Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project

Here is an interesting story. The short video clip that features lions, a crocodile, some buffalos, a wonderfully typical south african safariguide accent and a tourist with a hand-held video cam. It went to Youtube and apparently was viewed about 30 million times. Now it is to be the subject of a National Geographic documentary. A wonderful example of the tail wagging the dog I think. That is to say, the international internet audience more or less dictating to Natgeo what they would like to see.

By the way, WD is getting their house in order and would like you to fill out a survey. Click on the icon below if you have a moment.

Technorati : lions africa research video

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My readers may have been wondering why there have been no posts recently, and why there are a few kinks in the WD site. Well, the folks at WD are “remodelling” and this resulted in a hiccup here and there. Supremo geek and uber programmer David has been working night shifts to try to get it all done quickly. Thanks David.

In keeping with the theme of mundane domestic chores, here’s how I spent one my weekend evenings. Antony’s desk lamp stopped working, so it landed up on my operating table. A phillips screwdriver, a multimeter and some brute force revealed the problem: a dysfunctional switch. Switch is now bypassed, and Antony can type at night again.

Technorati : domesticity, electrics, mundane stuff

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As much as I don’t tend to think of animals in human emotional terms, I find it quite easy to imagine people as particular animals. I do think these photos represent how I feel this morning. Kind of shaggy and a litte tired.

(for the record) pics were taken of an Amboseli un-collared male, while I was with my some colleagues from Leiden University

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I’ve just arrived back in camp after some extensive travelling. I thought my readers might like to see a glimpse of what the 5 hour journey is like… there are repairs being made to most of the main highway that I use between here and Nairobi.

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A friend sent me an article on environmental blogging and the responsibility that scientists have to engage in so-called “new media” to present their findings or thoughts. I think the gist of the article was also that readers of blogs that present scientific information should be at least as critical as they are of the conventional print media (click here to read the article, entitled “Environmental Science Adrift in the Blogosphere).

I am referring to this article partly because I think its a good summary of some of the standard anti-blog arguments. But its also a call for scientists to blog about what they are doing, and to engage in peer-review of science-related material contained within the “DIY publishing” world of the internet.

I’m also posting it as the starting point for a response to Sauwah’s contribution to this blog on the 25th of April post.

“hell, it’s my opinion; yet i do know others who are in the same line of business as packer do disagree with him. no one can demand me to explain myself. it’s a blog. and i do live in a free world. and since i am a no body, i can state my opinion period.”I’m putting my response to Sauwah’s comment within a post because I think he / she has raised some very important points. As follows my reactions:

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his post has absolutely nothing to do wth lions. It is about the place that I live though. And there are lions near the hills.

In 1997 a group of scientists investigated the tomography of the chyulu hills, and wrote a comprehensive paper describing their findings (A tomography study of the Chyulu Hills, Kenya: J. R. R. Ritter and T. Kaspar). If I understand it correctly, there are pockets of magma about 70km underneath the Chyulus, and that these are somehow related to the continued tearing apart of the East african rift. Its not bedtime reading, and for a non-geologically inclined person such as myself there is some language that deserves a special mention in the dungbeetle hall of fame. Such as,

“The major difficulty with teleseismic rays is vertical smearing of structures along the steep ray paths. This can be seen in Fig. 8 where the off-diagonal elements of the resolution matrix are biggest for blocks above and below neighbouring layers.”

I’ve met some nice geologists, but my goodness their work can be obscure in the extreme. Regardless of the difficulty with teleseismic rays, the chyulu hills are pleasant to look at. Most of them are extinct, well eroded cinder cones and have quite a soft, rounded shape with a collapsed crater at the summit. Here is an image of the hills northwest of camp.

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From an area about 15km south of where I live, looking north. Rain and a sunset.

Just a reminder… if you haven’t had a look already, check out the Mara triangle blog, where Will, Asuka and Brian have written of the recent lion poisonings there. The story has hit most of the major conservation news outlets overseas, and many local media companies in South Africa (SABC, and the EP Herald, would you believe).

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An even shorter (but not and sweet) post today. What do you as readers think of the idea of rescuing lions from Romania and flying them to Africa? I would be very interested to hear your views. Call it a snap survey….

By the way, refer to comments on the previous post, for my rambling response to Wim.

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I’ve been following the events in Zimbabwe fairly closely. I spent part of my toddler-hood there. I also have a few people there who are very important to me.

 TB the ostrich’s “quiet diplomacy” is thankfully being replaced by more decisive actions from southern africans. Of particular interest is the 77 tons of arms that were due to be offloaded in South Africa, origin: China. Destination: Zimababwe.

 To my mind, 3 million AK-47 bullets, 1500 rockets and 3500 mortar shells are not going to help the people of Zimababwe recover from their currently desperate economic situation. Nor will they give citizens the freedom to express their political views. Nor will they promote peace and stability in the SADC.

I’m pleased to read here that even though the big man’s TB’s head is still firmly stuck in the sand, the SA Transport Allied Worker’s Union members refused to offload the ship in Durban. And futhermore that Mozambique has refused to allow the ship into its territorial waters.

Back to the subject of the title of this post. The Zim government coffers are not adequate to pay for this consignment. So uncle Bob, chose to trade 8 tons of Zim ivory for his weapons. This sale has not been appoved by CITES.

I’d be curious to hear some different points of view on this. I haven’t read any of the other wildlifedirect blogs which may have dealt with this, but will do so today. The story is well-covered in the South African dailies.

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If you have been hiding in a dark cupboard for the last few months, without access to internet or cable you might not be aware of the countrywide violence that shook Kenya in January and February, after the national elections in December.

The photograph below is of the back end of a minibus taxi in Nairobi. Most often taxis here are emblazoned with pictures of american gangster rappers and / or glamorous black women. This one was a pleasant surprise… Kofi Annan (for cupboard-dwelling newsphobes: Mr Annan was greatly influential in bringing a peaceful resolution to the post-election violence.

Here is a good summary of blogs that have been dealing with the kenyan national crisis.

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