At the request of Painted Dog Conservation, I traveled to project headquarters in Zimbabwe to assist in the implementation of a new conservation education program called “Kids for Science”. Accompanying me on this visit was Cullen Geiselman PhD (HZI Board Member member and bat biologist), and her friend, Leighton Dancy, a professional photographer who documented PDC activities and programs. During our visit we would pilot the first ever Kids for Science program for eleven, 14 year old students from Nechilibi High School, the students’ full time teacher, their school’s Conservation Club Coordinator, the entire education staff from Painted Dog Conservation, Dr. Gregory, one master’s student, and a game warden from Hwange National Park.

It might seem unlikely that a conservation organization focused on a large charismatic carnivore would be interested in using frogs and toads to teach students about research, biology and conservation. Amphibians lend themselves to classroom study as they are an ecological indicator species in a habitat in which the Painted Dog depends on survival, are relatively abundant, easily handled, and observed by students. Amphibians are a model organism in which to cover taxonomy, biology, adaptations, ecological concepts, environmental threats and how students can help implement conservation action.

Before the students from Nechilibi High School were to arrive at the Painted Dog Conservation Iganyana Bush Camp, Dr. Cullen and I had to scout out potential study sites for the Kids for Science camp and become familiar with the native amphibians and bats we would be teaching the students about throughout the course. I conducted nightly visual and audio searches to document the presence of amphibian species in the area and became familiar with their natural history and behavior through observation and field guides. In addition to visual searches, I employed the use of a “Frog logger”, a wildlife acoustic recording device at a pan adjacent to our lodgin accommodations to record vocalizations for 10 minutes every hour throughout the day and night. I recorded close to 2,000 minutes of amphibian and bird calls over the course of our stay at Painted Dog Conservation and documented 16 species of amphibians.

Here are a few photos of some of the special frogs and toads that call Zimbabwe home.

Rain frogs, these are burrowing, frowny faced little frogs whose tadpoles develop directly from egg to small frog without metamorphosis

Foam Nesting Grey Treefrogs, these frogs communally deposit their eggs into this rich foam that is whipped up by their back legs. The eggs are protected by this foam until they hatch and the tadpoles fall into the water below. Amazing adaptation!

Marbeld Shovel Nosed Frog. These pointy nosed little burrowing frogs are great moms. They protect their eggs in underground burrows and when they hatch, tadpoles are carried on moms back from the burrow to a nearby pond.

More frogs photos coming over the next few days, I hope you can sleep until I post more!

Cullen with bat that lives in the roof of the guest housing at Painted Dog Conservation

Cullen Gieslman is a Houston Zoo conservation board member.  She has been studying bats for quite some time and volunteered to accompany Conservation Programs Manager, Rachel Rommel to Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe to educate staff there about bats.  Painted Dog Conservation’s (PDC) education program for the local communities focuses on the eco-system.  PDC was very eager to have Rachel  and Cullen contribute an amphibian and bat component to this program.   Enjoy Cullen’s bat update from PDC in Zimbabwe.

Cullen weighing bat

This is a brief bat update and photos that Rachel took of me and the bats living in our house. It’s really the only batting we have done besides wandering around with bat detectors. We’ll try to get more photos with the camp kids when we show them the bats next week. The housing for visiting scientists at Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe shelters a large colony of bats that we hear squeaking and moving about day and night. To find out what species we are cohabitating with, we devised a plan to capture a few.

Rachel, Cullen and Greg Mist-netting for bats

We taped a very short mist net (2.6 meters long and about 2.6 meters high) to some poles and, once it got dark, we observed the direction the bats were taking as they flew out of their roost. We quickly positioned the net right in their path and, after intercepting four, swung the net out of their way because we would only need a few to confirm species. I gingerly extracted each from the net and placed it in its own cloth holding bag. I could tell from the shape of the face and ears and presence of a free tail extending beyond the tail membrane more than one-third of its length that we had captured a species of free-tailed bat in the family Molossidae.

Cullen measuring bat

I then consulted Bats of Southern and Central Africa to determine the species based first on forearm measurement and then on description. Our cohabitants turn out to be Mops midas, or Midas free-tailed bat, a large species (forearm = 61 mm, mass = 45 g) associated with hot, low-lying savanna and woodlands in southern Africa. We captured two lactating females, one pregnant female, and one scrotal male suggesting that our house is being used as a maternity roost and that the noise we hear during the night are mothers coming back to feed their young.

Adults of this species eat insects, mainly beetles, which are very abundant in the area. After measuring and weighing our captives, we released them to go about their nightly forays.

The Houston Zoos good friend, conservation board member and bat biologist, Cullen Geiselmen is also with me on this adventure with another colleague, and professional photographer from Austin, who will be photographing the kids in action during Toad Trackers. Cullen hopes to be able to mist net for bats so the kids will be able to learn about these creatures as well. She should have plenty of bats to choose from as there seems to be hundreds sleeping in the ceiling above our beds, sqeaking and chattering away. A little unnerving at first, but now quite peaceful when you are falling asleep. I wonder what they are saying to each other? Sounds important.

So first, things first, before the kids come, we need to do some reconaissance. The next several nights will be spent becoming aquainted with the local frogs, as I have never been here before! I have set up frog recording devices at local pans (ponds created by the wallowing of large animals). We are getting important data all day and night and will be able to identify many of the species from their calls. When the kids get here, they will go through this information as well and learn the frogs by sight and sound.

We have been out the last two evenings looking for amphibians and have been quite lucky thanks to the rains. Several unique and strikingly gorgeous species have been found. Whenever we go to the pans at night we go as a group and have a guard with us as well because of the likelihood of predators skulking about. Not something I generally have to worry about in Texas. Maybe thats why there doesnt seem to be too many herpetologists in this part of Africa…perhaps they were all eaten by lions?

Stay tuned for Amazing Amphibian photographs.  Here is one of our night guard who actually was a great frog spotter as well, he really got into it! Holding the Bocage’s tree frog that he found.

“It’s my first visit to Africa and I am honored to be able to visit and work with such a beautiful, happy and warm people…the Zimbabweans. I am visiting our partners here at painted Dog Conservation just outside of Hwange National Park.

The crew here have been joking that we brought rain with us as they have been in a drought and the wet season is starting very late. They got the first good rain not two days before our arrival. This is good news for crops and water collection and also lucky me because that means lots of frogs, and alas, that is why we are here!

When the night falls in the Savannahs of Zimbabwe, and most of the large mammals have hunkered down for the evening, a whole other host of small creatures emerge from their hiding places, shake their groove things, and one group in particular puts on the most amazing live orchestra you have ever heard, natures radio (as one local gentlemen called it) the frogs and toads.

I am here visitng to trial the Houston Zoos conservation education program, called Toad Trackers, with the local kids who have been through the PDC bush camp. The Director of the project, Dr. Greg Rasmussen, is hoping to identify science based and hands on kids programs that will eventually be a part of their Kids for Science program. Students will be visiting us from a local village where they will be spending three days with me learning all about native amphibians and actually going out in the field with us at night. The PDC education staff will be with us at all times, as well as two other guests that have joined me on this trip. The kids and the education staff are very excited about this opportunity. Who knows, perhaps we have some budding biologists amongst these students?”

Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) is a very good community-based conservation project in Zimbabwe that hires over 60 locals to help run their various conservation programs.  Their efforts have had tremendous results, but they often struggled to promote and share the successes effectivley with their supporters.   To that end, last month we sent social media specialist Molly Feltner, communications officer for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, to PDC to help them with their external communications. During her time she was able to record audio interviews with all the project’s management staff, which will be used to rewrite text for the website and produce a multimedia video. Staff were taught how to edit photos for the web and how to make the best use of social media through Facebook.

Molly documented aspects of the project in order to create a complete hi-res photo archive for PDC staff to use in publicity.  She photographed the children’s education program(the Bush Camp), conservation club classes, the community projects funded by PDC (such as bore holes, community gardens, and projects with the health clinics), the captive painted dogs housed at the rehabilitation center and the wild packs living around the center.  She got footage of the anti-poaching unit activity and the Iganyana art center and artisans that create the snare wire sculptures. She also helped redesign the newsletter that is sent out to the PDC’s supporters on a monthly basis. 

We will continue to assist PDC with this effort, but we are happy to report that many of PDC’s staff are better equipped to share the good news coming from Zimbabwe!

Just a quick update from our partners at Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB).

CCB has been engaged by the government Wildlife department to do training in Northern conflict hot spot areas and set up demonstrations of ideal kraals and livestock guarding dogs in the wildlife rich areas of theOkavango, Makgadikgadi Pans and Chobe. This is an exciting initiative which if successful has the potential to be replicated elsewhere in Botswana.

CCB further expanded its farmer training program, with the assistance of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. In August, CCB ran its first 5 day farmer training course at the new Tiisano Education Centre. The course aimed to provide training on best practices in range, livestock and wildlife management and increase local capacity to reduce cheetah and other predator conflicts. Certain farmers in the region will also be selected for direct support to improve their methods and be monitored.

CCB Ambassador Cheetah at Mokolodi Nature Reserve

A livestock guarding dog clinic was held in the region in collaboration with Maun Animal Welfare Service, with 41 dogs receiving sterilization and vaccinations. After this a bush camp for Kalahari schools took place at the Education Centre and the children learnt about wildlife, the environment and conservation. The new Centre is becoming a great resource for CCB and is an ideal training site for many audiences. Thanks must go to the CCB Ghanzi team and our neighbors for holding back the recent bush fires for over 3 days and preventing all our hard work go up in flames!

Livestock Guarding Dogs at CCB's Ghanzi location

As for cheetah! We have recently collared a female with 3 cubs residing on the game farm next to CCB’s Kalahari base. This will be the first female we have collared in the area which is great news as it will significantly add to our understanding of cheetah movements and ecology in the area. The coalition of males collared earlier in the year are from the same area and their movements continue to be monitored. Please visit their News section by linking here

All photos courtesy Houston Zoo

Have you ever asked yourself: What are all these broken cell phones doing in the  drawer?  And then your “other” voice says:  They are not really in the way, I’ll throw them out later.

I had a friend bring me a bag of 6 phones and chargers last week. They were in a box in his garage for 2 years. 6 phones? There are 2 people in his family! We cannot keep up with the cell phone revolution and our landfills should not have to either. To make matters worse, every phone not recovered and recycled is equal to minerals and resources coming directly out of the African Congo. Everyone says – “What can we do?”. Here is what you can do and it really makes a difference.

Bring your cell phone to the zoo for recycling and help save wildlfe, and people, in Africa. Civil wars and rebel groups thrive on the illegal trade in the resources which make our phones,  laptops, digital cameras, and video games run. There is a mineral in our phones called coltan and it acts as a capacitor in your phone. Armed groups in eastern Congo that control minerals, mines and trading routes generate an estimated $180 million each year by trading four main minerals: tin, tantalum (colton), tungsten, and gold.

And with these groups comes habitat destruction, illegal poaching and bushmeat, as well as the loss of human life due to the civil unrest. Something as simple as a cell phone has created a power struggle over resources. By recycling that resource so that it can be refurbished and re-used, we cut down on the amount of product imported, and hopefully slow down the trade.

Want to start a company wide collection program? Schools, Scout troops? Wildlife can use everyone’s help. Contact conservation@houstonzoo.org for more information.

Yes, welcome to our reality, according to this article, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) noted in a recent reassessment of this species and the Javan species we talked about yesterday, are potentially extinct in th wild. They also note the Northern Black Rhino of central Africa is possibly extinct.

These may all be subspecies of the Black Rhino, but the more of these populations that disappear, and the more fragmented the habitat becomes, the more likely the complete Black Rhino population as a whole will become extinct in the future if conservation efforts cannot slow the decline.

“A lack of political support and willpower for conservation efforts in many rhino habitats, international organized crime groups targeting rhinos and increasing illegal demand for rhino horns and commercial poaching are the main threats faced by rhinos.”

Sept / Oct 2011

“After the loss of Bullseye, we were concerned about the future of the Kutanga females. In my last update I wrote about the search for Bullseye and finding him dead in a snare, plus the snare wound injury to Juliette, which required intervention and treatment. With Juliette now wearing a GPS collar, we at least felt confident that we could track the packs’ movements, no matter how far they roamed in their search for new males.

We were soon to learn how far this search had taken them when another pack, named the Sibindimalisa, turned up at our rehabilitation facility. The Sibindimalisa where originally identified by Greg early in the year and were previously found deep inside Hwange National Park. We were mystified by their appearing at the Rehab Center, but the download from Juliette’s collar gave the possible answer.
The Kutanga females had been all the way south into the Sibindimalisa territory and it seemed as though the Sibindimalisa chased or followed them out, all the way to our Rehab.

PDC employee, Ester responded as ever to my request for help and collared the alpha female and alpha male of the Sibindimalisa. This enables us to also monitor their movements.  It was, and is, rewarding having more dogs around, and perhaps it indicates a change for the better for the local dog population. But we are not celebrating yet.

There is a local expression that translates roughly as “It’s the clouds that bring rain.” Very appropriate, as the rainy season is now upon us. It brings to mind though, the trials and tribulations of the Ukusutha pack in Victoria Falls. We have been pinning our hopes on the three-year old male, Sithule, to lead the young pack through the difficult transition period to a full life back in the wild. He indeed
seemed to be up to this task and had been seen leading many hunts. But one day we were concerned to see him lying rather still, deathly still in fact. Greg approached and Sithule slowly got to his feet, but it was clear he was not well. Further examination through binoculars revealed a mark on his shoulder consistent with a kick. This was soon confirmed by staff at the nearby Stanley and Livingstone Hotel. They had seen the pack hunting a few days before and witnessed a zebra giving Sithule a severe kick. We suspected he had broken ribs and kept a closer-than-usual eye on him, ever anxious for his wellbeing. It soon became apparent that he was adding to our concerns by spending time with a lone female who was occupying the reserve as well, rather than devoting his attention to the Ukusutha
females. 

Named Bekezela, the lone female was in superb physical condition, although her presence created a certain amount of tension amongst the dogs. Sithule certainly liked the look of her but in his injured state he could not keep up with her.  The Ukusutha males seemed confused at best by her, while the Ukusutha females did not appreciate her being around at all!  Sithule seemed to be recovering when Jealous and Edward found his carcass. Lions had killed him. Perhaps he had been caught while venturing out on his own, moving between Bekezela and the Ukusutha, with his injury slowing him down. It wasn’t long before the Ukusutha males joined Bekezela. A positive move on the one hand, yet it left the Ukusutha females to fend for themselves. Their situation took another turn when they left the relative safety of the Vic Falls Private Game Reserve through an open gate.

With Ester again responding, we had three vehicles on the ground and a helicopter in the air, all to no avail, and as I write they are still missing.

Local Success in a Wildlife Quiz

In 2009 we introduced a wildlife quiz to the Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp curriculum. It’s been hugely popular with the children and resulted in a better retention of the concepts taught.

Such is the impact of the quiz that we decided to arrange for a competition amongst the schools that attend our Bush Camp and it was St Francis Xavier who emerged as the victors with Sir Roy Welensky Primary School coming a close second. News spread and the two schools were invited to attend the Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ) Provincial Quiz in Bulawayo. A trip to Bulawayo, which is a three-hour drive away, is in itself, quite a treat for most of the rural children in our area. Attending a high profile competition is quite another thing altogether. Competing as they would against seasoned schools like Carmel, Petra, Hillside, Dominican Convent and others from the afluent suburbs, in and around Bulawayo.

The children stepped up to the challenge and performed tremendously, with Sir Roy Welensky achieving fourth place. A lot of positive comments came from the WEZ team and other staff from schools that have been in the competition for more than 6 years. The Education Officers based in Hwange and the Provincial Education Director were so happy with the results and congratulated Painted Dog Conservation for their support towards education in the area.”

By Peter Blinston, Project Manager, PDC

Project Update July / Aug 2011:

“ Jealous and I watched the Ukusutha pack feeding on an impala, rather like proud parents watching their children achieve something special. This was the third kill the Ukusutha had made. Greg had enjoyed watching the first two kills and now this third kill provided evidence that they had, indeed, taken another huge step from being dependant on humans for their food. A fourth kill the following afternoon really sealed the deal! 

On the roller coaster of life of Painted Dog Conservation this was a high, a great moment to hold onto. We had made the decision two years ago to bring the dogs into our Rehab Facility, and with that decision came a lot of responsibility.  Raising them was never going to be the issue, as our resident dogs, Angela and Zenga, took up the role of foster parents. However, getting them back into the wild was always going to be challenging and witnessing them take such a huge step in that direction was tremendous. They are far from in the clear though. Life in the wild is never an easy ride and they still have much to learn. Their encounters with lions and hyenas on the reserve have so far gone well. Pack strength is working in their favour, allowing them to defend their kills from hyena and they have been seen chasing two lions away. We know there will be many more challenges for them though. 

As if to underline the struggle for life, my phone rang and brought me back to earth. Three dogs had been spotted and photographed by clients staying at The Hide Safari Camp. Closer examination of the photos revealed that one was carrying a snare around her neck. When we received the photos that afternoon we needed only a second to identify the dogs as the Kutanga females. Juliette had been snared and to make matters worse, Bullseye was missing. We needed to find the dogs and find them fast. I left Jealous in Vic Falls with Edward to watch over the Ukusutha and drove back to Hwange.  Foggie, PDC’s Assistant Manager is excellent in a crisis. During my two-hour drive from Vic Falls to PDC she had already organised a plane for the next day. 

I didn’t sleep well that night and got up early. After making coffee, I got into my Land Rover and drove into the bush. 

The signal from Juliette’s collar soon reached my ears— the familiar beep, beep beep, confirming she was close by. I frantically checked for the other collars. Alpha female Ester was there, as was the third female, named Shoulder Patch.  However, Alpha male Bullseye was still missing.  I followed the three females and managed to look at Juliette through my binoculours. I could see that the snare had not cut into her neck. She was lucky. She had a wound on the side of her mouth and another behind her left front leg. Neither looked too serious and my tension eased a little, but Bullseye was still missing and so the priority.   The plane arrived and after thirty minutes we had fixed the tracking equipment to the wing struts and were ready. A 20-minute flight was all it took to locate Bullseye, approximately 10 kilometres northeast of Ganda Lodge. The collars we fit onto the dogs have three signals: a moving, a resting and a mortality signal. The signal I was receiving from Bullseye’s collar suggested he was moving. We landed and quickly drove to the nearest point, picking up some anti- poaching scouts on the way. I was listening to the signal as we walked into the bush and it changed to a resting pulse. We hurried along and came across the brutal scenes of his death.  The remains of Bullseye’s body were still caught by the cruel snare. Vultures had been feeding on his carcass, creating the movement that had given rise to the false hope. I was devastated and dropped to my knees by his side. The snare, made from copper telephone wire, encircled his waist.   Witnessing these scenes does not get any easier no matter how many times you see it. The agony of his death is hard to imagine. My despair turned to anger as I surveyed the scene. We recovered 15 snares that had accounted for an elephant and an impala, as well as Bullseye.   Juliette was now the priority and two days of searching by Greg and me were frustratingly fruitless. Greg headed back out into the depths of Hwange NP, as we knew these females could and would cover 20 or more kilometres in a day. I concentrated on the local search. 

“MK” phoned me in the evening to report that the Kutanga females were at the rehab. I was more relaxed now, though determined as ever to help Juliette. I drove out at 5:00 am the next morning.  The dogs were still at the rehab but not in a position that would allow me to get close enough to dart Juliette. Happily they soon moved off and I followed, as they chased a small herd of sable with misplaced optimism rather than actual intent.  They soon came to a rest in the thick teak woodland and I had my chance to get close enough. I darted Juliette and she soon fell into a drug-induced sleep. With “MK” and Maria helping me, we soon cleaned up Juliette’s wounds, fitted her with a new GPS collar and returned her to her pack. A roller coaster ride one shared by all of you.

On another note, our extremely successful Children’s Bush Camp has now hosted 5,000 children and continues to inspire the kids that are the hope for the future. The extension of this work into the communities via our Conservation Clubs continues to be ever- popular and in July we ran another Nature Corner competition with Lupote School, again claiming first place. It was great to see Hankano, one of the smaller schools, claim second place and the judges’ overall comments being tremendously encouraging.”

By Peter Blinston, Project Manager, PDC