Photo of the Day

 

“Zebralicious”

Photo credit: Nick Turner

 

Zebra foals are born with brown and white coloration, and develop the black and white coloring with age.  For the first few days of their life, the mother will keep her foal away from the rest of the herd, until it learns her smell and voice.  Zebra foals are able to run within an hour of birth!
These horse relatives might appear to have fat abdomens.  In truth, it is bloating caused by the bacteria in their gut, which helps them to digest food.  Fat is stored in the animals neck, which enables scientists to determine the health of the zebra quickly.  Healthy animals will have a thick layer of fat around the neck, causing their mane of hair to stand upright.

 

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!

Organization of The Day: WildlifeNOW

WildlifeNOW

George Adamson was a legendary figure in the world of wildlife. He devoted his life to his many lions that he was able to reintroduce into the wild, becoming the infamous ‘lion man.’ In 1989, George Adamson’s life ended devastatingly, murdered by a group of Somali Bandits. Fortunately, his legacy lives on through Tony Fitzjohn, who spent nearly 18 years with Adamson learning all the tricks of the trade from building roads to organizing anti-poaching units. Together this dynamic duo created Kora National Park, encompassing 1200 square miles of land that lays adjacent to Tsavo National Park (Kenya’s largest National Park), creating a massive amount of landscape dedicated to protection and preservation.

These two extraordinary men also fought many battles against bandits and poachers, created airstrips, cut more than 300 miles of bush roads and reintroduced more than 30 lions and 10 leopards back into the wild. Today, Fitzjohn carries on the spirit of Adamson as his protégé. Recently, WildlifeNOW focuses its efforts on the highly endangered rhinos, African Wild Dogs, and elephants. Their accomplishments consist of establishing the first successful rhino sanctuary in Tanzania which is now a highly patrolled, 30 square mile sanctuary. Their veterinary program has made groundbreaking progress in the research of diseases, hoping to one day contribute to immunizations of the African Wild Dogs. After a devastating decrease in population of elephants, WildlifeNOW has around 1,000 elephants roaming the reserve in the wet season.

Additionally, for the past three decades WildlifeNOW has been successful in reintroducing zoo animals back into the wild. Tanzania, being one of the poorest countries, has hunted wildlife for the survival of themselves and their families. To help local communities WildlifeNOW has created an outreach program so that the surrounding villages benefit from the reserve. Their outreach program has provided medical assistance, funded the building of a secondary school, improved water supplies and much more. Their goal is not only to sustain wildlife, but to reverse the damage that has been done. Tony Fitzjohn has spent a lot of time traveling the world, educating the public on issues of wildlife preservation. However, he is now moving back to Kora, where he and Adamson started their magnificent journey, to bring the area back to life and re-introduce more lions into the wild.

To learn more, please visit their website

Organization of The Day: Grevy’s Zebra Trust

Grevy’s Zebra Trust

Over the last 30 years, experts estimate an 84-87% decline in the world’s Grevy’s zebra population, with only about 2,000 left in the wild today.  They are now only found in Kenya and Ethiopia.  Their demise is attributed mainly to poaching (for meat), as well as the effects of domestic livestock on essential resources such as food and water.  Disease and drought in northern Kenya has further accelerated their decline in recent times.  The Grevy’s Zebra Trust was created in 2007 to stimulate conservation efforts for this imperiled species.  The Trust contributed to a social movement that was born when Kenya Wildlife Service implemented a nation-wide conservation strategy in 2008.

The strategy leaves the responsibility of carrying out conservation efforts in the hands of stakeholders and envisions a goal that encompasses a healthy and viable future for the Grevy’s Zebra population.  The Grevy’s Zebra Trust unites the conservation strategy with the people.  The first step in the process was to identify the current status of the Grevy’s Zebra population and was executed by conducting a national survey.  As part of the survey, the team was able to unite with IUCN’s Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program to conduct aerial surveys to count zebras while simultaneously searching for poaching activities.  Ultimately, the results would provide the information necessary to identify key areas to target conservation efforts on in order to accomplish the goal of the strategy, and also provides a basis on which to evaluate the effectiveness of their endeavors.

Part of the survey involved gauging local pastoralist communities’ interactions with and knowledge of the zebras.  The organization recognizes the value in educating these communities on the main issue and directly engaging them in their efforts.  The Trust trains nomadic peoples how to recognize various biologic and ecologic variables of these animals.  In so doing, these people become committed to data collection, protection, and appreciation for the zebras.  They are also educated on alternatives to the use of these animals, improved livestock management that reduces competition and conflict with the zebras, and are encouraged to spread these messages to other communities.  The integration of pastoralist communities into conservation efforts is critical to achieving the goals of the conservation strategy.  Though a young organization, the Grevy’s Zebra Trust is already making enormous strides in ensuring the future of this endangered zebra species.

To learn more, visit their website