IUCN Species of the Day: Giant Armadillo

 

Photo credit: Carly Vynne

 

The Giant Armadillo, Priodontes maximus, is listed as ‘VULNERABLE’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

Organization of the Day: Limbe Wildlife Centre

 

Illegal trade in bushmeat and pets is an intense and growing problem threatening wildlife. Limbe Wildlife Centre (LWC) is a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation project dedicated to the conservation and rehabilitation of wild animals. Founded in 1993 by the Pandrillus Foundation, other NGOs, and the government of Cameroon, Limbe Wildlife Centre has become a successful sanctuary for a variety of wildlife; including monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, reptiles and bird species. Cameroon is also home to a largely diverse amount of plant species and LWC is concerned with the conservation of plant life as well. The Centre plays an active role in the implementation and enforcement of national wildlife protection laws, providing a place for seized animals to recuperate and received medical attention if needed.

Photo credit: Markus Betz

IUCN Species of the Day: Cuvier’s Hutia

 

Photo credit: Eladio Fernandez

 

Cuvier’s Hutia, Plagiodontia aedium, is listed as ‘ENDANGERED’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

Organization of the Day: Bonobo Conservation Initiative

Due to the hostile nature of Congo’s war-ravaged lands, the number of remaining Bonobos apes is one that is hard to pinpoint, and as a result there is no true approximation of their population size today. We are aware of one major fact, however.  These creatures are endangered and their numbers are only decreasing. Multiple threats face the bonobos. Their main habitat exists within only one country: the Democratic Republic of Congo. The wars that have faced this area have directly affected the bonobos, through bushmeat trade and the destruction of their natural habitat.

Tattoo of the Day

Tattoo by Tony Sklepic.

While most know that zebras’ stripes serve as camouflage for protection from predators (when grouped together, their stripes make it hard for a predator to see just a single individual), there remains the conundrum of: Is it a black coat with white stripes, or a white coat with black stripes?  

Live from the Congo: Poachers, Smoked Monkey Head, and Trapped Parrots, But No Elephants in Sight

There was a shootout.  Andy and I weren’t there, but we learned through satellite text messages that Colonel Gui and his soldiers from the Congolese army ran into the bandits somewhere between Kisangani and Obenge—likely the brothers of Colonel Toms, a convicted war criminal and poacher. A gunfight ensued. One poacher was injured and two others were apprehended. Colonel Gui, with his prisoners in tow, is still coming to Obenge to route out poachers in the region.  We should see them tomorrow.

I got the news during a four-day sampling hike through TL2 with Andy and the scientist John Hart [http://www.bonoboincongo.com]. But let me back up. After Kisangani, which is where I last blogged, we flew to Kindu, a town on the border of the 25,000 square mile jungle known as TL2. It’s the region Elephant Ivory Project-lead Samuel Wasser [http://depts.washington.edu/conserv/Director.html] wants elephant dung samples from most (read the previous posts to understand why). From Kindu, the three of us spent two days on the back of motorbikes, riding dirt paths notched into the jungle and savannah. These paths are arteries out of the bush. We saw locals pushing bicycles loaded with everything from pineapples to bush meat in the form of monkeys and okapi, a striped cousin of the giraffe. At the Lomami River, we loaded into motorized pirogues for a supposed two-day trip north to Obenge, the Hart’s research camp in the northern part of the proposed Lomami National Park. John stopped at every riverside village—about a dozen–to explain what the national park meant for the locals.

Live From the Congo: Will A ‘Notoriously Violent’ Poacher and Rapist Hamper Elephant Ivory Project’s Efforts to Stop Poaching?

It’s been a fortunate few days. We arrived in Kinshasa on Monday, exhausted from 36 hours of transit, and found the Congo just as hot as we left it two years ago. On Tuesday morning, we met with Dr. Teresa Hart, a 30-year veteran of conservation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Teresa first came to the country as a Peace Corp volunteer in 1974. She’s now in her tenth year studying bonobos, an ape found only in the DRC, in a 25,000-square mile block of forest known as TL2. The region is an elephant sanctuary on paper, but animals are disappearing there faster than ever.

“Research here leads to advocacy because it’s all being destroyed,” says Hart.

The Revolution is on… and we need your help….

The Bush Warriors Tribe is growing and we need help……

Over the last year  Bush Warriors has organically grown into to a voice for our world’s wildlife. The reason for its growth is you. You, the people who care not just about themselves but about the world we live in. We have grown into a truly global tribe from  Africa, Middle East to North and South America, to Europe to Asia to Australia …The seeds have been planted and Bush Warriors tribe is now growing.

The power has always been with the people. But unfortunately many try and control it. But just like a wheel, history repeats itself and there is nothing new under the sun….. The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt are two additional examples that will be marked in history when the people said enough is enough and took what’s their….Their power, their freedom, their dignity….

We now need to relay the same message and become a loud voice for the ones that can’t speak for themselves.It is our moral duty as human beings to offer freedom and dignity  not only to the human race but to all other creatures that co inhibit our planet. Just like us, their ancestors also roamed our planet and some have been here before the human race has even existed.
Photo Credit: Fred von Winckelman

It is up to us as global citizens to rise up and say, ENOUGH…. enough treating our environment and our wildlife as if it was at our disposal and thinking there can not be consequences for our reckless actions. Just as many governments that have pushed their citizens to the edge and caused their demise,  governments and corporations are pushing our environment and all other living creatures in it including us, the human race into extinction. Are we really going to let that happen ?
Photo credit: Karl Ammann

It is time that we all gather as one unified voice and say NO MORE……ENOUGH IS ENOUGH…..

To get the ball rolling here are some areas that we need help in and would love to have you join the force even if its for 5 minutes every day :

1) Public relations
2) Online and social media advocacy
3) Graphic design
4) IT
5) Fundraising
6) Video production
7) Photography
8 ) Artists in all mediums
9) Marketing specialists
10) Products curators – Internet scouts
We are growing our store this year and are looking for new products anywhere from jewelry to housewares and anything in between we are looking for the coolest products out there that we could sell. These products need to have some connection for wildlife and the environment.

Want to volunteer? We would love your help… Pls  email us BushWarriors@gmail.com

Thank you for being part of the revolution…….

Asante Sana

Dori & The Bush Warriors Clan..

Organization of the Day: J.A.C.K.

In 1960 the estimated population of chimpanzees was estimated at around one million individuals. Today the estimates have been dramatically reduced to 172,000 to 300,000 remaining, a decline of on the scale of 70-83%. Roughly 40% of this population is living within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an area where conservation efforts are greatly limited because its dangerous, war-torn conditions. The fact that a large portion of the chimp population inhabits the DRC makes this area essential for targeting conservation efforts in order to save this species. Chimpanzees there are being poached and removed live from their habitat to be sold in the black market for bushmeat and other illegal purposes like pet trade. Infant chimps are highly valuable in the pet trade as they are more manageable at that age. As they reach sexual maturity, their behavior becomes unmanageable and dangerous, as hormones fuel their now aggressive behaviors.

Chimpanzees are a highly social creature, relying on their tight social group to survive and aggressively protect their young. Thus capturing an infant is dangerous and difficult, and it is estimated that ten adult chimps have been killed for every one infant that has been captured or orphaned due to poaching activities. Immediate action is needed to prevent the extinction of this species. Founded in 2006 by Franck and Roxanne Chantereau, the self-funded Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga (J.A.C.K.) has taken a brave stand and created a protected refuge in Lubumbashi for chimps confiscated by DRC authorities. The Chantereaus have been doing their best to monitor the chimpanzees in the Lubumbashi area, and,have seen a loss in excess of 4,000 chimpanzees in Lubumbashi in the last 10 years alone. J.A.C.K also works with Congolese National Parks in hopes to eventually facilitate the return of their orphans into the wild. Wildlife conservation is not at the forefront of the minds of the povery-stricken, starved, and malnourished human population of the DRC. Their main concerns are focused on finding food by any means possible, which often includes bushmeat. In fact, their desperation might even be seen in their language, as the Swahili word for wildlife, “nyama”, also means “meat”.

Photo credit: Miriam Mannak

As a result of these conditions, J.A.C.K tries to raise awareness through educating the local people, believing conservation needs can be met through education. They have been extremely successful in their efforts with an estimated 12,000 local visitors to their facility each month, most being school children. J.A.C.K hopes their conservation efforts and messages will be carried into the future by the younger generations. The organization continues to expand, hoping to be able to develop even more educational activities within their refuge where children can view conservation videos and have a more interactive experience. Taking a stand in a place where most are too afraid to act, J.A.C.K’s efforts are nothing short of commendable. Without their sanctuary, it is certain that a far greater loss of the DRC’s invaluable chimp population would have occurred.

Photo credit: Miriam Mannak

 

To learn more, please visit their website.

 

Photo of the Day

 

“What the Sifaka is THAT?!”

Photo credit: Andy Kammer

 

Sifakas are a one of the many varieties of lemur that are found on the island of Madagascar.  The word “lemur” comes from the Latin word lemurs, referring to ghosts and spirits.  Their staring eyes, haunting calls, and nocturnal nature led early observers to think these primates were ghosts or forest spirits.   Unlike most lemurs, Sifakas remain upright and leap from tree to tree, using their powerful hind legs to clear distances of over 30 feet (nine meters).  Sifakas can also cover open ground remarkably fast by sashaying, or leaping, on their hind limbs.  This movement is often referred to as “dancing.”

There are several species and subspecies of sifaka.  Of the most endangered are the Silky Sifaka and the Perrier’s Sifaka, which are both deemed ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.  Sadly, both species have fewer than 250 individuals.  Five other sifaka species (Coquerel’s, Crowned, Diademed, Milne-Edward’s, and the Golden-Crowned)are listed as ‘endangered’.  Madagascar is undergoing extensive deforestation and habitat loss, which, along with poaching, are the primary threats to the nation’s lemurs.

 

Enjoy this video of some Sifakas “dancing” across their habitat:

 

Please click here to see ALL of our Photo of the Day winners and for more information on the Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest, including how to enter.  Enjoy the beauty of nature, just as it was intended to be!