Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
Well, we all seem to have got back safely (some more safely than others) from the AGM.
This was well organized and a very enjoyable event. A
heartfelt thanks to all involved!
The “desert” had had some rain before we arrived and was looking wonderful with greenery just about as far as the eye could see! This also meant that some of the roads were a bit rough as rivers had washed away some crossings.
Wayne Lotter & I met the Lowveld bus in Jhb. with Mike Marshal from the UK. Also on the bus were our driver Ellery Worth, John Watson, Crispian Barlow and Marius Fuls.
It was quite amusing to see the customs service in action
when we came through the border into Namibia. The RSA customs officials
searched the vehicle and all our luggage – I must say in retrospect that it would have much more unpleasant to search our bags on the way home after a week camping and everything getting wet. Ellery drove all the way and it took us about 25 hours to get to NADEET.
After having over-nighted in Upington, we arrived at about 9pm.
Thankfully Viktoria had kindly kept a meal warm for us. There are no cell comms. in the area – for most of us there was no cell coverage in Namibia, so we were unable to let the organisers know we were safe, but slow. We only got stuck in the sand once on the way there and this was when we discovered that this truck (bus) did not come equipped with spades! We used the cutting (cheese) boards and hands to dig with and to our amazement a tourist bus stopped behind us and half the passengers disembarked to help push the “game rangers” bus. To be
fair I have to confess the road had been closed but it would have been a long detour back to the main tar road to go around.
At NADEET we were given very pleasant & adequate accommodation in shade
cloth A frames on deck platforms. The emphasis is on efficient use of
resources and most of the cooking is done on solar ovens and water usage is measured. Bucket showers are a good way to find out how little water you need to shower.
The first day was very interesting with a variety of talks given as outlined in the program. There were early morning excursions with Marc Durr of Tok Tokkie trails to give the uninitiated a very different & rewarding view of wildlife in the desert.
The next day we all gathered for the field day outing where we were taken in “safari vehicles” into the NabibRand.
Again interesting as there was so much grass and wildlife around.
In the late afternoon we took some drinks out to the dunes for sundowners and all got wet in the downpour, “unprecedented” I was told – I think it was Tim’s Bagpipes!
The AGM itself went off well and was over by lunchtime. There was lots of socialising going on during all the free time and after dinner drinks, and many new friends were made. After lunch it rained a little, then it rained a little more and then in the evening it rained till we all had to abandon our accommodation and move into the dining hall and marquee, which were the only “waterproof” places to sleep.
For the trip home we swapped Moira Borland for Marius Fuls (Moira doesn’t drink as much as Marius! Our bus left at 04:00 the next morning and within about 3 km of the gate we were stuck in the “yes Mud” it took us some 2 hrs to cover the next couple of kms. Nils & Danica Oodendaal had left after dinner and we caught up with them on this section of the road where they had also been stuck since the previous evening. We didn’t feel so bad as a local (in a 4X4, - but it was only a Toyota) had been “caught” as well.
Peter Bridgeford & Andreus Kreding had seen our lights and came along and helped us along to the main road. It took us 6 hrs to cover about 160km to the tar. It rained most of the way back to RSA. We decided to come back via Botswana as it looked quicker (more tar) but it actually took about 27 hrs back to Jhb, (There was lots of little flooded pans most of the way back towards Windhoek. The countryside looked like the Free State with all the grass).
We had to make a plan with a broken accelerator cable and finding out how to get fuel to the engine from the variety of fuel tanks. Here I must add that when we got back to RSA Ellery phoned in to give his ETA & asked why there were no spades on the vehicle – to be told they were bolted to the inside of the tailgate – in the dark we had opened the tailgate & looked inside & not at the flap!
We got back to the airport in good time to catch our flight to KZN. The bus trip was a good experience and we all got to know each other a lot better.
My thanks to the rest of the team for a great experience.
If anyone else had an eventful trip to or from the AGM and would like to share it, please send your story to me for inclusion in the next Cleft Stick.
I again appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for the Cleft Stick, the Game Ranger magazine and to be posted on the web site. These are 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.
ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE, 7th February 2006
ZCTF - Hwange crisis update
We would like to thank all the very generous individuals and companies who donated funds, tools, equipment, oils, tyres etc to assist in the recent water crisis in Hwange National Park.
For the information of the donors, I was unable to obtain a truck at short notice to deliver all the goods to Hwange but we crammed as much as we could into my private vehicle and made a delivery to Sinamatella last week. We will take the balance of the donations to Hwange on our next delivery.
The following goods were delivered:
12 tyres, 40 litres engine oil, 2 Batteries, 40 fan belts, 5 litres glue, 1 bag cement, 2 side cutters, 4 deshackles, 1 pipe bender, 1 pipe wrench, 3 axe heads, 3 pick heads, 2 rolls emery tape, 2 chipping hammers, 2 snatch blocks, 1 coil rope and 75 hacksaw blades.
We are very relieved to report that Hwange National Park now has water in abundance due to the record rains. The park is now lush and green and the wildlife is no longer queuing for water.
During this wet season, it is not necessary to pump water into the pans so we are using this temporary respite to ensure that there is no repetition of the water crisis we had last year. In order to keep the pans full all year round, the engines will have to start pumping water again in April this year because the pans are shallow and dry out very quickly once the rains stop.
We are currently working on assisting National Parks by ensuring that all their vehicles in Hwange are functioning so that by the time the rains stop, they will be able to effectively maintain the engines and pumps. We also need to ensure that all the pumps and engines are in working order and we are planning to repair the cement troughs, repair the roads in the game park and clean out the pans. We anticipate completing these projects by June this year. If anyone can help in any way, please email the ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE.
Further contact details are below. We would be most grateful for any assistance.
Johnny Rodrigues
Horror story from a different source.
While watching the financial channel 60 on DStv the other day, I picked up the following story:
In Zimbabwe, a family of 5 has to spend 20 million Zim. dollars a month
(R1200) to stay above the poverty line. The average 5-member family has to spend 7-8 million Z. dollars on food alone to stay healthy, as also 12 million a month for accommodation, transport to and from work, school fees at the cheapest government school, clothes and shoes. This excludes any luxuries of any kind – even a toy.
Inflation is running at 600%.
Viagra saves seals
Ten years ago, 152 million men suffered from erectile dysfunction, a problem affecting almost half of all men over fifty.
Ageing populations will more than double that number in the next 20 years, to 322 million.
In some parts of the world, particularly in Asia, men traditionally use
products made from seals, reindeer, sea horses, sea cucumbers, geckos, and green turtles to treat the problem. Occasionally, they use rhinoceros and tiger organs. This, combined with other factors, threatens many of these species’ survival.
Until 1998, Western doctors had no simple effective solution for the
problem, so men naturally looked elsewhere for relief. However, Viagra is relatively cheap and reliable, and within three years after it went on the market ten million men were using it.
Given all this, one might wonder whether men will start using Viagra instead of traditional medicines and if that will help protect the animals. Several articles in Environmental Conservation by William and
Frank von Hippel, Norman Chang, and Clara Cheng say “yes!”
In 2004, the authors surveyed 256 men between the ages of 50 and 78 in a large clinic practicing traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong.
They found that the men have begun to treat their impotency using Viagra instead of Chinese medicine, even though they now rely more than ever on traditional medicines for indigestion, arthritis, and gout.
The authors also credit Viagra with being partially responsible for a sharp decline in the harvest of Canadian harp seals in 1998. They say the number and price of seal penises sold to cure impotency fell sharply after Viagra went on the market in 1998 and never recovered. Increased demand for pelts and seal oil caused harvests to rise again in 2001, but the authors remain convinced that in the long-run Viagra will help protect seals.
The authors also claim Viagra contributed to declining sales of reindeer antler velvet since 1997, although they admit it hasn’t done much for sea horses.
This is one more case where global market trends have large and sometimes unexpected effects on biodiversity. The authors readily admit we still need to protect endangered animals directly, and can’t rely on Viagra alone.
Even so, one can only hope more older men replace animal parts with pills.
You can download free electronic copies of the articles from the following website: http://www.psy.unsw.edu.au/Users/BHippel/
The full references for these articles are the following:
Von Hippel, W., F.A. von Hippel, N. Chan, and C. Cheng. 2005. Exploring the Use of Viagra in Place of Animal and Plant Potency Products in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Environmental Conservation 32 (3): 235-8.
Von Hippel, W. and F.A. von Hippel. 2004. Is Viagra a Conservation Too?
Response to Hoover. Environmental Conservation 31(1):4-6.
Von, Hippel, W. and F.A. von Hippel. 2002. Sex, Drugs, and Animal Parts: Will Viagra Save Threatened Species? Environmental Conservation 29 (3):277-81.
--
David Duthie
Information Officer, UNEP-GEF Biosafety Unit
Tel: + 41 22 917 8741, Mobile: + 41 79 368 5602, Fax: + 41 22 917 8070
Email: david.duthie@unep.ch, URL: http://www.unep.ch/biosafety.
POSITION(s) AVAILABLE
We are re-advertising the IUCN-SA CPC position. Please place the attached advert in the vacancies section on your respective websites and please circulate widely to your contacts and networks.
This position will be re-advertised in the Sunday Times in South Africa next weekend (26 Feb). Please note that the closing date for applications is17h00 on Friday 17 March 2006.
kind regards
Anthea Stephens
World Conservation Union (IUCN), Tel: +27 12 342 8304/9, Fax: +27 (0) 86 624 7669 anthea.stephens@iucn.org, www.iucnsa.org.za or www.iucn.org.
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Note: this position is being re-advertised. Candidates who have already
submitted applications will be considered in this round.
Position: COORDINATOR: IUCN SOUTH AFRICA COUNTRY PROGRAMME
Duty Station: IUCN Country Office, Pretoria, South Africa
Reports to: Regional Director, IUCN Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA)
Term: 2 year contract, renewable
In the context of the IUCN Mission, Values and Goals, the overall goal of this position is to implement and deliver an effective IUCN Programme in South Africa (IUCN-SA), creating linkages between conservation science and development policy processes in South and southern Africa and ensuring engagement with key IUCN constituencies in South Africa.
Specific Functions
Specific Responsibilities
Qualifications
Notes
POSITION(s) WANTED
My Name is Kirsten Weingarth. I am studying forestry sciences in Freiburg/Germany for 5 semesters now and just "climbed the first mountain", my prediploma.
I explained my request to Lex Hes and he gave me your Mail address.
The reason why I contact you is my very important practica, which I have to complete in the summer (your winter) of 2006. I am searching for a possibility to broaden my knowledge about african
wildlife, -behavior, -management. It would be so valuable for me to work with experienced experts in projects like e.g. reintroduktion or population dynamics. I would enjoy to work with rangers in nationalparcs or reserves.
Payment should be not the problem, when I have a place to sleep.
I am not afraid of hard work, I am flexible and interested.
I already successfully participated in the Ecotraining Level 1 course in August 2003.
I try to join the Ecotraining Level 2 in August 2006 as well. This would be a great basis for the project work I want to do afterwards. Do you maybe have a proposal for a job, practica or just simply a chance??
The possible period of time: 15. july - 15. november 2006
The Flight, a formal application or whatever necessary should be no problem.
I have been working in several projects in a German forest research
institute (FAWF Rheinland-Pfalz), e.g the reintroduction of the lynx. At the moment l am working in a project examining the wildboar densities in Germany with the help of GPS and radio-telemetry.
I try to get as much experience as possible for my later work. But my
biggest interest always belonged to the wildlife of South Africa.
The magic of South Africa caught me while my first visit in 1997 when I was 14. I came back in 2002 and in August 2003 I was so lucky to meet Lex Hes. Now I am 21 and nothing changed at all during the last visits.
I really hope that you can help me in form of a contact or an idea. I would really appriciate it.
Thank you very much
Very kind regards
Kirsten Weingarth
PS: I also send you my CV, in case you need it. (Please give me a shout if you want it ta Ed)
Tailpiece-
THE SENTENCE
A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in bed.
She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him
sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He
appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wiped a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.
What's the matter, dear?", she whispers as she steps into the room, "Why are you down here at this time of night?"
The husband looks up from his coffee," Do you remember 20 years ago when we were dating, and you were only 16?" he asks solemnly.
"Yes I do" she replies. The husband paused. The words were not coming
easily.
"Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car
making love?"
"Yes, I remember" said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
The husband continued. "Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or I'll send you to jail for 20 years?"
"I remember that too" she replied softly.
He wiped another tear from his cheek and said, "I would have gotten out
today".
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