good weather, but no use at all in bad conditions. The time I spent with the chaps working on Operation Noah was fantastic although not really appreciated at the time - it was just part of life. They accepted me so readily and made me feel part of the operation - never once did I feel in the way. Lofty made sure we had our own hut, loo and shower but other than that we shared our lives with everyone had a wonderful and interesting time, went out on the boats sometimes when it was convenient and quite often on the Tuna - or The Ark for the larger operations. Setting up our own living quarters on the edge of the lake is a story in itself. On arrival at the site (from our main Bumi home) the gear was unloaded from the truck and we unloaded ourselves from the Landrover. Chiteve (a wonderful character and a huge help and friend in so many ways) set up a camp chair under a very small and shadeless mopani (or whatever), leant on the back of the chair and proceeded to issue orders to his 'staff'. "Faka lo bedroom lapa, faka lo bathroom lapa, faka lo shit house lapa"!!!! I nearly died trying to keep a straight face and Lofty took off on a tour of inspection lasting 10 minutes and he was still grinning when he got back. I remember someone saying to me when I took Susan home at 6 weeks old "what will you do if she gets sick" - my reply -"do just as I would do for an animal"!!!!! Fortunately, apart from tonsillitis which Lou van Dyk diagnosed when she was only 3 months old, she was tough and seldom off colour - probably due to the dirt floors she sat on and being dunked overboard the Mandora at bath time. She grew up insisting that everything moving on 4 feet was a 'kitty'. Maybe a deprived childhood, but she has learned a lot since then and is now an experienced teacher of agriculture and horticulture. Lou was wonderful and if we were Kariba and there was an outdoor movie on - she would admit Susan to hospital overnight where she was thoroughly spoiled. Lofty often told the story of Lou van Dyk when he tried to get hold of her via radio telephone. The hospital orderly answered the phone and said Lofty could not speak with the Sister now because she was busy on the table with the Doctor.!! Maggie came to the rescue once when Lofty had a brush with leopard - caused by a new recruit from the town pointing to something and wanting to know what it was! Lofty went to look and hey presto!! Lost a sock, received a scratch or two and then came the anti tetanus - the rest is history - he had a reaction to the anti tetanus injection - poor Maggie - worried sick in case he succumbed to that rather than the leopard. I will never forget the occasion a poor old rhino suffered bowel impaction when shut up in a pen at the camp and had to have an enema - a bucket of soapy water and a stirrup pump - then everyone stood clear. It had the desired effect though and I am sure the rhino felt more comfortable. I hated snakes and Lofty was always collecting them to send to the University. We had visitors on the lake once - Phil and Phillip Phillips! - and they were sent back to Salisbury with a couple of orange sacks containing various species of snakes for the University - I didn't envy them the trip and I don't think they were over enthused either. When I was at the home camp and Lofty went on patrol, the staff and I had a great arrangement - if I saw a snake, I yelled, they killed it and then we burned it - and none of us ever told the 'boss'. Peter Moore - who always carried with him his bottle of 'cough mixture'!!! I remember him having a very good double topped up with muddy water from the river which suddenly flooded when he was delivering stores for us at the home camp and we could not cross the river to the house after collecting him from the Ark. I managed to get a copy of the book "Fothergill" and it brought back memories - names and incidents - of many people and animals, including Crackers, Tinkey and Ruperts mongrel - what a character. One incident not known by many - Archie Fraser in his wisdom decided to allow two female teachers to spend a week on the island much to Rupert's horror and disgust. One of them was OK but the other was a real pain, considered herself a fantastic photographer and went on and on and on about her 'friend the chemist' who processed all her photos himself so they did not get ruined. There was a rhino rescue planned at the time and this woman created, as she wanted to be part of it. No way was she allowed of course, but she gave Lofty her camera and asked him to take photos - which he did - but - when the chaps went for a dip after the rescue he took a telephoto full frontal of Rupert emerging from the lake!!!! Wonder what her friend the chemist thought of that? Or Rupert if he had known! Many interesting folk from all walks of life visited the camp on the edge of the lake. The Governor General (1961/62 - Dalhousie? - cant remember) and his wife came for a bit of R and R. The first morning he delivered the early morning cuppas to the various mud huts - he fed Susan her morning porridge and we waited and waited for his wife to appear so that we could breakfast. Eventually he told us to sit down and eat and his wife would join us when the hen had finished laying an egg on his wife's camp stretcher!! Not long after and with much cackling, the camp hen departed having left a freshly laid egg for the lady's breakfast. I remember the day the first water was allowed through the gates of Kariba Dam - there were a lot of us there to watch that first trickle and I am sure I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. A lot of memories of Kariba itself - going to the shop to buy fresh milk done up in triangular cartons - and sitting in the car drinking it straight away - such a treat. The fantastic view of the dam from the Game Camp, the beautiful round church on the hill where Maggie and Tinkey Haslam were married - and all the boys dolled themselves up - barely recognisable out of their old khaki shorts, boots and beat up hats of all shapes and sizes. I was sad to leave Kariba - had such a happy time there, but leave we did. Lofty was posted to Marongora and the Mana Pools controlled hunting area - he moved there while I was in Salisbury awaiting the birth of Sally Anne who arrived on the 30th April 1963. The view from the house overlooking the escarpment was pretty fantastic some week ends we used to go to Makuti Motel for a beer and give Susan a swim in the pool there. Many years later when Susan was on her OE and after meeting up with "Auntie Lou" in Somerset West, she went on to Zim, and on her way to Kariba she and her travelling companion stopped at Makuti. Susan told me a long time later that when she got out of the car she burst into tears - she suddenly knew that this was the Africa she remembered - and we emigrated when she was two and a half. Very strange as we have no photos of that time or place and never really discussed it - Kariba was much more interesting. The last time we camped out was at Mana Pools - not easy to organise camping with two small girls - but we did on this occasion and had a great time. I have a photograph hanging in the lounge, of a herd of buffalo, which Lofty took from our "bedroom" window - and so close. People here in NZ find it impossible to understand how we lived in mud huts without doors or windows. I hated packing up our belongings at Marangora knowing we were leaving the country and my family.

Many names spring to mind - Lofty's good pal Len Harvey who came to such an untimely end - I have a very large and beautiful tiger's eye brooch he sent out to me when my parents visited us in 1968. And oh! That smell of the first rain - only once or twice here in NZ have I smelled it - and it brought tears to my eyes - truly a part of Africa. Both Lofty and I were very homesick at times and I still have Africa in my blood. There are a huge number of South Africans and Zimbabweans here in New Zealand and I meet up with them now and again - most have settled down very well and are very happy. A totally different way of life of course, and the women particularly, miss family, but we don't have the violence you have had to cope with - and I hope we never have. There is a large influx of Asians which is causing a few problems with kidnapping and blackmail demands - among themselves - so I hope that gets jumped on in a hurry. Nonetheless it is still a very peaceful, if rather laid back country, and my 3 kids had a great time riding horses, pony club etc. up north in a rural area, ending up with us buying a farm etc. etc. It wasn't a bad move and I am only sorry Lofty did not live to enjoy retirement. I hope these memories of mine will be of interest to you - the more I go on, the more I remember - pity we cannot get together again around the camp fire for a good yarn”.

Kate you write in a manner that is thoroughly enchanting and refreshing. To this I can only add distances, time and what ever negate any possibility of swapping yarns around a fire but, be that as it may, I do hope you will, in the near future, treat us all to a few more tales.

3. Botswana

Barney O’Hare

Of O’H as at the 16th of January “Every thing here in Bots is well. Didn't do too badly for the first year on my own with my own heli.............. I now own the one front door handle with the bank still the major share holder !!!!!!!!!!!!! Done a few conservation type jobs in Namibia last year and hope to do more of the same this year”

4. Norway.

Mark Bowler
Mark served an ecologist in the Department from 1985 to ’95 with his last posting being in Harare on aerial surveys.

Update from Mark in Norway “It's really good to hear what others are up to. On our recent trip to Zimbabwe, I was able to catch up with a few ex-colleagues, Peter Mundy, Russell Taylor, Norman Monks, Gordon Putterill, Willie Nduku, Claire Davies, Maggie Taylor. Heard of the whereabouts of a number of others as well.

Having married Carol Pascoe, whose family are still farming in the Enterprise area along the Mutoko road - neighboring Bally Vaughen, we moved to Norway. Carol had studied medicine in Oslo. We live in a little village, Lyngseidet about 300km north of the Arctic Circle. We have 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. Carol works as the council medical officer and I have a job

in Tromsø city council as GIS coordinator - (GIS - geographical information system)”.

5. Tanzania

Steve Atwell
Ranger – 1980 to’83 now residing in Tanzania from where he wrote this short message “Am in Tanzania as you know and have been here since '91. Enjoy Tz, still a bit upside down but getting better on a yearly basis. Live in Tanga, on the sea, anybody up this way give me a shout... also have a small hotel/B&B in Arusha, and am still hunting.”

6. Kenya

Collin Welensky
As at the 26th Januray’05 – “I am well still working in the Mara for Governors Camps. Some interesting news, the day of that terrible earthquake the animals were acting very weird. I was doing a walk at the time and nearly shot an elephant cow. She stopped 12 paces from me and the three Aussie clients that were waking with me. All the animals were very nervous. I do believe they could feel the quake!”

7. Zimbabwe

Excluding that of the Francis’s there’s little or no personal news from other members of the clan though some did take time to forward other snippets of information, which is appreciated.

Rob and Paddy Francis

Of the ups and downs of returning to Zimbabwe from the first world Rob and Paddy write in their letter of the 5th of April:

“The very good news is that the tenants have vacated the house at long last. Rob eventually had to resort to dastardly methods – he increased the rent by about 400% It was amazing how quickly they then found another house, but then they just would not get off their rumps and MOVE!!! Anyway, Himself got all ugly again, and so they then were out the house the very next day. That was April 2nd.Now we have started the Great Repaint. …. Yes, Rob decided he just could not face all that painting again, (I am afraid that I have slipped into the African way of life rather easily) and now that time is so short thanks to the tenants, he got a couple of contractors to do the job (I got a builder to build my new workshop, and I did paint it myself – yeugh). With luck we could even be moving across by the weekend. Then we have to get the cottage redone before our new tenant moves in. There is quite a bit of damage in the main house to be fixed, and really its no joke trying to get materials here. Everything has to be ordered from Bulawayo, and the freight costs are just mind blowing. Rob had to get 4 packets of whitewash and 2 brushes for the Ellie Company. The goods cost $400,000, but the freight to Vic Falls cost $2.2 MILLION!! I promise that is not one cent exaggeration! So one thinks again and again before ordering anything at all!

The work on the house, the car, and the electric fence have now eaten up everything we had.

…..About Rob’s car? We actually were so lucky that we got the crates from Harare to Vic Falls safely, as the breakdown happened soon after that. He was driving on the dirt road from the ellie camp when he heard big, expensive noises, and the short version is that the diff blew up! As usual all the spares had to be got from Bulawayo, and the cost was frightening!

As for the electric fence, well - over Easter when everyone was here we had a mother storm, and the lightening hit the fence ---- exit one fence charger! The storm itself was actually quite exciting, as tropical storms often are. (We had 3ins in an hour. Storm water washed down from the property above the Shearwater warehouse, created a dam behind the rear wall and pushed it over, smashing all our offices in the process. The water wrecked most of the computers and the mud was something to see. All the offices are of wood. So I had to jack them back onto the slabs – what a bummer).

Then Clem Coetsee came to stay … he is the main ellie guy and friend of some 40 years standing, and had to go to sort out a wounded jumbo in Livingstone, so he stayed with us en route.

Over the Easter weekend when everyone was here Rob finally got the boat into the water, and we enjoyed several wonderful sundowners, and one almost full day, just idling along drifting with the current. The Zambezi is still rising (maximum flood level is usually in late April) and it is just so great to be on the river again.

We had a super surprise when we returned to our house in January. 6yrs ago, I got a genuine commercial pepper vine and planted it in the garden. While in the USA I regularly asked if it had started flowering, but reports were always vague at best. It started flowering in Jan. this year and the peppercorns should be ready to harvest within the next month. The crop will be enough to keep us in pepper for the next year. The coffee tree is also bearing, but not really enough yet to make a harvestable crop. But I’m sure in time it will also be productive.

Our coconut palm is looking good, and that should start producing coconuts in the next few years. Today Rob planted a second coconut palm; we now have 20 different palms in our small property!”

Norman Monks

On Mana - “All is well here although we are in the throes of a drought which has made Mana, in March, look like Mana in August. I fear that there will be severe mortalities this year. I do hate watching wildlife struggle in drought situations.

We continue to draw the intrepid tourist (our bread and butter) and this last Easter weekend was no exception with the camp site at Nyamepi full of FT's (Fantastic tourists) and of course the ever attendant monkeys, baboons and, at night, the hyaenas. My wife and I listen at night as the hyaenas go into a frenzy of excitement and we know that another cooler box is being dragged into the Adrenaline grass for a feast, spotlighted by a FT (frantic, frustrated,

frightened tourist) bemoaning his lost rump steaks, pork chops and borewors. In the morning is the inevitable visit with the FT (Fuming tourist) "what are you going to do with the hyaenas". And then when they are a bit calmer "Do you know anyone going out of the Valley who can buy us some supplies?"

The occasional bull elephant comes down to the floodplain and as always is a wonderful sight as he casually walks past the house or steps over a tent without touching the guy ropes. The lion research continues and there are some interesting things happening just now as new males are coming in and causing alarm and despondency apart from the odd flirting females who care not about matrimonial faithfulness. I have 14 lion in five prides wondering around with radio collars now and hope to get some collared in the Sapi and Nyakasanga.”

Judy Dunjey
“At the moment am languishing at Chikwenya Camp!!

I wish I was back here permanently - but am grateful to have the option to go back to the UK if and when I need to.

I have just given myself this time off here at home - in the bush - for this year. - also just to have a bit more time in between with my family..Anyway, it is a wonderful place to be.”

_______________________

“The Harare Get Together” (Sunday 9th January)
From Mark Brightman – “The get-together yesterday went very well, with about twenty members attending. I will forward the attendance list through 'Tokkie' and Odette Lind for final editing, which they will then forward on to you.

It was good to see chaps like Willie de Beer, Graham Hall, Rob Francis, Charlie Mackie and Ian Nyschens all there - but full list will follow”

In reaction to the relatively short notice of the get together attendance was pretty good – the Whites and the Paulets didn’t attend due to earlier commitments.

As in the previous newsletter copying attendance spreadsheet details has proved to be a problem so only contact details have been included.

Name

Address

Telephone/

Cell

E-mail

Ken Worsley
58 Hawkshead Drive, Borrowdale, Harare
(04)860232

011604849

mhumhe@zol.co.zw

Sue Childes

Andy & Sara Hunter
P.O. Box 456, Westgate, Harare
(04)305609

091430726

chipitani@zol.co.zw

Ian Riddell
P.O. Box A1127, Avondale, Harare

(04)339716

gemsaf@mango.zw

Lynne & Vernon

Booth
9 Glenara Avenue,

Highlands, Harare

(04)497851

swallow1@mweb.co.zw

Tokkie & Odette Lind
18 Alveston Avenue,

Borrowdale, Harare

(04)884663

lind@mweb.co.zw

Mark Brightman
P.O. Box MP 86,

Mt. Pleasant, Harare

091253236

253236@ecoweb.co.zw

Janette Brightman

Gordon & Debbie Putterill
Bally Vaughn Game Park,

P.O. Box HG 886,

Highlands, Harare

091226854

091242792

putterill@mango.zw

Alistair Hull
20 Hawkhead Drive,

Borrowdale, Harare

(04)861617

hull@zol.co.zw

Di Hull

Ian Nyschens
36 Campbell Avenue,

Pomona, Harare

Charlie & Jane Mackie
Mole National Park

P.O. Box 8, Damongo, Ghana

Nil!

csmackie2004@yahoo.com

Willem de Beer*

P.O. Box 109, Ruwa
(04)706851

091364249

quillpak@zol.co.zw

Graham Hall
242 Borrowdale Brook, Harare

091303205

molley@africaonline.co.zw

Rob & Paddy Francis
531 Reynard Road,

Victoria Falls

091234568

fallsfossils@zol.co.zw

Fay Robertson
50 Warwick Road,

Greystone Park, Hre
(04)851625

091324740

faykevin@zol.co.zw

Kevin Dunham

______________________

Matabeleland / Bulawayo Reunion – June 11th

Many years have passed since we had a get together in Matabeland, had a drink or two together, something to eat and swapped stories. This obviously needs to be rectified!!

Drew's investigating the feasibity of doing a sheep on a spit - if this can be arranged i.e.not overly expensive and Drew knows how many will be in attendance he'll place the order, we'll go from there and split costs at the do.

Bring own drinks. I'll revert about the sheep but if it doesn't work out please bring what ever you wish to braai. Salads, well if we could leave that to the ladies if would be just great.

Venue - 21 Baxendale Street Kumalo

Please Respond direct to Drew:

Email dinah@zol.co.zw

Tele 09 237 286 (h)

091 308 915 (c)

__________________________

New e-mail Address Details:

Dave and Erica Scammell (now back online) edscammell@westnet.com.au

Paul Coetsee altahi@mweb.co.za

Dudley Maré bebec@yebo.co.za

Steve Atwell outthere@kaributanga.com

Barry Ball hoopoe@mango.co.zw

Collin Welensky* collinwelensky@hotmail.com

* No attachments – please

Ken & Sue Worsley* mhumhe@zol.co.zw

* Cell phone link – no attachments - please

Rob Clifford rob@nature-destinations.co.uk

Bruce Muller vossinn@bridgeband.com

Willie de Beer (c/o Carol,his daughter) quillpak@zol.co.zw

Mail addressed to the following is being returned, can any one help with new e-mail or other contact details:

Charlie Mackie csmackie2004@yahoo.com

Steve Johnson sjohnson@it.bw

Rowan Martin mockingchat@zol.co.zw

Pete Shore peteshore@zol.co.zw

Doug Hensberg hensberg@ecoweb.co.zw

Sharron Beefa (nee Brennon) Beefed_Up@lit.co.zw

Heather Forbes (now in Tanzania) Heather.Forbes@bd.britishcouncil.org

________________________

A change in roles

Attached to a recent note from Alistair Hull was a photo taken many years back of tiger fish and a crocodile. True, nothing too unusual about that except the main predatory role had been reversed and it was a case of the tiger fish having eating the crocodile and not the other way round. Alistair’s notes read, “ I thought the attached photograph would be of interest to some of the guys, especially the ones who were in fisheries. The attached photograph is of a tiger fish that I caught in Kariba gorge way back in 1982 with Ollie Coltman, Jules and Josie Turnbull Kemp and Di. When gutting the fish, which measured 13 inches, I was amazed to find a croc which measured 9 inches come out of its stomach!”

Sorry cannot attach photograph but will forward to those interested.

__________________________

Conservation Issues

1. Hwange National Park

· Operation Nyama – Report by Johnny Rodrigues

· Statement - Director-General Parks Authority

· Comment

2. The Bumi Incident

· Comment

3. San get permission to kill elephants in park

4. Baboon Behaviour – Mike La Grange

5. Giraffe Lightning Deaths

1. Hwange National Park

Over the last few weeks or so a couple of rather controversial and thorny issues involving Parks have come to the fore. Some articles appeared on websites and others in the international press. Many will have read the offending pieces and will therefore not be surprised to learn that publicity was such, particularly with regards to the Hwange report it necessitated a statement being issued by the Director General!

Details of these, some other facts together comments follow:

Operation Nyama:
A report by Johnny Rodrigues Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (9th March’05)

“We have just discovered that for the duration of 2004, "Operation Nyama" took place in Hwange National Park. For those who don't know, the English translation of "Nyama" is "Meat". The purpose of this operation was to provide meat for the people and it is alleged that a quota was issued, authorizing a large number of animals to be shot for "Operation Nyama". If the aim was genuinely only to feed the people, it is strange that most of the elephant bulls that were, and still are being shot, have 60 to 70 pound tusks and are in their prime. Older bulls with broken tusks are not being targeted.

We have had several complaints from tourists. "Operation Nyama" was supposed to end on the 31st December 2004 but we received a report just 3 weeks ago from a group of horrified and disgusted American tourists. They said they saw a National Parks truck which had broken down inside Hwange National Park and it was fully loaded with dead impala and buffalo. An

attempt had been made to conceal the dead animals with branches and leaves but the Americans could easily see what was in the truck. They were extremely upset and said they were going to report it to their government upon their return to America.

We have had other reports of tourists cutting their visits to Hwange National Park short because they have witnessed animals being slaughtered by National Parks staff in the prime game viewing areas. These tourists said they intend to go to the press and their local congressman when they get home.

One of the camp managers in Hwange has threatened to remove his diesel engines from the park because there is little point in spending millions of dollars on fuel to pump water to attract the game just so it can be shot for meat.

Most of the game viewing in Hwange takes place around the Main Camp area but tourists are saying there is practically no game left there. Some of the animals have been slaughtered and the others do not go there any more for fear of being shot. The tourists made scathing remarks about the shocking state of the roads and asked what their National Parks entry fees

were being used for. There is also very little water being pumped into the pans.

The Zimbabwean government spends millions of dollars promoting tourism on the one hand and on the other, National Parks staff seem to be making a good job of destroying what is left of our tourism industry. One of the wardens of Main Camp has apparently been arrested for stealing eighteen of the National Parks diesel pumps, most of which were donated by conservation organizations, and selling them to the "new farmers" who are all now hunting in the areas adjoining the park.

It has been reported from Amsterdam that the Dutch customs police have seized a shipment of African elephant body parts including 22 feet, eight tusks, eight ears, three tails, a skull and an entire hide. The cargo, originating in Zimbabwe and bound for Germany was halted at Schipol Airport without proper licenses. The body parts were intended for buyers in Spain,

Portugal and the Czech Republic and as yet, no arrests have been made. At least the dealers have lost their money because the cargo has been confiscated and will most likely be destroyed.

Everybody hoped that when National Parks became an "authority" as opposed to a government department, the wildlife would once again enjoy the protection it had before the onset of the land reform program but the irresponsibility of the new National Parks Authority is beyond belief. It has now reached the point where the wildlife is probably safer outside the National Park areas because the people who have been entrusted with safe guarding this precious commodity are the very people who are destroying it. The Zimbabwean Government should be held accountable for this destruction of our national heritage.”

· Statement - Director-General Parks Authority

The Director-General’s statement, undated, thought to have been issued around month end April or early in May’05 reads:

“RESPONSE TO AN ARTICLE “OPERATION NYAMA” BEING CIRCULATED BY THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TASKFORCE

Introduction

As far as the Authority is concerned there is nothing called “Operation Nyama” as alleged but merely a drought mitigation programme to assist communities with valuable protein only during times of extreme need. This facility has been availed to communities for many years even during the years of culling and thereafter through cropping quotas and direct assistance. It must be realised that modern protected area management has to incorporate needs of surrounding communities and this requirement has always come up in recent international wildlife management fora such as the recently held 5th IUCN World Parks Congress (2003) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002).

The following issues continue to emerge and require the attention of protected area management Authorities such as Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

People must be an essential part of the protected areas: They live near them, have helped to shape and sustain them and use them for their own survival.

Local engagement and empowerment of indigenous people in the governance and management of protected areas is important when recognizing the fact that too often benefits accrue globally but costs accrued locally.

As part of taking a lead in conflict resolution to minimise human- wildlife conflicts there is need to provide incentives through provision of benefits such as meat.

Many protected areas in developing countries exist side by side with poor rural communities who have least access to health, education and other services and yet bear the brunt of living with wildlife. Use of wildlife resources within protected areas must constitute to sustainable reduction of poverty especially in countries richly endowed with these resources.

Furthermore, the current drought mitigation plan is in line with National Policy for Wildlife which recognises conservation in a developing country such as Zimbabwe is only likely to be viable when undertaken as a sustainable resource use programme by those populations who live with the wildlife resources concerned.

Offtake

The approved quota for drought relieve in 2004 was 186 elephants for 9 Rural Districts countrywide. This offtake from an estimated national herd of about 100 000 is insignificant even after considering other legal off-takes such as 500 elephants on international trophy hunting quota and illegal off-take trends. The total legal off-take is less than 1% of the whole population and is far less than the estimated 5% annual population growth.

Management of off-take/Trophy quality

Off-take permits are issued against approved quota with conditions such as taking off non-trophy animals, hunting away from active tourist areas, encouraging dispersed hunting, hunting away from waterholes etc. In addition the local management would add additional conditions applicable to each park. The allegation that hunting was targeting 60 and 70 pounders is therefore baseless. Even our records on trophy hunted elephants are nowhere near the alleged figures which would otherwise earn us more much of the needed foreign currency for such trophies. Therefore to suggest that we could target 60 to 70 pounders for drought relief is mischievous

Procedure for complaints

Complaints from tourist against any of our offices/station are expected to be channelled directly to immediate or higher offices and not through a third party. This would allow for immediate attention or investigation and feedback. The alleged American Tourist never made a report or complaint to any of our offices and therefore could be fictitious. In future we would encourage members of the public to bring to the attention of the Authority any such practice and not to approach a third party. The alleged "truckload " of impala and buffalo could be an attempt to create an exaggerated impression of the situation.

Furthermore such descriptions of horrified (American Tourist) clearly demonstrate a negative attitude portrayed by certain isolated and misguided elements bent on misinforming the public about Zimbabwe to achieve political ambitions of discrediting this country. Such allegations are not new and will continue to surface in future.

Role of Parks and Wildlife Management Authority

The Authority in its effort to fulfil its mandate recognises that any success is dependent on full and effective participation and collaboration of all relevant stakeholders. The Authority provides leadership in coordinating the activities and all investments of all interested stakeholders. Key wildlife programmes where there is active participation of local and international NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and individuals include among others:

-Rhino Management- coordinated by the National Rhino Management committee comprised of the following members Wildlife Unit of Veterinary Service Department, WWF (SARPO), Marwell Trust Zambezi Society, CIRAD and individuals with rhinos on their private properties.

-CAMPFIRE-CAMPFIRE collaborative Group comprised of Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Ministry of Local Government, CAMPFIRE Association, WWF (SARPO), Centre for Applied Social Sciences of UZ, Zimbabwe Trust SAFIRE and Africa Resources Trust.

-Monitoring of large mammal populations through aerial and ground counts. NGOs involved include WWF (SARPO), African Wildlife Foundation, CIRAD, Zambezi Society and The Wildlife Society of Zimbabwe.

-Setting annual animal off-take quotas. These quotas are set annually through a participatory triangulation methodology which is essentially adapting quotas from information from various stakeholders such as the producers of wildlife (private landholders, resettled farmers, rural communities in CAMPFIRE areas), Safari operators, Wildlife managers and scientists (e.g. WWF-SARPO).

-CITES implementation- this is spearheaded by a natural Technical Committee which is comprised by all relevant Government Departments, all NGOs involved in Wildlife and wildlife industry.

-Fundamental research in aquatic and terrestrial ecology- several permits are issued annually to local and foreign researchers and the Authority has also entered into formal agreements through memorandum of understanding with several Research organizations.

-Policy and Strategy formulation: IUCN (ROSA) and relevant NGOs have assisted in this regard.

Outside these formal arrangements these stakeholders discuss various issues and problems affecting wildlife in Zimbabwe and have respect, and offer constructive criticism.

Rodrigues choose to ignore these fora and direct dialogue with the Authority and resorted to media instead, creating an obvious impression of a hidden agenda and advancing foreign/international interests at the expense of local realities and legitimate needs. Infact the Authority is accountable to both local and international stakeholders and strives to strike a balance between the two.

Levels of poaching

Contrary to recent reports, the report contradicts previous allegations by Rodrigues of massive poaching outside Parks Estate. Furthermore, the report presented in the Zimbabwean paper of 18 March 2005 presents a picture of live animals instead of the “evidence” of poached animals as presented in the report. Any decline in animal numbers or sightings in Hwange National Park is attributed to other factors such as habitat modification caused by local excess numbers of elephants, since all off-takes are accounted for and illegal hunting is very low.

Illegal shipment alleged to have been confiscated in the Netherlands

The Netherlands CITES Management Authority procedurally should have contacted the Zimbabwe CITES Management Authority and to date no official correspondence has been received providing details of the confiscated consignment of the listed elephant “body” parts. There seems to be no evidence and details to trace the consignment to Zimbabwe and no dealers have approached Zimbabwean Authorities. The reporter is free to provide more details to assist the Authority if he feels it necessary. In case Mr Rodrigues finds the Authority incompetent to handle the investigation he can approach TRAFFIC (Eastern / Southern Africa) here in Harare to pursue the matter and report to CITES.

Illegal activities by Authority Officers

Wherever Parks Authority officials are involved in any illegal activity, appropriate action is taken based on recommendations of a board of inquiry. Routine audits / checks and supervision on our staff would detect any such activities and a thorough investigation then follows.

Conclusion

The Authority maintains an open door policy that accommodate a wide variety of interests and ideas and believes our local NGO’s provide constructive criticisms aimed at promoting conservation. These professional NGOs have a wealth of technical and scientific information which the authority can access to enhance the scientific decision making. However unlike other conservation NGOs the so called Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force with a very limited constituency base if any, has chosen to operate like the financial western animal welfare groups, whose agenda is not to promote conservation but to raise funds for personal gain. This is achieved by invoking emotional reactions through peddling lies exaggerated and over dramatised to arouse the sympathies of unsuspecting donor communities.

Comment
It is not my intention to commence on a “parks bashing spree” far from it. It’s obvious all is not well within the authority. 2004 appears to have been a pretty poor year as far as Hwange was concerned with emphasis pointing to Main Camp as being the core of the problem!

Taking this one step further, statements read together with photographs seen supports the evidence that certain Main Camp personnel showed scant regard if any re adherence to policy and procedures relating to the removal of animals for rations, training or what ever. The fault of the bad publicity emanating from these goings on including that relating to the “Bumi incident” which will be touched upon later unfortunately lies squarely on the shoulders of the Authority which, has no one but itself to blame for the recent furore. Accountability in any form seems to be lacking, until such time as this is addressed issues such as those described will continue to surface.

The theft of 18 diesel engines some of which, it is suspected, were purchased with donor funds has been confirmed by an independent source. As a result some funding has now been withdrawn. According to investigations a member of staff is implicated in the theft and other scams yet still remains at his post! Outside agencies are making every effort to bring those responsible to book.

Dealing briefly with the poaching issue. Reports relating back a while, presumably therefore to 2004, indicate that snaring was rife in the Wexau and Mandeseka areas with giraffe being targeted in particular. Elephant have also suffered from the blatant Tjolotjo poaching, from a reliable source – “I estimate that possibly one in five or twenty percent of the bulls seen in the area have snare injuries to their trunks.”

In conclusion, I think the Directors letter was a bit of a white wash. The new Warden in Main Camp should be given a chance to prove his mettle, from what I can gather he is working at the poaching problem and bringing to an end the lazier faire attitude of anything goes with regards to removals and ration hunting. Although water supplies have been improved drought conditions prevail leaving no room for complacency, it’s going to be hard year for the game.

2. The Bumi Incident.

From the Sunday Independent (SA) dated 24th April –

“Tourists see Zim game rangers kill elephants for celebrations.”

“A least nine elephants were shot, four by Zimbabwean National Parks scouts, and used as meat for celebrations to mark the 25th year of Zimbabwe's independence, according to conservationists. Four elephants, part of a herd which is accustomed to people and easy to approach, were shot in full view of tourists close to the Bumi Hills Hotel, near the Matusadona National Park bordering Lake Kariba, two days before the March 18 celebrations. The other elephants were shot by a farmer at the request of the local rural council in the Urungwe Safari Area that borders the Mana Pools National Park in the Zambezi Valley. There has been widespread slaughter of wildlife in Zimbabwe since farm invasions began in 2000 and tens of thousands of animals have been snared or shot in game reserves, conservancies and on farms. During the run-up to the March 31 elections large amounts of other game were also shot for meat on the orders of government officials. "Despite all our efforts to prevent the Bumi elephants from being shot, we could not have predicted that the guardians of our wildlife, National Parks, would go in and shoot them," Johnny Rodrigues, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), said. "It also is a great shame and embarrassment for Zimbabwe that two foreign tourists witnessed the killings." The ZCTF monitors events concerning Zimbabwean wildlife and had alerted conservationists to the plans to shoot the animals on April 4. "The National Parks scouts were instructed to shoot elephants in the Omay hunting area but were running out of time so they went to the Bumi foreshore to shoot four of the elephants, which were much easier targets," Rodrigues said. "The Omay elephants are wild and take a long time to track but the Bumi elephants are almost semi-tame. Normally, it is quite common to see up to 50 elephants on a game drive in Bumi and it is possible for a vehicle to get as close as 3m to them. But the day after the killings, there was not a single elephant in sight," Rodrigues said. Zimbabwean National Parks officials were not available for comment.”

Comment
The wording of the article certainly dramatises an event that should not, if conducted correctly, raised any dust what so ever and certainly not have reached the ears of the press.

In view of the earlier negative coverage on Hwange one would have thought staff would have been reminded to adhere to “acceptable" ration hunting practices.

There’s no shortage of elephant in Zimbabwe so it’s not the removal of a small number that is of concern but the manner in which it was done. One must question whether is it again a case of lack of discipline and accountability that permits field staff to do as they wish.

For whatever reason a can of worms has been opened. The Authority can only blame itself for once again scoring “an own goal!”

As previously mentioned I do not believe all is “hunky dory” within the Authority and would therefore question whether the Hwange goings on, a great deal of which has been substantiated, is just the tip of the iceberg as far as some very debatable management actions that have been brought to light and poaching is concerned.

The newly formed Authority it’s understood recently finished, a major field staff restructuring exercise including the introduction of green bombers into the game scout ranks, it may therefore just need more time to re-organize itself before greater control and accountability is witnessed.

Following this line of thought is it not opportunistic to suggest the withdrawal of the issue AK’s from all parks personnel and replacing them with the .762 ex NATO calibre rifles. The reasons behind this are doubtlessly obvious but noted to high light issues to hand.

· The FN has a high rate of fire so should a situation develop or “fire fight” with poachers ensue game scouts have the where with all to deal with the issue to hand. Mention here should also be made of the definite distinction between the “reports” of both these weapons, in the instance of scouts following up poachers armed with either Ak’s or SK’s it would be a definite advantage to be able to distinguish friendly fire from that of the “baddies.”

· The ballistics of FN.762 ammunition is better suited to game control than the intermediate cartridge.

· Control of ammunition - As the country’s security forces, including the police and other government agencies, utilize Eastern Block weapons, ammunition is just too readily available to those members of Parks who may be tempted to or who are, it is suspected, already boosting their income through illegal hunting.

3. “San get permission to kill elephants in park”

Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe 15th May

“The government has granted permission to the San clan in Tsholotsho South which borders Hwange National Park to the north and Botswana to the east, to kill at least two elephants each month.

The move was taken so that the clan, which still leads a very traditional way of life, could supplement their diet with game meat.

Vice-President Joyce Mujuru delivered the news during a tour of a medical camp at Tsholotsho District Hospital last week.

She said during her visit to this drought prone-area towards the March parliamentary elections, Sans had complained to her about hunger.

“When I visited the area these people were saying tome ‘we are asking for game meat’ and as the government we have decided that something should be done,” she said.

Majuru, who was accompanied by the Speaker of parliament John Nkomo and Matabeleland North provincial governor Thoko Mathathu, said the procedures and formalities of slaughtering the elephants would be soon communicated to the governor.

She asked the governor to make sure the facility would not be abused.

Attempts have also been made by the villagers to poach the elephants, which they accuse of destroying their crops”

· Comment:

“San get permission to kill elephants in park” - politics, electioneering or what, I may be mistaken but don’t believe this bit of news appeared in any of the other national or independent papers so what to make of it is anyone’s guess. Two elephant per month for a small community seems a bit excessive but then is this, a political or humanitarian decision?

4. Baboon Behaviour

Mike La Grange has passed on this unpublished article on baboon behaviour he has observed during control exercises in the Eastern Districts; he would welcome comments and feedback.

THOUGHTS ON BABOON BEHAVIOR OBSERVATIONS DURING HANDTRAP TRIALS 2003

Mike La Grange

Summary: Observations made during the hand trap trials prompted me to form a hypothesis on baboon behaviour to understand factors that govern the interaction between individuals of a troop and between troops generally. Clearly at present there is little understanding of these interactions necessary to provide solid answers to key questions as how tree stripping commenced and is maintained to determine better and long term management of them. If correct the hypothesis, urgently requiring research, would provide for better understanding of the problem and a radical change in the management of it. Indications are that rather than removing a large proportion of the population, management action in the future will concentrate on favourably modifying troop behaviour so that baboon and the plantations can coexist. While I believe the observations on behaviour are substantiated there is an urgent requirement to initiate research to examine the problem generally and the hypothesis specifically to provide scientific answers to the problem.

---------------

During poisoning operations on the Border Timber Estates in 2003, trials were undertaken to explore alternative methods to capture baboon physically in sufficient numbers to replace the toxicant program ending in December 2004, (the end of the allotted poisoning derogation period). My particular emphasis was to explore the possibility of developing a compact hand trap which if successful, a number could be placed in a baiting site to trap several baboon together. The concept I suppose originated from the film ‘Beautiful People’ and other calabash reports I had heard over the years where baboon would reach through a small opening into a food filled calabash and grab a fist full of grain. On retrieving the grain the fist now of greater diameter would be unable to pass through the hole and the greedy baboon unwilling to let the grain go would remain attached!!! While I doubted that this was entirely true I thought it may be possible to design some mechanism that would fasten on the hand whereby it would remain caught in a similar fashion.

The situation for these trials was ideal in that the baboons on all the sites had been previously habituated over several weeks to the site for eventual control using toxicant Papiol, so turned up on cue each day and fed from the bait boxes. Irrespective what happened they would turn up to feed exposing themselves to the various traps I had designed, set among the boxes and even when food was not provided they would remain for a few hours waiting for it!

The trials took place over approximately 50 days on three separate sites providing continuous exposures to the traps over this time.

From the outset it was evident that in virtually all cases, the whole troop was extremely suspicious of anything I provided and avoided it completely. Only on two occasions did baboon attempt to investigate on separate sites and in both they were adult males. In the first, one of the dominant males of the troop was observed using a stick to drag out grain from the trap rather than putting a hand in! (Intelligence?) On the second instance, although not observed, a group of males retrieved a cob from a trap setting it off without being caught. Despite the various situations and modified equipment I tried, none were successful, even hiding the unit in an accepted food box or splitting a log off cut on site, carving out the shape of the trap in either side so when encased it could not be seen! I designed the units and redesigned them several times using natural camouflage to no avail, tried different materials even units constructed solely from wood without success. One thing was for certain that baboons don’t put their hands into concealed holes as suggested probably why they don’t often-loose fingers! In desperation on several occasions I even tried placing loose cobs on top of the units while not placing any in the adjacent feed boxes. The troop simply sat around the site for over an hour without touching the cobs. While their rejection of the traps is easily explained as being a new intrusion, often different each time, to the site compared to the standard food boxes they had been habituated to, what was surprising was their rejection of the food even when presented outside the trap! Even more significant was that it was always the whole troop including juveniles that would not touch it even after the adults had fed from the boxes and had moved off! I rationalised that surely the inquisitive nature of particularly the less dominant animals, hunger and time spent at the site would eventually result in one of them overcoming their suspicion, but they never did. I should reiterate that this occurred on approximately 50 occasions, clearly significant. (In respect to the hand-trap project I’m sure that had I remained with one design I could have slowly habituated the troop to accept them rather than continually introducing changes however this was not the objective as we were looking for a system that they would accept immediately)!

It was the intensity of this discipline, always suspected amongst primates, that amazed me. I wondered as to the mechanism involved in determining what was acceptable, by whom and how was this conveyed to the rest of the troop? Observations of troop feeding behaviour at the bait boxes consistently indicated that it is the dominant males that start dominating the site, moving from box to box keeping others at bay while feeding and filling their mouth pouches. As their hunger is satisfied they begin to relax allowing others down the line feed in similar fashion. Was it possible the dominant male/males while moving from box to box intentionally or unintentionally signal which are acceptable and which are not and their cue is followed exactly down to the least significant individual and woe betide any challenging their selection? From an evolutionary point of view one may argue that this trait prevents less experienced individuals from eating poisonous plants or entering into potential dangerous situations. This behaviour and general observation suggests that in the same way it is the dominant male hierarchy in each troop that directly dictates immediate troop behaviour in all situations apart from general behaviour specific to the species. Although differences in behaviour between groups of one species of animals are generally predictable and stereo typed, is it possible that amongst primates there are supple differences in their daily pattern? The behaviour in question where troops that carry out damage contrast to those that do not even although they coexist is surely an example? In both cases the dominant males maintain behaviour in their respective troop although they may be radically different in respect to certain traits like tree damaging! It follows then that in order to change these traits there is necessity for a ‘regime change’, the complete removal and replacement of the dominant male/males by another male/bachelor group having a different code of conduct. This assumption would explain why some troops carry out damage while others do not and why the damage behaviour has taken time to spread between troops over the years, a generation change! Also is it possible that this behaviour in the first instance for whatever reason, probably linked to the 1982 drought, forced a few troops or bachelor groups to experiment with an alternative food source over the course of the drought (7 months?). This pattern was then was adopted and continued as a standard behavioural pattern even although there is now no longer reason for it?

Does this ‘regime change’ effecting a change in general troop behaviour occur under natural conditions and if so how? Observations during the poisoning program particularly last year have suggested that while habituated troops remain close to the feeding boxes enabling the collection of their carcasses later nearby, (generally within 400 metres), individual males and bachelor groups wander over a considerable distance. On two occasions blood from a bachelor group of males, indicating poisoning, was observed at feeding sites where poisoning had yet to be carried out well away from existing poisoning sites (10-20km) where they had been previously observed by feeding site observers. On two other occasions the carcass of an individual male was located up to 30km away in an adjacent Timber Estate. Observations by site observers have indicated a number of individual males and bachelor groups throughout the various timber estates, which then appear elsewhere and often observe conflict between them and resident troops particularly smaller troops often leading to the moving on elsewhere of either one or both of them. It may be that these groups of males move much greater distances then we realise possibly involving a hundred kilometres or more. It is assumed that these bachelor groups originate from an established troop, probably booted out when they challenge the hierarchy for position, forming roving bands moving from one area to another in constant conflict. It may also be possible that having severed relations with their parent troop they are no longer subject to that troop’s discipline hence experiment more freely, for example it was adult males that tried to retrieve food from the hand traps mentioned earlier. Assuming that the hypothesis holds true it then follows that anything they may have learned during this phase of their development they will then introduce it to their new troop should they eventually successfully force a ‘regime change’ and take over a troop. This concept forms the basis of my argument that it is these bachelor groups that form the reservoir of information for future generations.

There are many reported instances that indicate that this hypothesis holds true certainly in part if not for the whole as follows:

· In Kenya recently it was reported that a troop of baboons frequented a lodge and fed off food discarded each day. Over time the males of that troop died from botulism. New males then moved in to the troop and the troop thereafter left no longer visiting the refuse dump. The report concluded that the females had somehow recognised the problem and somehow led the troop including the new males elsewhere? More likely though there was insufficient food for the rest of the troop in the first instance which the males dominated. Once they died and were replaced, the new males did not know of the dump or were wearier of the lodge thereby keeping themselves and the troop away from it.

· Recently in Zimbabwe on Charter Estates observers reported that a small troop comprising of 2 adult males, 3 adult females and two young of the year surviving control a few weeks previously were targeted for re-poisoning. They continued attending the baiting site however as soon as the bait was poisoned, the male for some reason became suspicious and refused to feed on the bait and started moving from the site when one of the females went to the box and commenced feeding. The male rushed back and severely attacked her. In contrast to this Simon van de Linde reports almost the same situation except the male there refused to eat from the boxes or allow any of the females to do the same which they respected and did not challenge.

· In South Africa Geoff Dyer reports on his trapping procedure that one must wait until the dominant male and any favoured female in oestrus leaves the trap and the less subordinates enter before tripping the system so that the male will return to the trap each day bringing the troop. Failure to do this, instead removing the dominant male most often results in the troop failing to return before many are caught and although the reason was unknown it is conceivable that new males then successfully compete for the troop and presumably lead them to a different schedule.

· Recently there have been several other reports of males refusing to take poisoned bait and more importantly for this report once they departed the remainder of the troop did the same without taking bait.

Potential future management direction

I believe there is sufficient observations to indicate that it is the dominant males that determine the daily activities of the troop, where to go and what to feed on etc. Furthermore after assuming this dominant position they maintain a rigid code of conduct demanding absolute obedience, physically enforcing it if necessary. Any change of behaviour amongst the troop then only occurs once these males are replaced when the incumbent males then enforce their own code of conduct. The upturn of this in respect to baboon damage from a positive perspective is that those troops not damaging trees occupy a territory and are an asset to the management system. They should not be targeted although unfortunately they most often are to rid the system of as many baboons as possible forced by the soon ending of the derogation period. Conversely the downside is that a troop damaging trees firstly involves the whole troop and secondly it is unlikely they will change unless the dominant males are replaced with males from elsewhere, not involved in tree stripping. Any recruitment from within the plantations at present will almost certainly involve males accustomed to tree stripping.

My concern: The current strategy at the end of the derogation period will certainly have reduced overall baboon population on the respective timber estates providing short-term reduction in damage however bachelor groups would have been left intact eventually to change the behaviour of new troops re-colonising the area from the indigenous forests! After a few years the problem will probably be even more severe as there will be more bachelors to infiltrate the new troops moving into the timber plantations. Observations on Tilbury indicate that where problem troops have been removed, in some cases the troop that replaces it initially causes significant damage. Could this be a case of a bachelor male recruiting a new troop from outside the plantation, and introducing them to stripping plantation species? Tree stripping on a large scale is unnatural to baboon in the indigenous forests, which only became a problem on the plantations approximately 20 years ago effecting select species of pine initially progressing to all exotic species later. Irrespective of the reason this behaviour commenced it is being perpetuated probably for no reason at all except that timber plantations are essentially a form of monoculture, a simple ecosystem stereo typed providing ample opportunity to carry on the practice which somehow must be interrupted. Should research prove the hypothesis correct policy will most likely change in the future with regard to the management of baboon on planted timber concentrating rather on targeting bachelor males and active troops while encouraging the introduction of males from indigenous areas to reverse this behaviour.

Note: In the end it may be found that tree stripping amongst baboon because of the nature of the situation they find themselves in, is simply standard baboon behaviour gone horribly wrong but the good news maybe is that it may be possible to reverse it with specific management.

.

Research direction

Urgently required is a research project to test specifically if baboon behaviour can be modified dramatically by forcing a ‘regime change’ and if so can it be manipulated to advantage. As stated in previous research proposals this would initially require tracking/observation of males, mainly the sub-dominant males in a troop, through their bachelor phase to where they successfully challenge and take control of a new troop. Behaviour and damage patterns could be observed to see if behaviour is “transferred” from the old troop, through bachelorhood, to the new troop.

Those wishing to comment or contact Mike La Grange can do so by email – his address details are: gamemgt@telco.co.zw

5. Giraffe Lightning Death

On Thetford Estate, Christon Bank/Mazowe area, Mark Brightman notes that two giraffe bulls were killed by an indirect lightning strike that struck a tree some seventeen metres from the nearest giraffe. It had obviously been raining when the lightning struck, and killed both giraffe instantly.

Mark comments, “I have seen cattle killed by lightning, but as for giraffe, this is a first!”

---------------------------------------------

Snippets

Mark Brightman has kindly forwarded the following extracts from 'ZNSPCA Update of the 25th March 2005'

A sinister aspect of the disappearing fences is that the wire is being used to produce thousands of snares. In just a single sweep of one conservancy, hundreds of snares were recovered.

The Warden of Kyle National Park was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to 4 horses found in a starved condition.

A resident of Masvingo was convicted under the Cruelty Act and Parks Act after he was caught trying to sell an endangered Pangolin on the roadside.

Another resident was convicted for keeping a monkey chained up in his back yard.

Despite there being no current national statistics available for the number of wild animals remaining in Zimbabwe and despite concerns being voiced, even by safari operators themselves, the usual hunting quotas were auctioned a fortnight ago with no change in the number of animals being offered. Buffalo went for around Z$150,000,000 each and Lion went for up to Z$190,000,000. Around Six and a Half Billion was raised from the auction.

One operator also reports that locals are currently felling trees at Cathedral Mopani Woodlands. We understand that this is a World Heritage Site. (Can anyone shed any light on where this is?)

Those wishing to view photographs of the snares, horses at Kyle and the pangolin should email Mark - 253236@ecoweb.co.zw

Continuing Mark notes “I have attached some photos which were forwarded on to me, showing the horrific problems of snaring occurring in the Bumi/Chalala area of Lake Kariba. These pictures were taken last dry season before the rains. The good news is that all the elephants shown were darted and the snares successfully removed, where present, by Roger Parry and Steve Edwards. Stirling work by them.”

I will forward these photos to those interested – they are pretty gruesome but give a graphic idea of what is actually going on.

_________________________

Tailpiece - Darwin Award Candidate?

Extract from Herald of 16/2/05

A bid to stop elephant from destroying a maize filed turned fatal for a Rushinga man after the landmines he intended to use for trapping the elephants exploded and killed him instead.

The man, Christian Munetsi, is understood to have been facing problems with elephants which frequently destroyed his field and had resolved to use landmines to clamp down on the elephants.

He went to a minefield, which is on the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique where he took five landmines.

On his way back, the landmines exploded and he was killed instantly.

Some of his body parts were found strewn in the landmine infested area.

Police had failed to recover some of the body parts, and were engaging army engineers to assist in recovering the remaining parts.

__________________________

Well I guess that about wraps it up for the last five months.

To those who have forwarded news and other bits of information a big thank you. The next newsletter is but a few months off so lets hear from a few more of you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.12 - Release Date: 5/17/2005