Posts Tagged ‘Cheetah’

May
09

Wildlife Heroes is an awesome book, and we have the author coming to the Zoo!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Bats,Birds,Borneo,Bumblebees,Carnivores,Central America,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Cotton-top Tamarin,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Going Green,Gorilla,Okapi,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Sea Turtles,South America,What You Can Do

Join us on May 19th and 20th for Wildlife Heroes weekend at the Houston Zoo.  On May 20th we welcome Jeff Flocken, co-author of Wildlife Heroes: 40 Leading Conservationists and the Animals they are Committed to Saving for a book-signing and presentations by zoo staff on the focus species of the book. Wildlife Heroes will be available for sale at the zoo on May 20th, quantities are limited!  Books are also available for  pre-order on the Houston Zoo website at: http://www.houstonzoo.org/wildlife-heroes/for a dicounted price until May 17th.

My first heroes were animal people.  When I went to zoos my heroes were the zoo keepers and when I watched animal documentaries the researchers were my heroes.  We all need amazing people to inspire us and that is why the new book Wildlife Heroes is so wonderful. 

The book includes 40 people overcoming impossible odds to save endangered species all over the world.  If you are looking for real heroes for your children to look up to look now further! 

The unique stories in this book of local communities becoming involved in anti-poaching, education and research efforts for wildlife in their own back yard are immeasurably inspiring!  In one story a young boy, Thia grew up in Northern Vietnam watching his village hunt the very species he fights to save today.  His passion to help a unique species called the pangolin will warm your heart!
 
I have had the honor of meeting many of the heroes in this book (including the authors) over the years and they inspire me to move forward in my own wildlife conservation work.  These are real people making a real difference! 

This book introduces readers to pollinator and amphibian decline and other environment issues that continue to threaten our world.  But it also offers great messages of hope.  In the last chapter Jack Hannah suggests ways the reader can help, and the good news is that by purchasing the Wildlife Heroes book you are already helping- 100 % of the proceeds go to the projects featured in the book.  A win for everyone!

Hope to see you at the Houston Zoo for our Wildlife Heroes weekend May 19th and 20th!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Nov
28

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Carnivores,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research

 

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

Tags: , ,
May
09

Coming home from Africa, By Peter Riger

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,Conservation,Endangered Species,Peter's African Adventure '11

The Houston Zoo’s Conservation Director, Peter Riger concludes his African adventure in this blog.  Enjoy previous posts of this series here or scroll down.

The stars may be bright Deep in the Heart of Texas but you have not seen anything like the night sky over the Kalahari. Most of us living in and around Houston see a few stars at night but our light pollution blocks out the majority of them. Next time you find yourself an hour or two outside the greater Houston area you will notice the difference.

The Kalahari night sky is one gigantic light show even without the moon. Millions of stars clustered as far as you can see. The population density of Botswana is typically less than 1.5 people per square kilometer and thus the lack of city lights in the towns we visited have left the stars visible every night.

We will be developing ways to do updates on Facebook, blogs, our website and email’s on both Painted Dog Conservation and Cheetah Conservation Botswana.  Over the next few weeks we will plan for our next visit in late August to begin some of the work we have touched on over the last 2 weeks.  You can drop us an email at conservation@houstonzoo.org if you would like us to keep you in the loop.  Follow our blogs and Facebook page for more information on how you can help support these field programs. We will start uploading trip photos to these sites as well.

It is Saturday May 7th and our 1:30pm flight from Botswana will take us on to Johannesburg, South Africa and then through connecting flights arriving home mid-afternoon on May 8th. A mere 23 hours in the air plus a few minor layovers for plane changes. This is the best time to catch up on all the good and bad movies I’ve missed the past year since as soon as you nod off, the airline staff wake you for a drink of water or a meal looking like something that has been trapped in old Jello since 1974…

By Peter Riger

If you would like to read more about this African adventure click here or scroll down for the previous posts.

Tags: , , , , , ,
May
06

Conflict between farmers and wildlife in Botswana, By Peter Riger

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,Conservation,Endangered Species,Peter's African Adventure '11

Farmers in Botswana

The Houston Zoo’s conservation director, Peter Riger is in Africa visiting some of the Zoo’s wildlife conservation partners.  Enjoy this update from the field.

A good portion of May 3rd and 4th have been spent visiting a local farmer managing one plot of land which is 24square miles, Botswana is one of the least populated countries per square mile of space with less than 2 million residents. We also visited a cattle post which is like communal land where multiple families run their cattle, goats and sheep together. We have heard stories of 3 cows lost to brown hyena, 3 cows lost to lions, and losses to leopard, and cheetah all this week. At one farm today the owner was out looking for painted dogs that had presumably chased down a yearling cow across the main road just a few hours earlier. We found the cow on our way out but whether it was painted dogs or not is left to be seen.

With so much loss to personal property, you can see why people would jump to retaliatory killings of predators without looking for alternative solutions to the human-wildlife conflict issue. On the communal lands, Cheetah Conservation Botswana is working with four cattle posts to develop model kraals which are thorn covered corrals basically to protect livestock at night from predators. Once completed, they will. Take this idea out to other livestock owners in the area.

We also showed one family how to hoof trim one of their lame goats. A weak goat in the pasture trails behind and is an easy meal for a predator.

The jackals are yipping around the tents again tonight and the temperatures drop quickly here to the mid 40′s overnight, so time to get settled.  We are off across Botswana to Mokolodi in the morning to CCB’s headquarters and education station.

By Peter Riger

Read previous posts about Peter’s wildlife conservation trip through Africa click here or scroll down.

Tags: , , , , , ,
May
05

With Cheetah Conservation Botswana, by Peter Riger

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,Conservation,Endangered Species,Peter's African Adventure '11

The Houston Zoo’s Conservation Director, Peter Riger has traveled to Botswana.  Read about his experience with Cheetah Conservation Botswana. 

May 2nd,

Our first thought once we set out this morning was that there is no way anyone would ever see a Cheetah chase down an Impala at 60mph here. There are no flat open spaces,  everything is thorn-scrub, short acacias and 3-5ft. tall grasses. To hunt here, cheetahs have adapted to stalking their prey. The one thing Cheetahs have going for them here are there are more lions to compete with. Against them is the privately owned land, goat and cattle farms that stretch out and completely covering the landscape.

Cheetah Conservation Botswana is working closely with local farm holders to prevent conflict between wildlife and livestock which includes loss of cattle and goats to predators such as the cheetah. Other predators in the area include Leopards, Brown Hyena,Painted Dogs and Jackal.

Today was a fairly easy day checking camera traps on what they would call marking or scenting trees which the males use to mark their territories. Sounds simple enough except for there are almost no trees over 6-8ft. tall here and Cheetahs prefer the larger trees so they can get up in a lower branch and have a look around before leaving their urine and marks behind. The other issue is the 8 or so taller trees that are being used are all on private lands, accessible with permission of the landholders, and can be hours apart by car.

We managed to check 3 of these trees in 4-5 hours and sure enough there were cheetah photos on each of the camera and fresh cheetah marks and spraying only a few hours old on one tree. Other wildlife caught on camera included warthog, eland, kudu, and even the little seen African Wildcat which is quite small. Each of the cameras are checked once a month and cheetah photos compared to get an idea of how many males are moving through the different areas. 

By, Peter Riger

Come back for more on Peter’s experience in Africa.  If you have missed his previous posts about this trip click here or scroll down.

Tags: , , , ,
Feb
17

Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation is on Facebook!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Attwater's Prairie Chicken,Black bears,Borneo,Carnivores,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Galapagos,Going Green,Gorilla,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Travel

 

Booming chickens on prairies and adventures to find bear hair in the Big Thicket. Leech infested forests? Monsoons? Leg swallowing mud and Sea Gull poo? Wild Orangutans that use bridges and toads with implants.  Confused? Don’t be. Join us and interact with local and global conservation on our new Houston Zoo Conservation Facebook page. Keep up with the conservation department and our partners in the field, and don’t forget to comment along the way!

Link here and follow along: http://www.facebook.com/#!/houstonzooconservation

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec
29

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Carnivores,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research

In November, Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) completed its livestock guarding dog demonstration area at our base in the Ghanzi farmlands. Kraals, herder accommodation and shelters for the goats and dogs have been built and with the arrival of a small herd of goats the set up is complete. This will act as a demonstration livestock guarding dog (LSGD) project for farmers’ workshops and visitors to the camp. With this initiative, CCB will showcase the predator-friendly farming techniques that we promote in an attempt to minimize livestock losses to predators and in turn mitigate human-predator conflicts.

When farming in a wild landscape like Botswana, which is rich with a diversity of predator species, it is essential to keep your livestock safe.
Certain farm management techniques can reduce the susceptibility of livestock to predators. Such as using LSGD’s along with kraaling livestock at night, reinforcing kraals with thorn bushes, keeping young livestock kraaled, reducing breeding to once or twice a year and synchronizing breeding seasons to those of wildlife.

CCB is excited to have this new demonstration farm and looks forward to teaching this and other predator friendly farming techniques to those in and around the Ghanzi region.

Tags: ,
Jul
12

Cheetah Brothers: Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,community-based conservation,Endangered Species

Early June 1010:

The two orphaned cheetah cubs being cared for at CCB’s Western Kalahari camp in Ghanzi have been successfully moved to their new home in the Selinda Reserve in Northern Botswana. The two cubs named Tlotlo (Respect) and Kgotso (Peace) came to CCB when they were 6 months old. The cubs had been caught by a community in Southern Botswana and whilst efforts were made to locate their mother, they were not successful. So the brothers moved to the CCB Ghanzi camp in March 2009 and have since been raised with minimal human contact, preparing them for eventual release into the wild.

Last week, the two brothers had medical health checks and were fitted with satellite navigation GPS collars. The collars will enable us to keep track of their progress once released. The CCB team and the young cheetahs then made the 600km journey from Ghanzi to the Selinda Reserve, in Northern Botswana. Their new home is an unfenced 320,000 acre private reserve, abundant with wildlife, including predators such as wild dog and leopard, large herbivores such as elephant and hippo and a wide range of natural prey for the cheetah, such as impala, duiker and hares.

The cheetah behaved extremely well during the journey to Maun by vehicle and then on to Selinda Reserve by light aircraft. Once landed at the dirt airstrip in Selinda, we headed to the 50 acre enclosure set up as their new temporary home. The enclosure allows time for the cheetah to adjust to their new environment, refine hunting techniques and begin to associate the area as their territory. Dr Kyle Good and research assistant Harriet Reeves released the cats next to a natural pan within the enclosure. The brothers exited their boxes calmly and cautiously, as they began to explore their new surroundings. They are now settling in to the temporary enclosure before their final release onto the reserve in a few weeks time. Then for the first time since they were 6 months old they will be able to explore their environment without coming to a fence. However, they will have many obstacles to overcome, including perfecting their hunting abilities and surviving in an area with other predators, but we are confident in their abilities and believe they deserve their chance for freedom. Lorraine Boast, CCB Research Coordinator, will remain at Selinda for several weeks after the release to monitor their progress in their new wilderness home. They will then be monitored by their satellite collars for a further 2 years.

Check back tomorrow for a release update…

One of Houston Zoo's Cheetahs when they were still cubs-2007

Tags: , , , , , ,
Jul
09

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Posted by in Africa,Carnivores,community-based conservation,Endangered Species,Featured

The Houston Zoo has been  supporting the work of Cheetah Conservation Botswana since 2008, offering funding for operating support and educational programming. Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) aims to preserve the nation’s cheetah population through scientific research, community outreach and education, working with rural communities to promote coexistence with Botswana’s rich diversity of predator species.  

The project was formed in 2003 to address the threat to the nation’s cheetah population. The major challenge for the project, funded by grant aid and donor support, is one of improving community perceptions towards predators and ensuring that retaliatory killings do not continue to threaten cheetah numbers, while, at the same time, supporting and protecting rural community welfare. Your generous support is already helping us to achieve that.

Only by working together with communities who live side-by-side with predators, with initiatives tailored to meet their needs and priorities, do we hope to foster the attitudes of coexistence that will see cheetahs remain as an essential component in this remarkable ecosystem and as a flagship species for the rich biodiversity of Botswana.  

Over the next few days, we thought we would update you on some exciting news surrounding the release of two orphaned cheetahs. The two cubs named Tlotlo (Respect) and Kgotso (Peace) came to CCB when they were 6 months old. The cubs had been caught by a community in Southern Botswana and whilst efforts were made to locate their mother, they were not successful. So the brothers moved to the CCB Ghanzi camp in March 2009 and have since been raised with minimal human contact, preparing them for eventual release into the wild.

Tags: , , ,
Jan
09

Cheetah Conservation Botswana

Posted by in Africa

A Safe Corridor for Cheetahs

DSC_0071As human land use expands, suitable and safe habitat for free-roaming cheetahs continues to shrink. Southern Africa remains one of the cheetah’s last strongholds, yet conflict and poaching continue to threaten its future. The Kalahari region in Botswana is key habitat for the cheetah, and is now a priority for conservation.

Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB) recognized that collaboration and innovation offered the greatest hope for cheetahs and people to share space. In 2008, CCB became an in-country partner with Conservation International in the Western Kalahari Conservation Corridor Initiative.

This progressive project links the ecologically-diverse and culturally-rich regions of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park in the western regions of Botswana. The goal is to create safe and viable wildlife corridors between the two regions, promoting the sustainable use of natural resources among ranchers and farmers while allowing cheetahs and other wildlife to thrive.

 CCB’s role in this initiative is to reduce predator conflict in the region by working closely with farmers and ranchers to improve livestock management methods and encourage the use of non-lethal methods of predator control. Their preliminary work has included a Predator Conflict survey, a map of the region and “hot spots” for conflict, and an innovative manual to help reduce losses to predators. In their survey, CCB found that 76% of respondents had a negative attitude towards predators, but only 2% stated that they would kill a predator on sight. Their main concern was the threat to their livestock. This concern opens the door for cooperative efforts to improve livestock management and potentially increase the value of predators in this ecosystem.

To address some of the more dynamic issues, such as illegal trade and confiscated or orphaned cheetah cubs, CCB built a base camp in Ghanzi, in the Western Kalahari. It is strategically located along the wildlife corridor, enabling CCB to easily access the core conservation areas for cheetahs in the country. With continued collaboration from all stakeholders, there is hope for the cheetah in Botswana.

The Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation Program supports Cheetah Conservation Botswana field and community programs. For more on CCB, go to http://www.cheetahbotswana.com/

Tags: ,