I hardly dare say that it looks as if at last we are reaching a resolution regarding the final land issues that were hampering progress.

To say it has been a trying few months is something of an understatement! Without boring readers too much, during all the negotiations that led up to the signing of the land agreement back in April 2009, at no time was there any mention that some farmers had land claims on any of our site. The Ministry of National Defence that had made the initial agreement to hand back the land to the Regional State of Oromiya had no knowledge of these land claims, nor did the Oromiya Land Bureau. It may simply be a case of the local land administration issuing farming certificates without the knowledge of the main regional office.

There were two practical options. One option would be for us to begin an expensive and time consuming law case. If the courts found in our favour we would gain the whole site and definitely lose the support of some of the local farmers. The second option was to find alternative land on which the farmers could graze their cattle.

Our international patron, His Excellency, President Girma Wolde Giorgis agreed to speak with the Honourable Takele Uma, Mayor of Holeta, and the Municipality of Holeta  subsequently indentified some common land to give away. In order to make up the shortfall, Born Free Foundation has agreed to let go four of our  original 77 hectares.

On Monday 9 November, Bereket and I met the Mayor and Holeta GIS expert and we staked out the new boundary to the site. The land we have given away is a twice-cropped Eucalyptus plantation. I have made sure that the boundary is set 4 metres into the plantation so our boundary fence will be screened by vegetation.

Tomorrow, Bereket will employ a team of local labourers (some will be the same farmers who have just been given land) and start the construction of a fenced area in the centre of the site. This fence will surround the shipping container we have already purchased in order to provide a secure area for the tools and materials needed for the next phases of construction. The last time we attempted to build the secure area fence, some farmers claiming compensation appeared and threatened Bereket  and myself. I immediately cancelled all construction work until the compensation issue was resolved. The farmers have said they are very happy with their new land and have said they will now support the project fully. Tomorrow is the test. I will keep you posted.

On a lighter note, I enclose two photos of the site security guard team that has been guarding the site to prevent unlawful tree-felling throughout the land compensation negotiations. All credit to Mayor Feyissa, our head of security, who has trained an excellent team of 15 guards with the result that no trees have been felled during the past two months. The security team are all from the local community showing a direct benefit from the Wildlife Centre. They are a brave team as they carry only sticks when the majority of local farmers (and timber thieves) have Kalashnikov AK47 semi-automatic rifles or other ex-military weapons.

With eager anticipation, the team took turns to be measured by a local tailor and last week I issued each man with his field uniform. (In case anyone wants the details, each man has been given two shirts, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of socks, one pair of boots, one rain cape, one cap, and one light jacket. I am searching for some thick jackets as the nights are very cold at this time of year.)

So, here’s a photo of the team before and after they nipped behind the bushes and returned in their uniforms. Quite a transformation even though not all the boots fitted first time around.

More news soon, and please do remember we need your sponsorship for the animals, for the construction and even the uniforms.

James

The installation of electrics around the camp has turned the dark nights into this wonderful nightscape, keeping the larger animals at a distance and making a lot easier for volunteers to prepare and eat at the camp.

The recovered materials, which include everything from printers, computers and furniture to brooms, books, binoculars and veterinary supplies, started their journey in Swindon, where the Green Standards Trust has been gathering donations from various companies and Born Free supporters. In total, about 27 pallets, weighing over 20 tonnes, were loaded on board the 40ft container.

Of the office equipment, Ellen Winter, the overseas project manager for the Green Standards Trust, said “It could have ended up in landfill so it’s a real win, win.”

All being well, the container should arrive at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in the next 6-8 weeks.

Using recycled and donated equipment will save the Wildlife Centre considerable funds in equipping an on-site Office, Veterinary facility and Education Centre that are all to be built in the near future.

Chris Wright, Programmes Officer for Born Free, said: “There is a great threat to the animals in Malawi and education is a major issue. People aren’t aware of the impact that taking these animals out of their environment can have and they don’t know how to care for them, causing sever welfare problems. Wildlife can be seen as pests – they can harass people and spoil their crops. Rather than shoot them or trap them as pets we’re trying to encourage people to consider ways that they can mitigate that conflict and live side by side without fatal consequences for wildlife.”

The Wildlife Centre and Born Free would like to offer our sincere thanks to those generous supporters who have donated their time, equipment and finance to the delivery of these much-needed items.

It’s September 28th, Rabies Day 2009, and the Dinsho Primary School, situated on the boundary of the Bale Mountains National Park, has organised a demonstration to show their commitment to stamping out rabies in the area in order to protect the endangered Ethiopian wolf. The children, ranging in age from eight to 15 years old, made their own posters and banners highlighting the cause, and after marching through the town chanting their slogans, ended up in the grounds of the school where a presentation had been organised by some of the other pupils.

This included a poetry reading by one of the students, as well as a play written and acted out by three pupils to highlight the dangers of rabies within the community and the threat the disease poses to the Ethiopian wolves.

Rabies is transmitted by domestic dogs from the villages surrounding and within the National Park, and is fatal to the wolves. Outbreaks have occurred in 2003, 2008 and most recently in May 2009, and have caused significant losses to the wolf population in the Bale Mountains. The Rabies Day event, coordinated by the EWCP education officer, was attended by local community administrators and elders, as well as other EWCP staff and school pupils. Not even a sudden downpour could dampen the enthusiasm of the children, and they made sure that everyone understood their message: “Save the Ethiopian wolf! Jeedala fardaa haa kunuunsinu!”

You can also help save the Ethiopian wolf by donating in the box to on the right of this page!

More importantly, Titans troop have gone from strength to strength. In recent weeks the troop has relocated to a new sleeping site, this is an ideal location and a very good choice on Titans behalf. The new site gives them access to water, a hard commodity to find in the current dry season; a good food supply and incorporates densely leafed trees providing an excellent vantage point for scanning for leopards and hiding the smaller individuals from birds of prey.

Keith and I are slowly getting to know the 10 vervet monkeys and their personality traits; and are loving every minute of it. In the coming weeks and months however, we plan to allow the monkeys to hone their wild skills away from the security of our watchful eyes, giving them a few hours a day of alone time. The time has come to begin planning the next reintroduction of baboons and the first task to complete is to locate an excellent release site.

We would like to sincerely thank Carol Cutler for sponsoring Harpo, Greg Foley for sponsoring Mercy, the Capita HBU project team for sponsoring John Jenkins, the Capita HBU Management team for sponsoring Drama Dan, and SLC Partners for sponsoring JC. The entire research team is grateful for this gift of power!

Sadly, since the last blog from the release team, at which point the troop were adapting well to their new life in the wild, we have lost several individuals from Jack’s troop. Chris and Najinga were found dead just near their sleeping sites, presumed to have been killed by leopard. In addition, three other individuals (Nina, Ali & Bob John) have also disappeared from Jack’s troop, and have not been sighted among Zenus’ troop, the wild baboon troop in the area. Jack, Brenda, Becky and Ruth have not been seen since May 11th, leaving their whereabouts a mystery, though it is hoped they have simply moved to another area of the park, beyond the range of the monitoring team’s equipment.

Following such disruption to Jack’s troop, only Mandy could be found with Eddie, who had sustained a very deep flesh wound on his back right leg. After consultation with the Wildlife Centre’s vet it was decided that Eddie would have great difficulty surviving in the wild if his wound were left unattended. On June 6th both Eddie and Mandy were removed from the field and brought back to the Wildlife Centre where they are currently residing. Eddie’s wound needed proper treatment in a closed environment and Mandy was extremely vulnerable on her own without any troop members for protection.

The research team’s efforts to relocate the missing members of Jack’s troop continue.

On a more positive note, the Centre began its second release of rescued and rehabilitated monkeys. In late May, Titan’s troop of fifteen vervet monkeys was released into Kasungu National Park, 13km from the baboon release site. Some monkeys raced for the door, springing out of the cages as soon as the gate was lifted. Others were a bit shy, taking their time to venture out into the great expanse of the wild. Within half an hour of the release all monkeys were exploring their new surroundings, ecstatic to be free!

One of the troop’s adult males, named Jimmy, decided to join a wild baboon troop just two days after the release. Jimmy was the alpha male (leader) of the troop until three months before the release, when another male, Titan, took over the leadership position. Understandably, Jimmy has been having a difficult time relating to his group members… let’s face it, it’s embarrassing to be overthrown and lose all your power… how will the ladies ever respect him now? I suspect Jimmy became a little confused about what species he was on release and approached the baboon troop out of desperation to join another troop. Two weeks later though, he was back with his own kind, no doubt still resentful of Titan.

One of the troop’s adult females, Hellena, went off with a wild troop of vervets in the third week of the release. Just six days later, she was back under Titan’s command – presumably missing all the delicious food we were providing for Titan’s troop. During the first eight weeks of each release we provide the monkeys with supplementary food to help ease their transition into their new environment, allowing them time to learn how to cope with finding all of their own food.

Tragically, Michael, one of the sub-adult males in Titan’s troop was found dead a few weeks after release. He was killed by a predator in the park, likely believed to have been a jackal. Michael was the most curious monkey in the group - one of the favourites of the research team. His playful manner and sweet face made it impossible not to love him. Since his death, his best friend, Moses, has been a bit lost without him. Moses can now frequently be found sitting somewhere near the vehicle or research team, intently watching the humans, as if he’s expecting us to tell him how to continue on.

This event is deeply discouraging for everyone here in the field, especially on the tails of the results from the release of Jack’s troop. The research team and Wildlife Centre staff are currently doing all they can to assess what factors are contributing to the deaths, reworking our release protocol so we all can see increases in survival rates. It is expected that a few individuals will die with every release; however, this does not make it any easier to cope with when we find one of our beloved monkeys dead. We will remember Michael fondly.

All other members of the troop are doing well, and continue to enjoy their new found freedom.

Every Saturday morning we have around 30 local kids, all under the age of 12, turn up for the match (although the number seems to grow each week!), who then get divided into two opposing teams – EWCP and FZS (the Frankfurt Zoological Society, who also work within the National Park). It’s all terrific fun and rather chaotic, with the all the members of both teams charging after the ball – as you can imagine, the off-side rule does not apply!

Unfortunately EWCP is two games down at the moment, but we’re optimistic of making a comeback soon! While it’s great to get the kids together, keeping them busy on a Saturday and have them playing as a team, the matches also serve to increase EWCP’s presence within the community and encourage the kids to get involved in our activities in and around the National Park.