Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
I 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 magazines 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. Remember this is the address we will send your Game Ranger Magazine to.
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” as the message heading.
Please feel free to write to express your views on the content or the subject of any of the articles in this magazine – to the address above.
GRAA Website AGM pictures
Have a look at some of the pictures Ron’s got on the website. Go to www.gameranger.org
Click on AGM photo gallery.
If you have any pictures that you would like to share please send them to Ron in jpeg format
COME & ENJOY A BIRDING WEEKEND
WITH THE GAME RANGERS ASSOCIATION OF AFRICA AT NDUMO GAME RESERVE KWAZULU-NATAL
R2 800.00 per person sharing
The Game Rangers Association of Africa is inviting you to join us for a long weekend of exciting birding at Ndumo Game Reserve.
This is a world-renowned birding destination on the South African and Mozambique border. The reserve is 10 117 ha. in extent and boasts over 400 species of birds as well as abundant wildlife.
The visit to Ndumo will give you an opportunity to see some of the specials in the Northern Zululand area, such as the African Broadbill, Pels Fishing Owl, Black Coucal and African Finfoot.
Your Tour Leaders will be game rangers who have spent a lifetime in conservation.
The weekend is planned to afford excellent opportunities for you to bird watch on the walks along the Phongola River and other pans as well as a vehicle tour to the Nyamithi pan. There will also be opportunities to visit the bird hides and to travel around the reserve with the Guides. Please note: part of the programme includes walking in the reserve, and participants should be reasonably fit – the (slow) walks start at about 05h30 and last for approx. four hours and it can be very hot.
Facilities
Accommodation has been block booked. There are 7 x two-bedded air conditioned huts. The communal ablutions are close to the huts and there is a swimming pool for visitors to cool off in after a successful day of birding and adventure.
Bookings should be made thru’:-
Muriel Yunnie yunniem@telkomsa.net
Tel. 033-3431534 Fax 086 544 7335 (Monday – Saturday 14:00 – 18:00)
There should be a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 14 participants.
For Additional Information please contact :-
George Zaloumis gaz@futurenet.co.za
tel. & fax 033-3307097 082-4305290
COSTS
The long weekend from Thursday afternoon to Sunday 10:00 am and will cost R2,800.00 per person sharing in the hutted accommodation, (single supplement R970.00 pp) The cost will include accommodation, three evening meals, three brunches, tea and coffee as well as the vehicle tour and guided walks. Please note – should there be large increases in the price of fuel, and therefore, food, it may be necessary to increase the tariff slightly to cover these cost increases.
A DEPOSIT of R1,500.00 per person is required within 14 days of your reservation to confirm your booking.
Tour 1 - A cancellation fee of R1 000.00 pp will be levied for any cancellation after 1st September 2009 and before 25th October 2009. No refunds on cancellations after 25th October unless the accommodation is relet.
Tour 2 – Above cancellation fees levied for cancellations after 1st October and before 25th November, and no refunds after 25th November unless the accommodation is relet.
Closing Date : - Tour 1 - Full amount due by 1st October 2009, and
Tour 2 - Full amount due by 1st November 2009
Payment: - by Bank deposit or direct transfer to:-
Game Rangers Association of Africa, First National Bank, Howick branch, Branch Code 220725, Current Account No. 62103195956.
Please record your Name plus “Ndumo” in the reference section of the deposit slip or direct deposit. Please email or fax proof of your deposit to the email or fax number given above.
Important
The price does not include drinks or Ndumo staff gratuities.
Ndumo is in a Malaria area, and all visitors are advised to consult their doctors.
Additional information will be sent out closer to the time.
THIS IS A FUND RAISING PROJECT of the GAME RANGER ASSOCIATION of AFRICA and PROFITS go towards the TRAINING OF FUTURE CONSERVATIONISTS at the SOUTHERN AFRICAN WILDLIFE COLLEGE.
For information about the Game Rangers Association of Africa please go to our Web site -
http://www.gameranger.org
Successful Off-shore Environmental Vessel Returns
Cape Town — South Africa's off-shore environmental protection vessel, the Sarah Baartman, returned to Cape Town Harbour on Thursday from a four-nation transboundary fisheries patrol in South African, Tanzanian, Mozambican and Kenyan waters.
The joint patrol was aimed at improving and strengthening fisheries surveillance and law enforcement activities within the Southern African Developing Community (SADC) region and along the African coastline.
According to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the inspectors from all four countries arrested six vessels and inspected more than 40 vessels. It covered more than 7200 nautical miles, which is the same distance from Cape Town to Helsinki in Finland and a further 3500km beyond that.
The eleven Fisheries Inspectors on board, including two inspectors each from Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya, arrested six vessels and inspected a total of 41 fishing vessels over a 31 day period.
Two South African hake handline vessels were arrested approximately 30 nautical miles off Mossel Bay coast for inadequate and lack of required documentation on board the vessels, said the department.
Inspections involve examining fishing gear, catches, log books, licenses and permits of fishing vessels.
In Mozambique another hake handline vessel was arrested for a lack of required documentation.
A prawn fishing vessel was arrested for illegally fishing in a restricted zone, following high levels of hostility and resistance from the master and crew of the vessel.
The department said inspectors from the Sarah Baartman forcefully boarded the vessel and took control thereof. Mozambican inspectors arrested the vessel and escorted the vessel to the Port of Angoche in Mozambique.
In Tanzania, more than 290 tons of blue fin tuna was found onboard a vessel without any legitimate fishing permit or licence. The vessel and crew were arrested and all fish was confiscated by the Tanzanian authorities.
This incident drew widespread national recognition from Tanzanians for the inspectors and crew on-board the Sarah Baartman, resulting in special accolades being bestowed on the team by the Tanzanian Minister for Livestock and Fishing Development, John Magufuli.
The team inspectors were also invited by the President of Tanzania, President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete who paid tribute to the work the inspectors have done in fighting illegal fishing in Tanzanian waters.
On route back to South Africa, off the coast from Durban, a Spanish foreign fishing vessel was arrested and fined R300 000 for being without a valid permit in South African waters. The vessel is detained and will be released upon payment of the fine.
In addition to the inspections and arrests, a vigorous training programme was also rolled out which included technical, operational and legal training.
TREE IDENTIFICATION IN THE LOWVELD
Please give the following from Eugene Moll the widest circulation.
Who better to talk about trees?
TREE IDENTIFICATION IN THE LOWVELD
Sunday evening 30th August to Saturday morning 5th September 2009
Eugene Moll will facilitate a 5 days (6 nights) tree identification course at The Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC). The course will also focus on some of the plant ecological issues facing the KNP and Timbavati area in particular.
The cost of this course is R6,000.00 per person inclusive of food and accommodation at the SAWC, transport for fieldwork + armed guard, and two night drives.
Participants are required to find their own way to and from the SAWC.
The SAWC is some 10km west of the Orpen Gate to the KNP on the northern side of the tarred road and some 70km from Hoedspruit. The SAWC is ~2km off the tarred road and the ~30ha Campus has an electric perimeter fence; the Big Five have been spotted between the tarred road and the Campus.
The outline of the programme is:
A minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 people are required to make this course possible (bookings will be on a first come first served basis).
Should you be interested in joining the group please contact Alice Moll on amoll@telkomsa.net for further details.
Subscribers to Pooley’s TREES of EASTERN SOUTH AFRICA
attached is an opportunity to not only support a wonderful project but to be "immortalised" by having your name included in the revised edition of Elsa Pooley's book on our local trees, the most authoritative work of its kind for our region.
Subscribers will be listed in the book and will receive a signed hardcover edition of Pooley’s TREES of EASTERN SOUTH AFRICA. Only Subscribers and Sponsors will receive hardcover editions, as no additional copies of this format will be printed.
Apologies for duplication if you have already received this call, but it is better than missing the chance to subscribe to this wonderful book.
Dear Indigenous Tree Enthusiast
We are delighted to now call for Subscribers to Pooley's TREES of EASTERN SOUTH AFRICA.
Subscribers play a very important role in assisting with the necessary sponsorship required to complete the book and making it available to the public at an affordable price.
For only R600 your name will be recorded in the front pages of the book, with all those people who care about indigenous trees and their important role in the environment. In addition, Subscribers will receive a unique copy of the book.
Please consider the attached call for Subscribers and pass it on to anyone you think may be interested. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely The Flora & Fauna Publications Trust Team, Flora & Fauna Publications Trust
National Minimum Standards for Responsible Tourism (NMSRT)
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism are preparing National Minimum Standards for Responsible Tourism (NMSRT). The NMSRT are an effort to establish a common understanding of responsible tourism, and will be a baseline standard that any tourism business should aspire to reach. The NMSRT and associated accreditation system for tourism certification programmes, also aim to harmonise the different sets of criteria currently used for certifying the sustainability of tourism businesses in South Africa. The NMSRT are based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and National Responsible Tourism Guidelines, amongst others.
To get a copy of the draft minimum standards and to comment on them, please contact Heidi Keyser on rtstandards@gmail.com. Deadline for comment is 6 April.
Wilbur Smith - A factual account!
The plight of the Black Rhinoceros is, or course, due mostly to the value of its horn and the ferocious poaching that this engenders.
However, a contributory factor to the declining rhino population is the animals disorganized mating habits.
It seems that the female rhino only becomes receptive to the male's attentions every three years or so, while the male only becomes interested in her at the same intervals. A condition known quite appropriately as "Must" The problem is one of synchronization, for their amorous inclinations do not always coincide.
In the early Sixties, I was invited, along with a host of journalists and other luminaries, to be present at an attempt by the Rhodesian Game and Tsetse Department to solve this problem of poor timing.
The idea was to capture a male rhino and induce him to deliver up that which could be stored until that day in the distant future when his mate's fancy turned lightly to thoughts of love.
We departed from the Zambezi Valley in an impressive convoy of trucks and Landrovers, counting in our midst none other than the Director of the game department in person, together with his minions, a veterinary surgeon, an electrician and sundry other technicians, all deemed necessary to make the harvest.
The local game scouts had been sent out to scout the bush for the largest, most virile rhino they could find. They had done their job to perfection and led us to a beast at least the size of a small granite koppie with a horn on his nose considerably longer than my arm.
The trick was to get this monster into a robust mobile pen which had been constructed to accommodate him.
With the Director of the Game Department shouting frantic orders from the safety of the largest truck, the pursuit was on. The tumult and the shouting were apocalyptic. Clouds of dust flew in all directions, trees, and vegetation were destroyed, game scouts scattered like chaff, but finally the Rhino had about a litre of narcotics shot into his rump and his mood became dreamy and benign.
With forty game guards heaving and shoving, and the Director still shouting orders from the truck, the rhino was wedged into his cage, and stood there with a happy grin on his face.
At this stage, the Director deemed it safe to emerge from the cab of his truck and he came amongst us resplendent in starched and immaculately ironed bush jacket with a colourful silk scarf at this throat. With an imperial gesture, he ordered the portable electric generator to be brought forward and positioned behind the captured animal. This was a machine which was capable of lighting up a small city, and it was equipped with two wheels that made it resemble a roman chariot.
The Director climbed up on the generator to better address us. We gathered around attentively while he explained what was to happen next.
It seemed that the only way to get what we had come for was to introduce an electrode into the rhino's rear end, and to deliver a mild electric shock, no more than a few volts, which would be enough to pull his trigger for him.
The Director gave another order and the veterinary surgeon greased something that looked like an acoustic torpedo and which was attached to the generator with sturdy insulated wires. He then went up behind the somnolent beast and thrust it up him to a full arms length, at which the Rhino opened his eyes very wide indeed.
The veterinary and his two assistants now moved into position with a large bucket and assumed expectant expressions. We, the audience, crowded closer so as not to miss a single detail of the drama. The Director still mounted on the generator trailer, nodded to the electrician who threw the switch and chaos reigned. In the subsequent departmental enquiry the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the electrician. It seems that in the heat of the moment his wits had deserted him and instead of connecting up his apparatus to deliver a gentle 5 volts, he had crossed his wires and the Rhino received a full 500 volts up his rear end.
His reaction was spectacular. Four tons of rhinoceros shot six feet straight up in the air. The cage, made of great timber baulks, exploded into its separate pieces and the rhinoceros now very much awake, took off at a gallop.
We, the audience, were no less spritely. We took to the trees with alacrity. This was the only occasion on which I have ever been passed by two journalists half way up a Mopane tree.
From the top branches we beheld an amazing sight, for the chariot was still connected to the Rhinoceros per rectum, and the director of the game department was still mounted upon it, very much like Ben Hur, the charioteer.
As they disappeared from view, the rhinoceros was snorting and blowing like a steam locomotive and the Director was clinging to the front rail of his chariot and howling like the north wind which only encouraged the beast to greater speed.
The story has a happy ending for the following day after the director had returned hurriedly to his office in Salisbury, another male Rhinoceros was captured and caged and this time the electrician got his wiring right.
I can still see the Rhinoceros's expression of surprised gratification as the switch was thrown. You could almost hear him think to himself. "Oh Boy! I didn't think this was going to happen to me for at least another three years".
Tailpiece
A guy is 70 years old and loves to fish. He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, 'Pick me up.' He looked around and couldn't see any one. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, 'Pick me up.'
He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.
The man said, 'Are you talking to me?
' The frog said, 'Yes, I'm talking to you. Pick me up then, kiss me and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!'
The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully and placed it in his front breast pocket.
Then the frog said, 'What, are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.'
He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,
'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.'
With age comes wisdom!