Nosey?

Not a great deal of news lately. We have had no fuel for 17 days now and we don’t know when the country will get any. What a way to run a country?
The good news is that one of the scouts saw a wild dog the other day chasing hartebeest. Because I didn’t have any fuel I could not check this out. The other news is that 2 people independently heard lion about 1 km from the main camp while they were out collecting mopany worms. I checked this out on foot but didn’t see any spore. We did come across a herd of elephant which could have been a bit dodgy but we managed to walk around these. People have seen herds of up to 32 elephants lately which is very promising for the park. The most I have seen is 21 which I saw at the lodge a few days ago.
All I have on camera lately is bush buck although the other day I did manage to get the above photo. It is really interesting but I think the elephants play games with the cameras. I have several pictures where the elephant seem to be standing very close to a camera and actually looking into it although the elephants eye is not captured on film its stance suggests this. From what I can tell they have not tried to damage any or remove them the tree but seem to respect them.

Leopard at her kill

Leopard number 2. The monkey people, while looking for their vervets, came across a common duiker that a leopard had recently killed. They informed me so we put up a couple of cameras to see what was around. The leopard came back for her kill and now I have an excellent photo. By comparing the 2 photos of the 2 leopard I have, we can now conclude that there are at least 2 leopard in the park.
I managed to get some fuel yesterday. The whole of the country has been without fuel for over a week now so I can at last move around for a while.
The rains have started now but they are not heavy yet so I can still get around.
There is no other news at the moment but will keep you informed if I get any more developments.

Black mamba, 'what a beauty'

There we were driving along minding our own business when ____ snake, mamba!!!!!
I came to a grinding halt about 15 ft from the snake. He popped his head up showing a small hood, dropped it again and disappeared off in the opposite direction. It appeared to be a very large black mamba, it seemed at least 8 to 10 feet long. He shot through the short grass and up a nearby tree which he proceeded to climb. Up he went and then across and then down so that his body was higher than his head. He looked very plump for a mamba so I imagine he has recently eaten.
This was a chance too good to miss, I have seen several mambas out here but they usually disappear quickly. I grabbed my cameras and proceeded cautiously to within about 15m of the tree and proceeded to take some shots. He even ‘smiled’ at me, as they do? If you know black mamba you know what I mean.
Nothing much else to report other than my camera that the hyena ate has packed up because some bugs got into it and have blocked the sd card slot. (5)

Roan at the Water hole

Cameras turned up this one the other day. Nine Roan at the water hole fairly close to the main camp. Other new pictures include, hippo, water buck, striped cuckoo and a slender mongoose. Not much more news at the moment but keep your eyes open.

ANTIPOACHING BOARD FOR MAIN GATE

I MADE THIS BOARD TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT ANIMAL POACHING IS ALL ABOUT. WIRE SNARES ARE ONLY ONE WAY THE ANIMALS ARE BUTCHERED.I HOPE THIS BOARD SPEEKS FOR ITSELF. IMAGINE THE AGONY THAT THESE ANIMALS SUFFERED. SPREAD THE WORD.

Francolin or ?

Everthing is fine here at the moment. The solar panel is working fine so I have free electricity?

I took this shot the other day but cannot identify iy from my Newmans bird book. Can you help?

Answer to the bat and korhaan question

Thanks to Julio Balona.

Hi Duncan,
Came across your blog and thought I'd answer your question on the bats :
They are Mauritian tomb bats (Taphozous mauritianus) which are rather handsome and interesting creatures and one of my favourite species. You have most likely seen them moving rapidly sideways like a crab which is characteristic.
Another unusual feature is their habit of roosting openly on a surface. Most bats prefer to hid inside dark caves and crevices but this species relies on it's camouflage while sitting on a tree trunk in the wild. They seem to be constantly alert and one wonders when they sleep. If approached too closely they will scuttle around to the other side of the trunk, out of view. In the urban environment they have taken to roosting on the walls under the eaves of houses, and seem to favour brick walls especially.
They are fast fliers and apparently mainly feed on moths.
The name tomb bat came about for historical reasons rather than their behaviour. The first bat in this family was discovered roosting in tombs in Egypt and was therefore called the Egyptian tomb bat. All bats in this family were subsequently known as tomb bats, although members such as the Mauritian tomb bat do not roost in tombs. However the first part of the name is accurate since they do also occur in Mauritius and this probably where they were first encountered by early zoologists.
As far as I know the adult males and females occur separately. Therefore if there is a pair it is most likely a mother and juvenile daughter/son.There is probably a lone male roosting somewhere else in your area.
Yet another interesting aspect is the movements of these bats. In South Africa at least, in many areas they are known to show up in summer, stay for a few months and then disappear. Where they go nobody is really sure. I'm guessing they move north where the winter is more mild.
Regarding the bird :
My bat knowledge is far better than my birds but I'm guessing it's a Red crested knorhaan (btw note spelling).
Keep up the good work,
Julio Balona
Gauteng & Northern Regions Bat Interest Group http://www.batsgauteng.org.za/

Bats and korhaan

All is quiet at the moment on the camera front.

We had a team from Wildlife college in South Africa here last week and they recorded an interview with me about the project and this was braodcast during the week on SABC to all of South Africa and this has raised some interest in the project. Thanks to the team from Team Toyota South Africa, the food and support you gave me was great.

A have a couple of pictures that I need help with, one a couple of bats that look like the pretiest bats I've ever seen and a Koorhan. I dont know what types they are.

Found some leopard tracks and scat the other day and initially thought they were Cheetah however I came to the conclusion that they were the hind foot and not the fore foot. It looks like he had been eating a duiker as there were some small hooves in the scat. OW!

Any way tell all of your mates to check out my blog and if any of them have a rich daddy that would like to help the project a bit get them to contact me.

Hyenas 1- Duncan 0

Hyenas 1 - Duncan 5

Oh well it had to happen, I just hope not too often. I used to have 6 cameras, I now have 5.
I put the cameras out last night as usual and on inspection found one missing. It wasn’t the children or poachers but on inspection the only spoor in the area were mine and a hyena. The camera had been torn from its cord and was now missing. I had a quick search of the area and found nothing however when I returned I decided to follow the hyena tracks along the road and where they finished concentrated my search in the bush there. Luckily and to my surprise we found the camera and believe it or not it was still working and intact, except for half of the front cover. I took it back to base and downloaded the images. It looks a si-fi ish. The inside of a hyenas mouth is quite scary but you can’t see too much details because the Infra red flash makes it very bright.
Well done to Bushnells for making such a robust camera, it still works but I don’t think it will be water tight.
Keep looking at my blog and pass details onto your friends.

Leopard at last

Cameras
I have been placing the cameras around the main Lifupa camp for the past few days. It is actually quite exciting but also disappointing on occasions when things don’t turn up as you would like.
To date they have captured: bush buck (male and females) elephant, buffalo, hyena, bush pig, civet, large spotted genet, common duiker and at last a leopard. The elephant are quite interesting as they show their relative sizes. Some you can see right under their bellies and yes I have been chased by a large elephant the other day. It was lucky I was in the land rover.
I have started making up data sheets and will be recording any distinguishing marks on the large carnivores. This leopard has some patterns on the rear right leg and right hand rear flank. I think by the size of its head that it is a female but you may correct me if you think differently.

Solar panel

Hot water
Next to the house is an old solar water heating system and nobody here can ever remember it working. It may be for as long as 20 years, but quess what? For a sum of around 5000Mk I have a sustainable supply of hot water for the house. People are amazed and now call me the scientist.
Considering this is a national park a lot of the staff and their families do not seem to use their brains. There is always litter in the bush, plastic bags etc, they constantly run out of water in their houses because they put their buckets under the tap and leave it running for an hour, then moan about when they have no more water?
I am going to try and change their attitudes towards both of these issues but I think it will be an uphill struggle. I’ll let you know how I get on.
I have a lady in the compound that that makes fresh bread so that is quite a relief. It saves me having to eat week old bread for lunch.

Cave paintings and iron kiln

Kasungu National Park Cave (paintings and iron kiln)
The park is known for a cave painting in the northern mountains around Miondwe. The cave is set in the side of one of the hills and has a couple of cave paintings. Not being an expert on cave paintings all they appear to be are a series of parallel lines in red. There are no humans or animals depicted. These are very quickly being eroded away and some say it is the Zambian poachers that are doing this deliberately. The less tourists that come to see them means the easier it is for the poachers to poach without being caught.
To get to the paintings it is a 2 hour drive from Lifupa main camp and the iron kiln is around 1.5 hours drive.
Close by to the paintings is the last remaining intact iron smelting kiln. This used to be protected by a fence many years ago but has long disappeared. This kiln is around 2 meters tall and about 1m in diameter. The exact age is unknown but believed to be used before the park was declared a park around 100 years.
The area around the mountains is quite unusual for this part of Malawi and quite beautiful. Most of the animals around here have all been taken by poachers so don’t expect to see anything in this area.

Kasungu National Park

I am having problems with usual e-mail address so if you need to contact me try, duncanyearley1@googlemail.com

I am now back in Kasungu National Park and have started to use the cameras in the bush.
The only results so far are; bush buck, bush pig, civet.
I have carried out several transects in the bush and have come across a surprisingly large amount of wildlife including elephants, 30+ buffalo, kudu, 9 roan which were grouped with 5 zebra plus the usual reed buck, puku and dyker. Birds include red crested koorhan and marshal eagle.
The most exciting find from my point of view was a large 3m black mamba which was sunning its self on the track in front of the vehicle. I was too slow in getting my camera out as it was an exceptional specimen.
The land rover is going ok but will need a good service soon.
I have been talking to the school head master in the park with regards to starting up a wildlife club for the youngsters. My aim here is to educate the park staff on good management of the park with regards to litter and the inefficient use of water as well as to try and stop them washing their cloths in the rivers.

Back to Africa

I have returned to Africa and have spent a few days in South Africa and Swaziland enjoying the animals and catching up with a few friends. I managed to get some excellent footage of lion, rhino and elephant in the Kruger and some good shots of hippo and crocodile in Swaziland.
While in Hluhluwe I tested out my cameras with limited success. I managed to capture images of hyena, white tailed mongoose, nyala, bush buck and a domestic cat that nobody knew about.
I am now back in Malawi and have been sorting things out with the Department of National parks and wildlife regarding my future in Malawi. They have agreed to let me use one of their houses in Kasungu National park for the use of volunteers and as a centre for me to carry out my photographic pilot study of the wild life in the parks. I am working on the MOU and hope this will secure my future out here for a while.
The wild dogs have been seen again in Kasungu so it looks like they might be a resident pack which is good news for me but bad news for them as the poaching of wildlife is still at a high level at present.
There are several wild lions roaming around in the north of the country and they are eating cattle and this has lead to the parks department sending out their hunters to take care of the problem. This is such a tragedy as Malawi only has a few lion left and it looks as though several of these are going to be shot. What I would like to do is set up a capture and release program for such incidents as this but nobody seems to have any money to donate to the project which might help in a situation such as this.
I have at last purchased an old land rover for me use in the bush so this will hopefully give me a bit more freedom. It is an old 1996 Defender 90, white and needs a bit of tender love and care.
I am going to try and arrange for a couple of the big volunteers companies in England to send me out some eco-volunteers and this will hopefully help pay for my project and help save things like the lions in the future.If anyone out there knows of anyone one wishing to spend a few weeks in the African bush helping conservation get them to contact me and we can make a plan.

Swaziland

Swaziland- Flew into Johannesburg and stayed the night before driving down to Swaziland and Millwane. Enjoyed 2 nights there and caught up with a few old faces. Tried out my video camera and took some good shots of hippo and croc. Especially pleased with close up of 3m croc attacking a terrapin.
I am now in Hluhluwe research camp, again catching up with a few old friends. Several white rhino and a few elephants roaming around today.
Tried out a couple of my camera traps but did not catch any wildlife. Will try again tonight.

Back to Malawi

My time back in the UK is nearly over now and I am returning to South Africa for a few weeks and then onto Malawi where I will continue with my project looking for the carnivores. I will be in Hluhluwe for a few days with the research team trying to learn as much as possible about the Carnivores and will then travel up through Swaziland and the Krugar for a few days before flying back up to Malawi.
I have written to many organisations trying to get some funding for my project but have not had any firm offers yet although there are a few organisations that are interested and very supportive. The future does look promising. My thanks goes to those organisations that replied to my letters and in particular to Australia Zoo (Steve Erwins group) and the David Sheldrake trust for their support.
I will taking 6 motion sensor cameras with me and hope to use these to survey the wildlife in the parks to see what is actually out there especially at night. I will keep the web site up dated with my findings. As you can imagine it is not safe to walk around at night when looking lion and leopard so hopefully the cameras will pick up animals that not many people see.

My Africa CV so far

A passionate and enthusiastic individual who loves Africa and its wildlife who has a well developed practical awareness of the different cultures and conservation issues. Has travelled extensively in Africa and has experience of being a volunteer on several conservation projects, working on own initiative as a leader or part of a team to achieve demanding goals in extreme, testing situations. Is a flexible and experienced multi-skilled maintenance engineer and technical trainer.

EXPERIENCE PROFILE

Volunteer experience - Botswana. Cheetah Botswana at Mokolodi. January 2005

· Assisting vet in minor operations including ‘work up’ on young cheetah
· Vehicle maintenance. Maintenance of cars since the age of 12.
· Building and maintenance of animal pens and camp site
· Radio tracking of collared Cheetah at Jwana
· Feeding and care of Cheetah in captivity
· Mapping of game park and use of GPS.
· Education of local farmers on stock management.

ECO training and FGASA level 1 (Karongwi) August 2006.

4 weeks training in the bush to be field guide. Karongwi is a big 5 game reserve.
Subjects covered included, game walks, 4x4 driving, field guiding, animal identification, tracking, ecology, trees, plants, grasses, geology, weather, insects, reptiles, fire arms handling, navigation, astronomy.

KERI research on big 5 game reserve. September 2006.

4 weeks monitoring and tracking the big 5 in a 10,000 Hectare game reserve.
This comprised of going out twice per day and radio tracking all the collared animals in the reserve, which included lion, cheetah, elephant and hyena. Data collection on the animals included GPS, condition, and locations of other animals. This data was then entered onto the computer for data analysis using ARC view GIS and Datalinx. This determines the home ranges and territories of the animals.

Rhino Rescue (Swaziland) November 2006.

5 weeks working as game ranger//scout at Mkhaya game reserve in Swaziland.
This included tracking and monitoring both black and white Rhino whilst on foot. Approaching and identifying each animal and assessing their condition.
Carrying out anti poaching patrols and snare sweeps.
Building of bomas for capture and culling of impala and also for live capture of Zebra, Impala and Nyala.
Capture of female Rhino for medical attention.
Living rough in the bush.

Reptile project Swaziland. December 2006.

3 weeks at Mlilwane to identify species of reptiles in the park.
Included capture and release of Boomslang and night adder.



Manzini Youth Care December/January 2006/2007 (7 weeks)

· Helped 130 street boys in Manzini (Swaziland) over the Christmas period. My idea was to educate the boys in conservation and ecology. Took several boys on several walks and identified many species of birds. Identified opportunities for boys to make and sell pictures of birds in local craft market.

PADI open water course Feb 2007.

· Qualified as PADI open water diver at Sodwana Bay South Africa.

Vegetation point survey at Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Feb 2007.

· Helped to re-establish photographic point survey of the vegetation in the reserve.
· Call up on lioness to remove radio collar.

African Impact Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, Hwange and Matopas. March, April and May 2007.

1 week bush survival course.
Walking with lions. (Victoria Falls)
Training in animal tracking.
Water quality, pan depth and area surveys.
Trained to supervise snare sweeps and anti poaching patrols.
Boundary checks.
Trained in carnivore spoor transects.
Chilly project.
Red Cross child feeding program.
Vegetation survey.

Painted dog conservation Zimbabwe. Hwange May 2007.

Radio tracking of painted dogs.
Anti poaching patrols.
Kill site vegetation survey.

Wildlife Action Group (Malawi) August/October 2007.

Training local scouts in field guiding course. Assessed needs, designed course and implemented training and testing in Thuma Forest Reserve.
Carried out security survey of wildlife parks and reserves in southern and midlands of Malawi.
Helped WAG management to monitor local community activities. (Lodge site and design, bee keeping, chillies and renewable charcoal projects)

Large Carnivore Conservation Project (Malawi) October 2007/March 2008

Wrote project and gained financial support from MEET (Malawi Environment Endowment Trust) to look for large carnivores including painted dog and lion.
Monitored mammal population in Kasungu National Park with support from the Department of Parks and Wildlife and reported to department.
Carried out animal count with WESM.
Communications with local villages.
Anti- poaching patrols.


Baboon Release Program (Born Free Foundation and Lilongwe Wildlife Centre Malawi) October 2008/January 2009

· Planned, built and ran bush camp for 6 staff in Kasungu National park.
· Set standards, established budgets and trained staff in camp duties including basic bush awareness and use of GPS.
· Helped build release cages for baboons.
· Trained researcher with her duties.

· Travel Experience. Extensive coverage of the world while in the merchant navy. 3 overland trips to Africa

Trip 1. September 2001 21 days.
Kenya/Tanzania adventure.
Nairobi - Nakuru - Navasha - Lake Victoria - Serengeti - Ngorogoro crater - Kilamangiro - Zanzibar
Trip 2. August/September 2002 5 weeks.
As above. Plus Malawi - Lake Malawi - Zomba Plateau - Lilongwi - Lusaka - Kariba - Livingstone - Victoria Falls.
Trip 3. December/ January 2004/2005.
Zambia - Botswana - Namibia - South Africa.
Livingstone - Chobe - Okovanga Delta - Etosha - Skeleton Coast - Swakamond - Stelanbosch - Cape Town - Garden Route.

Practical skills
Very experienced in DIY including car maintenance, building work, electrical work and plumbing.

Trainer Experienced industrial trainer who implemented a factory wide strategy to increase operators and technicians skills by identify training needs, writing of training manuals and delivered training to over 400 personnel.

Team leading
Managed several teams of up to 60 personnel both in training and maintenance roles.

Career History
Mars Confectionery (Feb 1978 to July 2006)
Various jobs including maintenance engineer, training manager and operations manager.

Vanroy Pumps Ltd.
Pump Installation Engineer. Feb 77 - Feb 78

Royal Fleet Auxiliary (Merchant Navy)
Engineering Officer Sept 71 - Feb 77

Qualifications and Training

HND Mechanical Engineering (Marine Biased) Poplar Technical College. 1971 - 1975
HNC in Production Engineering Polytechnic of West London. 1990 - 1991
City and Guilds Part 11 Certificate in Electrical and Electronic craft studies in 4 components.
City and Guilds Steam plant maintenance.
Plus many other job related courses,

Leadership Skills
Influencing Skills course. Training for Trainers, Presentation Skills, Integro, 7 habits of highly effective people, Effective Communication, and Persuasive Communication. Continuous Improvements Techniques, Report Writing, Asset management, Cost Control. LEAN manufacturing and various job related courses.
Helping with local boy scout group for last 15 years. Neighbourhood watch coordinator.

Computer literacy.
Trained in word processing, spread sheets, powerpoint and most desk top packages as well as many industrial computers.
Personal Details
Date of Birth 22 September 1954
Marital Status Single
Children 2 sons, Thomas and Kevin ages 27 and 24.
Interests Nature and the environment, DIY, gardening, cycling, gym, scout association of GB.

Fund Raising continues

Now that the web site is live I am now concentrating on fund raising. I have sent off loads of letters and have some interest from a couple of possible donors.

Fund Raising

I have returned to the UK to try and raise some much needed funds for my project to conserve the carnivores in Malawi. So far all of the cost for the project over the last few years has come out of my own pocket and now that I have found wild dogs in Malawi I want to step up the project to a new level.
I have just purchased 6 motion sensor cameras to help me survey the wildlife in the national park. This has just cost about $1500. Setting up of this web site, although cheap, is excellent but it has still cost me a lot of money.
If anyone would like to help the project by raising money or by just donating money this can be done through the links on my web site.