Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for both the
Cleft Stick and to be posted on the web site. It is your magazine and
website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail
address to keep the database up to date.
Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. Please will any of you who
know of members who do not get this “electric” Cleft~Stick, & have access to
e-mail, pass their address along to me.
Don Yunnie
7 Chalet Drive, Hilton, 3245, South Africa Local Tel & Fax (033) 343 1534 Int. Tel & Fax (+2733) 343 1534 cell 082 377 7562 E-mail dyunnie@xsinet.co.za.
If you do not wish to receive this e-mail newsletter please send a blank e-mail to me at the above address with the word “unsubscribe C~S ” as the message heading.
Message from the Chair
Dear Members
There have recently been a spate of negative e-mail criticisms of current conservation work which I believe to be off the target and not in the interests of the Game Rangers Association of Africa and what we stand for. This is not because of what has been said, but the manner in which it has been done.
You may have seen recent e mails and articles about various events and issues.
Some of our members have gone on the attack without establishing the full facts or the full story, rather voicing their objections widely via a chain of emotive e mails. This could have created the impression that their opinion was the voice of the GRAA. All of these could be damaging to the Association at a time when we are becoming better known and our commentary taken seriously at all levels of conservation and environmental management. Whilst there is nothing wrong with being opposed to things with which one disagrees; the manner of opposition is of concern in these instances. As an Association we need to speak with ONE voice. Please bring concerns to the attention of the committee, rather than taking on the world alone!
For several years the GRAA management team (Africa Committee) has subscribed to a principle of positive, constructive engagement. In my understanding this means that we are entitled to get angry about issues, but it is critically important that we address them correctly, diplomatically and maturely by approaching the source of our dissatisfaction, establishing the facts by not only listening to; but also hearing their point of view; and then reaching a civil and mutually acceptable concensus on the resolution.
Our membership base cumulatively supports centuries of conservation experience. We have a lot to offer the conservation arena not only in SA, but throughout Africa. I would like to see us moving forward by offering positive constructive assistance, rather than negative and destructive criticism. Some of us have done our time in the field. We need to allow others to have their chance too - even to make mistakes from which they will learn and grow.
The way forward which I now intend is to make appointments to see the Chief Executive Officers of both SA National Parks and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife; and to convey the sentiment which I have expressed in this e mail, to them. Under my leadership there will be no confrontation with any party before all options at a negotiated and mutually agreed settlements have been tried and have ,failed.
Regards
Tim
Timothy V. Snow
Africa Chairman, Game Rangers Association of Africa
International Ranger Federation Executive Committee - Africa representative
Telefax +27(0)33 2677171
Mobile +27(0)82 4634104
PO Box 78, Rosetta, KZN 3301, South Africa.
e mail: snowman@ewt.org.za
www.gameranger.org
IUCN Member NG1567.
Knighthood for one of our members!
British High Commission, Nairobi
Upper Hill Rd
PO Box 30465-00100
Nairobi
Press & Public Affairs Section
Telephone: (254) (2) 2844 000
Facsimile: (254) (2) 2844 088
E-Mail: stella.ondimu@fco.gov.uk
Website: www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk/kenya
KNIGHTHOOD FOR DAPHNE SHELDRICK IN NEW YEAR’S HONOURS LIST
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed Dr Daphne Sheldrick to Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List. Dame Daphne receives her honour for services to conservation in Kenya.
For more than 50 years, Dame Daphne has developed pioneering animal husbandry techniques, increasing survival rates of young wildlife orphans, with a view to their eventual release back into the wild. Dame Daphne has been involved with raising elephants since her and her husband, the Late David Sheldrick’s, first orphaned elephant Samson, in 1954. Her success with rearing milk-dependent elephants and rhinoceros has made her an acclaimed world authority on the subject.
Once weaned, elephants are transferred to Relocation Units in Tsavo East National Park along with their keepers, or “surrogate human family”, where they remain dependent on their Keepers until they choose to join the wild herds, once they have made friends with wild peers. Eventually, each orphaned elephant integrates into the wild herds in Tsavo in its own time. Dame Daphne, over the years, has successfully reared over 100 African elephants, 70 from early infancy and two from the day of birth, the first time this has been achieved. She has also reared 13 endangered black rhinoceroses as well as many other wild animal species.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), founded by Dame Daphne in her late husband’s memory, has an extensive community outreach programme, which incorporates people living on the boundaries of protected areas. Through an elephant orphan “adoption” programme, DSWT has raised considerable funds for wildlife conservation work in Kenya. This would not have been possible without the extraordinary drive and determination of Dame Daphne, who has spent her whole life working tirelessly to ensure the continued existence of Kenya’s wildlife for the benefit of generations to come, thereby making her late husband’s vision a reality.
Dr Daphne Sheldrick has become a household name to many people throughout the world. Her elephant orphanage and release programme featured prominently in a major BBC documentary series, “Elephant Diaries” (July 2005).
Notes:
1. Daphne Marjorie Sheldrick was born in Kenya, on 4 June 1934. She was educated at the Nakuru Primary School and The Kenya High School, matriculating with honours in 1950. In 1960 she married David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE , founder Warden of Kenya’s largest National Park, Tsavo East.
2. Daphne’s early role in the Sheldrick partnership was to develop animal husbandry techniques to increase survival rates of young wildlife orphans, with a view to eventual release back into the wild. David took charge of their first orphaned elephant, Samson, in 1954. After more than 50 years of pioneering work in rearing milk- dependent elephants and rhinoceros, she is an acclaimed world authority on the subject. In 2000, Glasgow University awarded Daphne an Honorary Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, in recognition of her unsurpassed knowledge on raising elephants and rhinoceros. Daphne has successfully reared over 100 elephants and 13 rhinoceros, many of which are now living wild.
3. Daphne founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), in memory of her husband who died in 1977, to further the principles of conservation developed by David during his life. DSWT presently contributes in excess of $750,000 annually to conservation in Kenya, mainly focussed on Tsavo, which suffers from high levels of poaching. Since 1999, DSWT has operated, in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), desnaring teams that work the boundaries of Tsavo. These teams lift thousands of snares on a monthly basis. Working in tandem with the de-snaring teams, DSWT operates a Mobile Veterinary Unit which covers Tsavo, Shimba Hills Reserve and Amboseli National Park. In addition to running its own projects in Tsavo, DSWT has helped with the maintenance of KWS vehicles and has provided fuel for security operations in Tsavo, including aerial surveillance. DSWT has purchased thermal imaging equipment, to help with the anti-poaching effort, and this will be operated and maintained at DSWT’s expense. DSWT has also provided the KWS anti-poaching patrols with radio equipment and rangers accomodation.
4. DSWT has an extensive community outreach programme, that focuses on communities living on the boundaries of Tsavo National Park. Graduate de-snaring team leaders deliver wildlife education and tree propagation skills to schools and wildlife clubs. Wind-pumped water from DSWT-funded bore-holes serves both wild animals and pastoralists, in order to reduce wildlife-human conflict. DSWT has installed 42 miles of electric fencing on the northern boundary of Tsavo East National Park, where human settlement is most vulnerable to marauding wildlife. In addition to funding valuable restorative work in Nairobi National Park, DSWT has also provided some funding for Meru National Park and Mount Kenya National Park.
5. Daphne’s work was recognised by the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1992, when she was elevated to the prestigious Global 500 Roll of Honour. And her contribution to conservation in Kenya was recognised officially by the Kenyan Government, in 2001, when she was appointed a Moran of the Burning Spear (Kenyan MBE-equivalent). She received a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. In addition to numerous articles, Daphne has written four books. Her first book, “The Orphans of Tsavo”, won Le Grand Prix Verite literary award (1965). She is currently working on her memoirs.
6. Further information on the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust can be found at www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org. Photographs of Daphne Sheldrick with elephants are attached:
7. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a British Order of Chivalry, was established by His Majesty King George V, on 4 June 1917. Dame Commander (D.B.E.) is the second highest class of the Order and entails admission into knighthood.
BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION, NAIROBI, 1 JANUARY 2006.
Tropicana Charcoal
We have an agreement with the proprietor of this company whereby any sales which originate from GRAA and it’s members will earn the Association a commission. The charcoal is sourced from Prosopis, (mesquite) which is an alien plant in Namibia. If you see this charcoal on a stand, choose it in preference to it’s competitors, and better still, if you can encourage any vendors to order and stock this brand, please do so. We haven’t yet worked out the details, but we need to record any orders originating from GRAA sources, to ensure that the commission is paid over to us. The bag will be displaying the GRAA logo. The contact details to order charcoal are: Greg Sinovich, P.O. Box 319, Glenvista, 2058, phone 011 900 4320 or fax 011 868 4146, email charcoal@tropicanaexport.co.za.
News from a Member
– Barry Carroll and his wife have moved to the Southern Cape, and have offered the following to members:
We have a Holiday home available which sleeps 8 to 10 persons fully equipped with all the basics of life including DSTV, 20 meters from the lagoon with a short walk to the edge. My wife Ann who runs it will open the doors to all Members of GRAA and the SANParks Honorary Rangers. to spend a holiday here at very reasonable prices.
Our lagoon Swartvlei is also famous for the Sea Horses which breed here at Knysna and also in the Keurbooms river in Plett.these are the only three estuaries as far as we know supports them.
Barry Carroll Member 523
Email hadedah@global.co.za, Fax: 044-3432687
Post: P.O.Box 1000, Sedgefield, 6573
Call for Nominations,
Annual Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Prosecution of Environmental Crimes
The Environmental Management Inspectorate in the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in collaboration with the National Prosecuting Authority, hereby calls for nominations for the first annual Award of Excellence to be awarded to a prosecutor who has made an outstanding contribution to the prosecution of environmental crimes in South Africa.
Nominations must be submitted in writing and provide a motivation as to how the proposed candidate meets one or more of the following criteria:
Frog Extinctions Linked to Global Warming/Fungus
"Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger." So states J. Alan Pounds, resident scientist at the Tropical Science Center's Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica.
Pound is the lead author, with 13 other researchers, of findings from their study released in "Nature" (see below) and front-page news in the Washington Post (Jan. 12) as well as a lead story on "Morning Edition" (National Public Radio).
** Washington Post Story: Warming Tied To Extinction Of Frog Species. Juliet Eilperin. Jan. 12, 2006; A01. C 2006 The Washington Post Company
Rising temperatures are responsible for pushing dozens of frog species over the brink of extinction in the past three decades, according to findings being reported today by a team of Latin American and U.S. scientists.
The study, published in the journal Nature, provides compelling evidence that climate change has already helped wipe out a slew of species and could spur more extinctions and the spread of diseases worldwide. It also helps solve the international mystery of why amphibians around the globe have been vanishing from their usual habitats over the past quarter-century -- as many as 112 species have disappeared since 1980.
Scientists have speculated that rising temperatures and changing weather patterns could endanger the survival of many species, but the new study documents for the first time a direct correlation between global warming and the disappearance of around 65 amphibian species in Central and South America.
The fate of amphibians -- whose permeable skin makes them sensitive to environmental changes -- is seen by scientists as a possible harbinger of global warming's effects. Rising temperatures are threatening the survival of flora and fauna worldwide, including coral reefs in the Caribbean, which serve as critical fish nurseries, and South African rhododendrons, which cannot move to a cooler climate.
J. Alan Pounds -- the resident scientist at the Tropical Science Center's Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica and the study's lead author -- worked with 13 other researchers to pin down the link between rising tropical temperatures and the spread of the deadly chytrid fungus that has wiped out dozens of species of harlequin frogs in recent years.
"Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger," Pounds said. "Global warming is wreaking havoc on amphibians and will cause staggering losses of biodiversity if we don't do something first."
The paper helps explain how global warming has allowed the chytrid fungus -- which kills frogs by growing on their skin and attacking their epidermis and teeth, as well as by releasing a toxin -- to thrive in Costa Rica and neighboring countries. The higher temperatures result in more water vapor in the air, which in turn forms a cloud cover that leads to cooler days and warmer nights. These conditions favor the fungus, which grows and reproduces best at temperatures between 63 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
At least 110 species of the vibrantly colored amphibians once lived near streams in the Central and South American tropics, but about two-thirds disappeared in the 1980s and 1990s, including the golden toad. While researchers had previously identified the fungus as a major reason for the frogs' demise, they have been trying determine why the disease has taken such a major toll in recent years.
Looking at more than 65 harlequin frog species that had vanished, researchers found that 80 percent of the time there was a correlation between higher temperatures and the species' disappearance. After a warm peak in 1987, for example, five species died off.
"There's a coherent pattern of disappearances, all the way from Costa Rica to Peru," Pounds said in an interview. "Here's a case where we can show that global warming is affecting outbreaks of this disease."
Amphibians are experiencing a precipitous decline in Africa, Asia and North America, according to a comprehensive 2004 survey, which cited climate change as well as deforestation, pollution and habitat loss as key factors.
"We have a biodiversity crisis," said Andrew Blaustein, director of Oregon State University's graduate programs in environmental science. "Amphibians seem to be harder hit than other groups."
Michael Totten, senior director for climate and water initiatives at the environmental group Conservation International, said humans have made it more difficult for animal and plant species to adapt to the shifting climate by fragmenting natural habitat. "Traditionally species have been resilient and capable of going through dramatic climate change, but with humans changing the face of the landscape, we've created lots of prisons for species, and that's the major problem they face," he said.
Stanford University climatologist Stephen Schneider said the new research represents "a creative step in the right direction, but it's still early in the game to sound the 'solved' bell." He added that the study is "just further evidence" that global warming is linked to accelerating extinctions worldwide.
While Pounds and his colleagues are still researching the harlequin frogs' disappearance, their findings are prompting even some scientists who had been skeptical about climate change's impact on amphibians to reassess their position.
James Collins, who studies harlequin frogs at Arizona State University, called the paper "an intriguing contribution" to understanding what is happening to amphibians worldwide. He said the study shows that when it comes to climate change, "these forces don't all move in one direction, "since some habitats are becoming drier while others are becoming wetter.
Collins and a team of researchers are trying to determine if the chytrid fungus is surfacing in areas where it had never thrived before. (END)
** Direct link to the "Nature" web site and press release:
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060109/full/060109-6.html
** National Public Radio (audio archive)
Morning Edition, Jan. 12, 2006. Story by John Nielsen.
http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/rundown_archive_hub.php
POSITION(s) AVAILABLE
I have a 16 page doc with details of the following posts available in Ghana. Interested parties may request a copy from me - ed.
CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISOR AND TEAM LEADER (1 POST)
PARK MANAGEMENT ADVISOR (2 POSTS)
Key international expert 1: Chief Technical Adviser/Team Leader (37 person months)
Key international experts 2 and 3: Park Management Advisers (21 person-months each)
POSITION(s) Wanted
From: Liz Rhodes [mailto:lizjrhodes@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 3:24 PM
Subject: volunteer request
Dear Alison,
I am emailing you again with a request for some volunteer work in South Africa for 2/3 months starting in August this year. I thought I’d email you again with a bit more information about myself. I graduated from Manchester University last year with a 2.1 degree in Environmental Studies, I covered a variety of topics on this course including; geography, geology, biology, maths, chemistry, planning and many more. In September 2005 I spent 2 months working in Indonesian Borneo doing ecology and conservation work with ornag-utans and gibbons, we did a lot of work studying the regeneration of the forest and I helped with a pilot study on butterflies as indicators of the status of the rainforest. I hope to go to Costa Rica in April to do some similar work.
I am particularly keen to work with you because I adore South Africa and its animals and would really enjoy working to help protect its' environment. I will have a base in Johannesburg as I can stay with my Auntie and there is also the possibility that I will have access to a car. I am willing to pay any expenses whilst working for you. I am fit, healthy and enthusiastic.
Thank you for your time and i hope to hear from you in the near future.
Liz Rhodes
Tel. +44 (0)1422 361442
Rufford House, West Avenue, Savile Park, Halifax, HX3 0EL, England
Tailpiece-
Makes you think...
IN PRISON... you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell.
AT WORK... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 desk cubicle.
IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it.
IN PRISON...you get time off for good behaviour.
AT WORK...you get more work for good behaviour.
IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and open all the doors for yourself.
IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.
IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.
AT WORK...you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat.
IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit
AT WORK...you can't even speak to your family on the phone.
IN PRISON...the taxpayers pay all expenses with no work required.
AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners
IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...they are called managers.
Have a Great Day at WORK - I'm going to PRISON!!!.
Matter of Fact
This is an electronic newsletter of the Game Rangers' Association of Africa. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association, nor of the Editor. This is intended to be an exchange of news snips, ideas and communication between members. Newsletter content may be copied and re-distributed without authorisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at dyunnie@xsinet.co.za