I've been told that the Mama elephant was likely killed in the nearby forest and her tusks removed by poachers. The baby elephant was then stabbed with a spear by an opportunistic villager. The baby was buried this time, which makes three dead elephants in two months, including two babies.
Five or more well-armed poaching groups are currently operating within the Okapi Reserve. They are tasked and supported by the military - all the way to the highest levels of the military of Province Orientale. The price of ivory continues to be high and RFO park management continues to be blocked by the relative political might of the military compared to the ICCN (Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature). Until this will is changed or broken, or ivory prices decline, elephants will continue to be lost, and many park guards will enter into a very dangerous work environment.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Conservation gains and losses
I must make a small disclaimer with this post....I can't speak with authority in matters of conservation. Despite working with one of the top conservation NGOs in the world - I often don't catch a lot of details or patterns due to my elementary understanding of the culture, context, and language. However, its pretty easy for me to identify the most obvious conservation defeats and conservation progressions when they present themselves, so I'll present them as accurately as I understand them.
On my way back to the Reserve de faune a okapis site, I stopped in another one of my organization's offices and happened to meet the chief warden of Mont Hoyo Nature Reserve. This reserve is the only intact forest that connects the easterly forests of Watalinga (DRC)/Semuliki (Uganda) with the more westerly Ituri forest of DR Congo - both of which have recently confirmed populations of the elusive okapi - the Watalinga has estimated only 50 animals left. Mont Hoyo was gazetted in 1948 and became popular with tourists to Belgian Congo. It is reknowned for its mountainous terrain in which is hidden impressive limestone caves. The surrounding mixed savannah and forest had harbored elephants, okapis, and other large animals. Much of the Mont Hoyo/Watalinga/Semuliki region has been off-limits due to insecurity since the first Congo Civil War began in 1997, when Mont Hoyo was completely abandoned and left unprotected. With the return of relative security, my organization is performing socio-economic surveys to assess local communities' perceptions of the ancient reserve. What are there livelihoods like? Where does their income come from? Would they support a protected area in their backyard after living for 13 years without a sense of one?
The chief warden has just received 20 guards to protect Mont Hoyo, and a Swedish NGO is rehabilitating the 13-km route into the Mont Hoyo reserve, where they'll also rehabilitate an ancient hotel. Further work includes working to delimit the boundaries with community participation, wildlife and botanical surveys to assess current state of the nature, and development projects to support neighboring communities. Success is on the way!!
Upon arriving in my site Tuesday evening, my colleague informed me of horrible news. He had just seen a baby elephant on the side of the road - 40 kms from the park headquarters - it had a bullet wound to its hindquarters and was unable to walk. The picture below shows the picture taken by my colleague. He estimated this baby stood about 1.2 meters tall - not sure how old that would make it - but my guess is certainly less than one year.
This second case comes only one month after a nearly identical case in the same general location. In early January, another baby elephant that had been shot was struck by a vehicle during the night, and left laying on the side of the road too - alive, but unable to get up and walk. My friend and park guards went to see it, and were very careful because the mother hovered and occasionally trumpeted from the shadows of the nearby forest. An agitated mother could charge and kill a person if she wanted to...
Eventually, the park management made the difficult decision to kill that first baby elephant and distribute the meat to neighboring communities. Unfortunately, there was not much they could do. The mother hovered nearby, and she could possibly be killed by poachers who were evidently nearby. Furthemore, violence could have broken out between the park guards and poachers. Best to have one dead elephant than possibly two and gunbattle.
These are disturbing events, especially now that its occurred twice in a little more than one month, in the same general location, and involving babies. Elephants have the longest gestation of all land mammals - 22 months!! - not sure about the length of whales gestation. A mother is able to produce babies between the ages of 8 and 20, so that leaves room for about a maximum of 5 if she's producing every 3 years....in all likelihood more like 3 babies in a lifetime. In terms of maintaining population numbers, its a lot worse to lose a baby than a mom whose already produced. The purpose of killing babies is a bit puzzling - is it by accident when trying to kill the mom - maybe, but wouldn't big mom be easier to shoot than the little baby? Mom has ivory tusks - baby has none. Mom has much more meat than the baby. Forest elephants usually move in small units - sometimes just a mom and a baby or two. I suspect in yesterday's case, that the mom was also shot or completely frightened off, because she was not found close by the baby. Are these poachers killing the babies to lure the mom to kill them too? Are they trying to get retribution at ICCN park guards for increased anti-poaching activities? Is a small market for elephant meat starting up? Difficult questions that don't have a clear answer...One thing is clear - the remaining elephants in our reserve are under serious continued threat. Many poachers are operating in the forest, and they must be defeated.
Also, if two baby elephants have fallen on the side of the 120km national road that cuts directly across the giant reserve which is 14,000 sq km, are there more cases in the forest that no one knows about? Very sad news and a conservation loss indeed.
On my way back to the Reserve de faune a okapis site, I stopped in another one of my organization's offices and happened to meet the chief warden of Mont Hoyo Nature Reserve. This reserve is the only intact forest that connects the easterly forests of Watalinga (DRC)/Semuliki (Uganda) with the more westerly Ituri forest of DR Congo - both of which have recently confirmed populations of the elusive okapi - the Watalinga has estimated only 50 animals left. Mont Hoyo was gazetted in 1948 and became popular with tourists to Belgian Congo. It is reknowned for its mountainous terrain in which is hidden impressive limestone caves. The surrounding mixed savannah and forest had harbored elephants, okapis, and other large animals. Much of the Mont Hoyo/Watalinga/Semuliki region has been off-limits due to insecurity since the first Congo Civil War began in 1997, when Mont Hoyo was completely abandoned and left unprotected. With the return of relative security, my organization is performing socio-economic surveys to assess local communities' perceptions of the ancient reserve. What are there livelihoods like? Where does their income come from? Would they support a protected area in their backyard after living for 13 years without a sense of one?
The chief warden has just received 20 guards to protect Mont Hoyo, and a Swedish NGO is rehabilitating the 13-km route into the Mont Hoyo reserve, where they'll also rehabilitate an ancient hotel. Further work includes working to delimit the boundaries with community participation, wildlife and botanical surveys to assess current state of the nature, and development projects to support neighboring communities. Success is on the way!!
Upon arriving in my site Tuesday evening, my colleague informed me of horrible news. He had just seen a baby elephant on the side of the road - 40 kms from the park headquarters - it had a bullet wound to its hindquarters and was unable to walk. The picture below shows the picture taken by my colleague. He estimated this baby stood about 1.2 meters tall - not sure how old that would make it - but my guess is certainly less than one year.
This second case comes only one month after a nearly identical case in the same general location. In early January, another baby elephant that had been shot was struck by a vehicle during the night, and left laying on the side of the road too - alive, but unable to get up and walk. My friend and park guards went to see it, and were very careful because the mother hovered and occasionally trumpeted from the shadows of the nearby forest. An agitated mother could charge and kill a person if she wanted to...
Eventually, the park management made the difficult decision to kill that first baby elephant and distribute the meat to neighboring communities. Unfortunately, there was not much they could do. The mother hovered nearby, and she could possibly be killed by poachers who were evidently nearby. Furthemore, violence could have broken out between the park guards and poachers. Best to have one dead elephant than possibly two and gunbattle.
These are disturbing events, especially now that its occurred twice in a little more than one month, in the same general location, and involving babies. Elephants have the longest gestation of all land mammals - 22 months!! - not sure about the length of whales gestation. A mother is able to produce babies between the ages of 8 and 20, so that leaves room for about a maximum of 5 if she's producing every 3 years....in all likelihood more like 3 babies in a lifetime. In terms of maintaining population numbers, its a lot worse to lose a baby than a mom whose already produced. The purpose of killing babies is a bit puzzling - is it by accident when trying to kill the mom - maybe, but wouldn't big mom be easier to shoot than the little baby? Mom has ivory tusks - baby has none. Mom has much more meat than the baby. Forest elephants usually move in small units - sometimes just a mom and a baby or two. I suspect in yesterday's case, that the mom was also shot or completely frightened off, because she was not found close by the baby. Are these poachers killing the babies to lure the mom to kill them too? Are they trying to get retribution at ICCN park guards for increased anti-poaching activities? Is a small market for elephant meat starting up? Difficult questions that don't have a clear answer...One thing is clear - the remaining elephants in our reserve are under serious continued threat. Many poachers are operating in the forest, and they must be defeated.
Also, if two baby elephants have fallen on the side of the 120km national road that cuts directly across the giant reserve which is 14,000 sq km, are there more cases in the forest that no one knows about? Very sad news and a conservation loss indeed.
Gravity
I'm in Kinshasa, and am realizing again its pretty darn difficult to do anything (quickly or at all) in this behemoth of a city. Its got a sense of gravity that makes everybody tired. There is traffic, dirt, pollution, trash, and general sense of tiredness - at least most buildings, cars, and manual laborers look very very tired. There is no 9-5 rush like other world urban centers - it starts earlier and goes later and is full of delays all throughout. Mid-day traffic jams are accented by the tremendous heat and humidity- especially if your vehicle's form of air-conditioning is wind thru the windows...
I am glad I don't live here - and I have the blessing of returning to a petite village where there is none of the above chaos. Furthermore, I don't have to sleep in a hotel room many more nights....where nothing works exactly how it was designed to. The AC - the most vital of all items - has functioned mostly, and the backup fan system functions...but beyond that the sink and shower has never functioned, the toilet mostly functions, the tv has one channel which is a bit shaky, the lights in the bathroom have never functioned, the lights in the bedroom must be screwed in and screwed out with non-flammable/melt-proof material because the lightbulb is piping hot. The electricity occasionally goes out and then it just starts to be boiling hot and its a good idea to head to the office nearby and pick up a cold beer on the way, hoping I can find a functioning fan at a minimum.
The hotel's free simple breakfast contains baguette and butter, tea or coffee, I was told starts at 7. But that is when the mamas actually start setting it up....which includes washing the tables, chairs, and dishes. So around 8 oclock one can sit down for the baguette and coffee. If you demand for an omelette, add another hour and can arrive at the office at 9 am. Officially the office opens at 8, but everyone arrives more toward 9, and if there is rain - sometimes can't even make it in! For every good route, there are 10 or 20 that are utterly horrible and full of holes and lakes when it rains. With the horrible state of the routes, and the heat, vehicles have a tough tough existence.
The transport is a wild mix of the nicest and worst cars you could imagine,
-some with steering wheels on the right side - good for Congo, many on the left - more difficult for Congo,
-brand new hummers and mercedes SUVs which just got shipped over
-ancient cars which probably were "mis au monde" in the early 80s and have no original paint and look like someone took a baseball bat to the body and windshield, but are still being limped along - or even pushed....
-oddities such as 3-wheeled Indian motorcycle taxis and the occasional 4-wheeler.
-taxi-vans are like an aluminum box on wheels which have a few wood benches and if the windows are sometimes just a round hole cut through the metal body. They frequently have a lopsided lean which makes me think they could just drop their wheels at any moment - judging by the cars in and on the side of the road, they often do. The body of one taxi-van I saw was at least 10-degrees off from the direction it was traveling, making it look it look like it was just kinda skidding along.
We were obliged to take my colleague's minivan for one day-long errand because our vehicle went ill. The Univ of Kin is a long ways out of town and traffic made us take about 2 hours just to arrive there. Then as we were working in the Cartography laboratory..the power would occasionally flicker and go out....so you need a backup system or plan for everything in this city!!
In Kinshasa, I was asked constantly for money - homeless street kids, security guards, waitresses, hotel workers...nobody has enough money to live in this terrificly expensive city, so they live very far away and take slow transport in and out of their work places, making their ledger line break into about an even 0. Street-hawkers sell every sort of thing - tissues, water bags, shirts, clocks, belts, shoes, and my favorite are the really sweet maps!
On rare occasions I find something which i think - wow, this is nice, clean, or aesthetically pleasing. So when I think about what is nice, I must completely change my standards. If you look around, lots of Kinois are smartly dressed and carrying on well. The city is expansive and chaotic - people, traffic, and potholed streets in every direction for 20 miles it seems. Why do people like to be in Kinshasa? Because everyone else is - and that's got its own gravity. Don't expect to find something nice, or to be on time, or to stay clean or not sweat. Go with the flow, enjoy the craziness, sweat, smile, get dirty, try to fight the gravity. Don't try to understand the chaos or you'll become overwhelmed. Adjust and let it pull you a little bit.
I am glad I don't live here - and I have the blessing of returning to a petite village where there is none of the above chaos. Furthermore, I don't have to sleep in a hotel room many more nights....where nothing works exactly how it was designed to. The AC - the most vital of all items - has functioned mostly, and the backup fan system functions...but beyond that the sink and shower has never functioned, the toilet mostly functions, the tv has one channel which is a bit shaky, the lights in the bathroom have never functioned, the lights in the bedroom must be screwed in and screwed out with non-flammable/melt-proof material because the lightbulb is piping hot. The electricity occasionally goes out and then it just starts to be boiling hot and its a good idea to head to the office nearby and pick up a cold beer on the way, hoping I can find a functioning fan at a minimum.
The hotel's free simple breakfast contains baguette and butter, tea or coffee, I was told starts at 7. But that is when the mamas actually start setting it up....which includes washing the tables, chairs, and dishes. So around 8 oclock one can sit down for the baguette and coffee. If you demand for an omelette, add another hour and can arrive at the office at 9 am. Officially the office opens at 8, but everyone arrives more toward 9, and if there is rain - sometimes can't even make it in! For every good route, there are 10 or 20 that are utterly horrible and full of holes and lakes when it rains. With the horrible state of the routes, and the heat, vehicles have a tough tough existence.
The transport is a wild mix of the nicest and worst cars you could imagine,
-some with steering wheels on the right side - good for Congo, many on the left - more difficult for Congo,
-brand new hummers and mercedes SUVs which just got shipped over
-ancient cars which probably were "mis au monde" in the early 80s and have no original paint and look like someone took a baseball bat to the body and windshield, but are still being limped along - or even pushed....
-oddities such as 3-wheeled Indian motorcycle taxis and the occasional 4-wheeler.
-taxi-vans are like an aluminum box on wheels which have a few wood benches and if the windows are sometimes just a round hole cut through the metal body. They frequently have a lopsided lean which makes me think they could just drop their wheels at any moment - judging by the cars in and on the side of the road, they often do. The body of one taxi-van I saw was at least 10-degrees off from the direction it was traveling, making it look it look like it was just kinda skidding along.
We were obliged to take my colleague's minivan for one day-long errand because our vehicle went ill. The Univ of Kin is a long ways out of town and traffic made us take about 2 hours just to arrive there. Then as we were working in the Cartography laboratory..the power would occasionally flicker and go out....so you need a backup system or plan for everything in this city!!
In Kinshasa, I was asked constantly for money - homeless street kids, security guards, waitresses, hotel workers...nobody has enough money to live in this terrificly expensive city, so they live very far away and take slow transport in and out of their work places, making their ledger line break into about an even 0. Street-hawkers sell every sort of thing - tissues, water bags, shirts, clocks, belts, shoes, and my favorite are the really sweet maps!
On rare occasions I find something which i think - wow, this is nice, clean, or aesthetically pleasing. So when I think about what is nice, I must completely change my standards. If you look around, lots of Kinois are smartly dressed and carrying on well. The city is expansive and chaotic - people, traffic, and potholed streets in every direction for 20 miles it seems. Why do people like to be in Kinshasa? Because everyone else is - and that's got its own gravity. Don't expect to find something nice, or to be on time, or to stay clean or not sweat. Go with the flow, enjoy the craziness, sweat, smile, get dirty, try to fight the gravity. Don't try to understand the chaos or you'll become overwhelmed. Adjust and let it pull you a little bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)