Nonlethal method of saving cattle from lions.

Female scolds male after an unsuccessful mating in Etosha National Park.

Currently listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN, African lion populations have dropped significantly in the past decade. Facing threats such as habitat encroachment, poisoning, prey decline, as well as the diseases that more dramatically plague smaller populations (referred to as the "small population paradigm"), these cats are unfortunately on their way to the endangered species list. 

Most of these issues are a result of human wildlife conflict in Africa. Urban areas are developing further into previously natural areas. Agricultural pesticides accidentally poison the cats, or, direct poisoning occurs to rid a pastoral neighborhood from the threats to their livestock. Projections of where lions will roam in the future are bleak, but one young man in Kenya created a way to protect his precious cattle from predation using nonlethal methods, giving hope for the king of the jungle:

Boy scares off lions with flashy invention

What I like most about this story is this:

What's even more impressive is that Turere devised and installed the whole system by himself, without ever receiving any training in electronics or engineering."

This is simple innovation that has multiple positive implications at its best, and it's inspiring. 

As I currently battle to make a career out of solving human-wildlife conflict (similar to this situation), I find myself constantly losing to another resume with a larger list of credentials. But I think conservation NGO's, especially in America, have lost sight of  the ability to solve problems driven by passion, and harnessing the resources at hand. I hope examples like this will set precedence for conservation projects to come. 

He got it right this time ;)

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Organization Highlight: Rhino Reality and the ENV

I always try to keep up with the latest news in illegal wildlife trade, and these days rhinos are frequently the stars of the show. But I have to admit, it gets exhausting. Most of the time the stories are tragic, all with the same theme. I suppose the "sexiest" stories are the ones with death and "the war on poaching". But while I  greatly admire and thank the rangers who put their lives at risk to save these charismatic animals, military style, I wish I heard a little more about what's being done to end the trade from the consumer end. 

For one of our Roots and Shoots meetings, Galeo Saintz from Rhino Reality was kind enough to Skype in with us from South Africa at 2:30 a.m. to talk to us about their efforts to launch educational campaigns in Vietnam and China where rhino horns are most often bought for traditional medicine. So after a year of continuing to hear the increase in numbers of rhino deaths, and even more dramatic measures taken to defend them on the ground, I decided to check back in with Galeo to see how their efforts in Southeast Asia were progressing (knowing, of course this is not a quick and easy task).

I absolutely love small, locally based organizations that are receptive to inquiring emails. He responded only two days later with updates. While they work to show documentaries on rhino poaching to Asian tourists in Southern Africa, they have also teamed up with an organization in Vietnam to get the message there. Education for Nature - Vietnam works on the ground in Vietnam to raise awareness about wildlife crime. Their top commitments right now are to end the killing of tigers, rhinos, and sun bears. Under their volunteer opportunities, they list reporting wildlife crime, and checking in on previous offenders. Now that's some hands on volunteering that makes a difference.

So thank you, Rhino Reality and Education for Nature - Vietnam, for all that you do. Your bravery should be recognized, too.

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Meet Asaba Mukobi: Founder of the Kasese Wildlife Conservation Awareness Organization.

I was given a whole new perspective on American vs. Ugandan childhoods on Thursday. Inspired by his story on the Oregon Zoo's website, I contacted Asaba Mukobi to find out what his Kasese Wildlife Conservation Awareness Organization was all about. Why did he start it? How does it work? What are his goals? He answered all these and so much more as we talked over lunch on a cold Portland day.

Asaba grew up in Uganda about 20 miles away from Queen Elizabeth national park. Like the rest of his village, he never had much of an interest in animals until a job opened up at Queen Elizabeth to work at a chimpanzee sanctuary. He worked with the Jane Goodall Institute as they raised money to reintroduce 50 chimpanzees to the wild, which is where he met his wife, an American who was volunteering with the program in Uganda.

He moved to the U.S. and worked at the Columbus Zoo before moving to the Oregon Zoo, and it was there that he started to truly develop a love for animals, and a desire to conserve them. He thought if he could teach the kids in Uganda about the wildlife they live right next to, and the jobs that the conservation field offers, he could change some of the attitudes Ugandans have about their surrounding environment.

You see, growing up in the United States, there was never a question of why I liked animals and why I wanted so badly to go to Africa. All my life I have been surrounded by National Geographic, zoos, Animal Planet shows on big screen TVs, and stuffed animal toys. I read books about lions in the Serengeti, and was amazed by the speed of a cheetah and the memory of an elephant. I had the time and resources to leisurely investigate the animal kingdom and was never worried about where my next meal was coming from or how the family farm was doing. But this is not the case in Uganda. Asaba said he was surprised when he moved here by the amount of people that volunteered at the Columbus and Oregon Zoos, simply because they liked animals and cared about them. So, he set out on his mission to bring that same kind of awareness and passion back home, thinking that he would have his one little  program in a village school, but here he is 10 years later as a registered non-profit in over 400 schools in Uganda (which is equivalent to about 400,000 kids!).

An example of one of the trading cards

His teaching tools? A TV, a generator, a pack of animal trading cards, stuffed animals, puppets, animal masks, maps and globes. The generator powers the wildlife documentaries shown on TV, and the cards, with a picture of an animal and its facts, are traded, cherished, and passed down to younger siblings among the kids. These simple programs have already done so much to change the attitudes of these communities, and the schools have even started wildlife clubs. Asaba hopes these families start to see the national park not as potential farmland or hunting grounds, but a source of revenue and jobs through ecotourism and conservation, and a home for the animals they've learned about.

Now KWCAO is reaching even further. They are taking field trips into the park where even the teachers are seeing some of Africa's most iconic species for the first time. They are approaching the parents of these communities with informational brochures, and lightly tackling tough topics like family size and agricultural traditions.

Friends and supporters of KWCAO are often telling Asaba that he needs to tour around the U.S. and tell people what he is doing, but he responds, "Why would I tour America when $10,000 would go so much further within the schools of Uganda?" (Not to mention the other resources we have available here such as websites and Facebook that are also used to tell people about his program.) To put this all into perspective a little bit, Asaba told me a story of taking his mom to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center when he visited home. He said first she questioned the price, and she started listing all the food she could get for her children with a $1.50 (the cost of entrance to the Center). Then she said "OK, so I go and see the animals, then what? What good does that do me?" But once she was there, she was intrigued by the similarities between people and other primates.

So I can't help but to agree and appreciate the use of Asaba's awarded grants and donated funds, and instead I am hoping to help him spread the word through social media and of course, Roots and Shoots at NCSU.

If you would like to know more about this organization, please visit their website, "like" their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @KWCAO. If you would like to help KWCAO, you can contribute to a school visit or student field trip here. Thank you!

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"Enough is enough."

It's funny how when you start paying attention, history really does repeat itself. At our very first Roots and Shoots meeting, my friend and I (nervously and shaking) presented a history of the ivory trade and sparked a debate over the recent decision of Kenyan officials to burn a pile of ivory to make a statement.

The controversy 

Kenyan officials wanted - and needed to - make a statement: Poaching for ivory is unacceptable. But, others felt this was a waste of resources. Killing elephants for ivory is illegal (hence the term "poaching"), but confiscated tusks that are in the hands of the government could be legally sold under Appendix II of CITES, so why not sell and feed that money back into conservation programs? 

As the struggle to protect the worlds largest land mammal continues in Africa, let's jump to the Western hemisphere, where a giant of a different kind faces the same turmoil.

Last week, Belizeans watched a pile of illegally harvested rosewood burn, estimated to be worth U.S. $400,000. Not all of it went to waste, "The Minister burnt only the export quality beams, while the smaller posts were donated to communities in the district and the burls to carvers at a local foundation."

Destroying the rosewood was, “not an easy decision to make,” said Hon. Senator Alamilla, “but I want to send an unmistakeable message to everybody in Belize: we have to manage our forest sustainably for the benefit of the Belizean people, and this government is going to stamp out the clandestine illegal logging of our natural resources.”

Rosewood and ivory actually have a lot in common. Rosewood is used to make fancy furniture in a high-end market. Ivory is used for figurines for the wealthy consumer and devoted worshippers. Both are in high demand. Both come from organisms with a slow growth rate. And both are being harvested at an unsustainably high rate. Whether the debate is in Africa or Central America, protecting animals or trees, the message of these countries is clear. 

There has to be a way to get that message to the governments of the countries that support these illegal trades the most. Imagine if their officials were to say to their people and to the rest of the world:

"Enough is enough."

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WCS announces an increase in tiger numbers.

In light of some recent news posted by the Wildlife Conservation Society, I decided to make my next YouTube video about tigers. With as many people that love them, there are some surprising misconceptions about them, and I am hoping to provide some information on their conservation that may not be as mainstream for people who aren't in the science field. 

When I attended The Wildlife Society's conference back in October, I attended a very interesting lecture on tiger conservation that I had almost forgotten about until WCS made their announcement. The research done by Neil Carter from Michigan State University, and the work being done by WCS in India are very different, but both are positive outlooks for the continued existence of this magnificent big cat. In India, WCS is working to preserve tiger habitat and have as much non-human space for them as possible, and it's actually working! Some villages have voluntarily relocated away from tiger habitats, India has created more reserves and wildlife corridors, and the government is cracking down on poaching. But Carter's research in Nepal shows that humans and tigers may be able to exist together after all, which certainly gives us hope as Asia's population continues to grow. In my video, I'll explain the different efforts going into protecting the tiger, and why Carter's study area supports both a high human density and tiger population.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAzoyMAyTT8&feature=youtu.be

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