IF YOU LIKE CARNIVORES?

IF YOU LIKE CARNIVORES THEN YOU WILL LIKE THESE. I THINK THE LEOPARD WAS CARRYING A SNARE.

ALIVE AND KICKING

Most of the news we have recently about the rhinos show dead and mutilated animals. I thought it would be nice to show a couple of healthy examples. Well over 400 rhino have been poached this year already but in Hluhluwe they have a new helicopter keeping a close eye on things. So look out poachers!

I have been in Swaziland for a few days and I am now in Hluhluwe again and have seen the wild dogs, elephants, rhino and many other animals. I am returning to Swaziland again tomorrow and then on to the Kruger again for a few days before returning to Malawi.

KRUGER

WISH YOU WERE HERE!

LIONS, LEOPARDS, WILD DOGS AND MAGNIFICENT ELEPHANTS 

LEAVING FOR SOUTH AFRICA

I am flying out to South Africa today to have a break and spend a few days in the Kruger, Hluhluwe and Swaziland. I am hoping to see loads of wildlife and hope there are still some rhino left. Hluhluwe has some of the best rhino in all of Africa.

As usual I have not had much success raising any funds for the brave scouts of Kasungu but will see if I can do better in SA. I am looking for boots, rucksacks and water proofs for the scouts. If anyone knows of a cheap way to get these items from the UK please let me know. DHL is around £150 for 10kg. That is more than the items are worth.

ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS

ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE SCOUTS IN KASUNGU NP. THE CONFISCATION OF THIS GUN, JUST LIKE THE OTHERS, WILL LEAD TO THE SAVING OF MANY ANIMALS LIVES.

YOU MUST HELP THESE BRAVE DEDICATED SCOUTS BY DONATING FUNDS FOR MORE EQUIPMENT LIKE FUEL, BOOTS, RUCKSACKS AND WATER PROOF CLOTHING.

SOME OF THE OTHER ANIMALS WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE

I TOOK THESE 4 PICTURES TODAY. THE KUDU, ZEBRA AND HARTEBEEST WERE ALL WITHIN 100m OF EACH OTHER. THERE WERE 7 HARTEBEEST, 5 KUDU AND 6 ZEBRA.

 MALE HIPPO IN HIS FAVOURITE WALLOW AWAY FROM THE WIVES AND KIDS

 LICHTENSTEIN S HARTEBEEST WITH CRAWSHAYS ZEBRA. YOU WILL NOT FIND THESE 2 SPECIES IN MANY PLACES IN AFRICA LET ALONE SHARING THE SAME DAMBO.

THE CRAWSHAYS ZEBRA HAS NO SHADOW AND ITS STRIPES GO ALL THE WAY DOWN ITS LEGS. IT HAS A CHESTNUT BROWN MUZZLE. 

 MALE PUKU

LICHTENSTEIN S HARTEBEEST AND 2 YOUNG AND 2 FEMALE KUDU

LAST NIGHT ANOTHER MUZZLE LOADER CONFISCATED

Last night as I was writing my report on the guns that had been confiscated the scouts were in the bush on patrol and managed to chase poachers and confiscate yet another muzzle loader. Yet again their brave work has lead to another very dangerous weapon being taken from the park which will lead to the lives of many animals being saved.

A gun like this one was meant to kill elephants.

We know how shot guns work and they usually carry relatively small shot and are used to kill small game however a gun like this with a 20mm bore carries a much deadlier shot. The muzzle loaders are home made from pieces of pipe and use a variety of mechanisms to fire the gun. Match heads are ground and used as gunpowder and a homemade bullet is manufactured from sheet metal. Time means nothing to the poacher so their approach to killing an elephant is often not to kill it outright but to shoot through the softer skin into the lungs or other internal organs. The elephant is badly wounded and followed until it either dies or cannot move any more, it is then finished off usually in an inhumane way. Tusks and trunk are removed first and then meat from its back. Because there are usually only a couple of poachers they can only carry a small amount of meat so the rest of the elephant is left in the bush to rot.

So now you know some of the truths about poaching. Help me to help the scouts to drive this out and help save an elephant today.

MORE GUNS CONFISCATED FROM POACHERS

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO CONFISCATE MORE GUNS AND CAPTURE MORE POACHERS TO PREVENT THE SLAUGHTER OF WILDLIFE THROUGHOUT AFRICA

DONATE NOW

 These five guns have recently been confiscated from poachers in the park. One poacher was arrested and prosecuted.

 These are guns that have already been confiscated from poachers over the years. Imagine how many animals these have killed but due to the hard work of the scouts that put their lives on the line to save the wildlife none of these guns will be used to kill again.

CIVET

I have been back in the park for a couple of weeks now and my future is still not decided. I have support from many groups and have finance for my project so I am just waiting for a result.

This civet above is a regular visitor to my house and comes at all hours of the night. Other animals to visit the house are the genet, hippo and bush pigs.

The elephants are slowly starting to return to the dam and a few turn up nearly every day now. Birds have also started to return and there are black stork, yellow billed stork, yellow billed duck and spur winged geese.

The land rover is running fine after I rebuilt the engine and I have just fitted a new hand brake cable and prop shaft.

£5 TO FEED THESE 30 CHILDREN FOR 1 DAY

I bought a bag of maze for around `£5 in town and gave it these 30 children who live at the dormitory in Kasungu National park. Some are as young as 5 and have to fend for themselves most of the time. Their families live away in the park and are scouts protecting the park from poachers and encroachment. Regular supplies of food will mean they do not have to fish illegally in the park.
They have no mosquito nets and the dorm rooms have no glass in the windows which means if one get malaria they all get.
Please help me to help them.

3 weeks until project shuts down!

I have been working for 5 years in Kasungu National park in Malawi trying to conserve the wild dogs there. I am now being told I have to leave the park unless I can come up with substantial funding for the project. I have 3 weeks left before I have to leave. These are the only recorded dogs in the whole country and need your help now. Can you help in any way? I spend in the region of $20000 of my own money each year on this project and now need a co-sponsor to help me out. Once I leave the park it will be almost impossible to return. $10000 is all I need in kind. What are 2 packs of dogs worth??

BACK IN MALAWI

I arrived back in Malawi on time and will be staying in Lilongwe until I have sorted out the land rover. I have it running again as it was sitting unused for about 6 months and I have refitted the turbo and injectors that I had checked out in the UK. Oh Boy, it is still burning a lot of oil but I hope to cure that with the spares I bought in the UK. 

I am not sure when I will return to the game park but hope it will be soon.

There have been a few changes since I left, the biggest being the devaluation of the Kwacha. It has helped a bit but all it really means is that the prices have gone up by an equivalent amount. 

Fuel is now readily available every where and at about £1 per litre which is not too bad, however items like bread has doubled in price.

I have had some meetings with people out here and there might be some interesting opportunities for me in the near future. We will have to wait and see.

I hope you like the picture.

Come and join me!

 I am getting ready for my return to Kasungu. No luck in raising funds for the anti poaching patrols or for the security of the wild dogs and elephants.

Hopefully the land rover will not be too much of an issue and that the spares I have purchased will fit and sort out the smokey engine.

By now the wildlife and bird life will be returning to the dam.

Many animals exist in Kasungu that you will struggle to see anywhere else in Africa. Sable, roan, Lichtenstein hartebeeste and puku can all be found in good numbers. 

Bird life is also very special. Earlier this year the osprey were fighting with the fish eagles for the fishing rights in the dam. At least 8 different types of duck turn up along 7 type of heron. As for the LBJ's, well this is Africa.

These hippo often end up in my garden eating the grass.

CAMERA TRAPS

My thanks go to The African Lion and Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) and David Youldon for supplying the project with 2 Bushnells camera traps and 3 Lumix digital cameras for use in the park survey and anti poaching initiative taking place in Kasungu NP. For details of their work in Africa please see web site below.
www.lionalert.org

My return to Malawi

No luck with raising funds for the project so I have decided to return to Malawi anyway and get on with the survey and anti-poaching as best as I can with limited resources. I have booked my flight for the end of August when the weather is getting hot. The prices of flights are very high due to the summer holidays and Olympics.

I have the spares for the land rover and hope they fix the issues I have with a smoky engine. If not I am in trouble.

The project will continue with the emphasis on continuing with the survey to see what wildlife is around and to continue with the anti poaching initiative which I set up last year.

Poaching and encroachment are still a real issue in the park and if anyone has any ideas of how I can raise money to help save the lives of the wildlife and future of the park please let me know before it is too late.

PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS

Hi, as you can see this blog gets quite a few hits but nobody comments on its content. So that I can improve this site can you please let me know what you think.

HOW CAN YOU HELP

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP

• Do you know anyone from Land rover, Toyota, Ford or Nissan that might be able to sponsor a vehicle or its spares parts?
• Fuel supplies needed.
• Sponsor a scout. The scouts need equipment like boots, water proofs, tents and other equipment. $50 will help to ensure one is fully equipped.
• Passive infra red cameras needed for wildlife survey. `$300 each.
• Cheap digital cameras.
• Second hand lap top computers.
• Postage cost of equipment from the UK to Malawi.
• GPS hand held units. $200 each.
• Solar panels and control systems.
• Training equipment. Books, pens and pencils.

TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THIS

PLEASE HELP TO STOP THIS POACHING. ANIMALS LIKE THE BIG CATS AND WILD DOGS ARE NOT EATEN AND ARE KILLED IN THIS HIDEOUS MANOR.

HELP NEEDED TO SAVE THE DOGS

HELP IS NEEDED TO SAVE THE PAINTED DOGS OF KASUNGU. POACHING IN KASUNGU NP IS STILL NOT UNDER CONTROL AND WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SAVE ALL OF THE WILD LIFE BY MAKING A STEP CHANGE IN THE ANTI POACHING EFFORTS. HOWEVER WE DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO ENABLE US TO DO THIS EFFECTIVELY. TO DONATE PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA E-MAIL.
POACHERS ARE USING HOME MADE GUNS AND SNARES TO INDISCRIMINANTLY KILL THE WILDLIFE.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

WELL DONE AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I would like to thank all of those dedicated people who contributed to the very successful jazz night held on behalf of the wild dogs of Kasungu NP. The money raised will be spent on conservation of the dogs of Kasungu NP.
My thanks go especially to Christina Jackson, Josefine Domargard, Elizabeth Heyes and Felix Jere of the band. Lindsey Macdonald and Paul Taylor of WESM and all the other supporters that contributed raffle prizes and other gifts, Act to Protect, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre and Blantryre Sports club.   

        

CHRISTINA JACKSON

and her band in concert

Blantyre Sports Club

Saturday 5 May

6.30pm for 7pm

Sunday 6 May

2.30pm for 3pm

“A heady cocktail of French love songs,

Folk/Country Ballads, Jazz and Swing”

Featuring Josefine Domargard on piano, Elizabeth Heyes on violin

and Felix Jere on bass  

Tickets K2000 from WESM Blantyre (0166 9249 or 099 520 6048,

Crystals Florists or Blantyre Sports Club.)  A range of refreshments available from Blantyre Sports Club

100% of proceeds for the conservation of the rare and threatened

African Wild Dog in Kasungu National Park

 “Great show, smooth gig with an interesting French twist. Christina is a must hear and see”

Mark Jones, BBC Radio

BACK IN THE UK

Hi, I am back in the UK for a while and will be trying to raise funds for the dogs. If you have any ideas of who has money to donate please let me know.
I had a really good time in the Kruger and Hluhluwe with some excellent encounters with the elephants. The news regarding the rhino poaching is devastating and those responsible need much harsher sentences.

AND IT ONLY COST THE POACHER £1 FOR THE BULLET!

FROM THIS TO
THIS!!

Where have all the flowers gone?

The elephants took a fancy to the plants in the managers garden.

MORE GUNS CONFISCATED!

February has been very quiet so far. I am now over my Malaria and all seems well.

Last week we had many elephants around the lodge which is always exciting especially at night. All you hear is the braking of branches, heavy breathing, farting and the occasional trumpet. They came very close to the chalets and houses so you had to be careful. It has been known for people to walk into an elephant at night.

20 plus dogs were seen near the Lower Lingadzi but no photos were taken. If anyone wants to donate digital cameras to the scouts the would help greatly with recording of the wildlife.

There have been a few kudu at the dam but not a lot else.

The anti poaching initiative seems to be going well and the amount of arrests and guns has reduced significantly. Only 4 guns have been confiscated so far in January and February. These are very cleverly designed and one day when I get time I will study their design to see how they all work.

We are forming an alliance of all interested parties who want to help develop Kasungu NP and so far the meetings have gone well. Its looks like there are several groups which will help and their ideas and ideology are inspiring to me.

A member of WESM from Blantyre is going to arrange for a classical music evening in Blantyre and all funds will come to my project which will be a great help. Please support this if you can.

I am back in Lilongwe at the moment and will be leaving for South Africa, Kruger, Swaziland and Hluhluwe for a bit of a break before I return to the UK for a while.

Some of the guns and ivory confiscated over the past 2 months

We now have a reward system running which is designed to motivate the scouts in catching poachers in the National Park. Below are some of the guns and ivory confiscated over the past 2 months in the park.
All is fairly quiet at the moment because the park is very wet and the grass is growing taller so it is much more difficult for the poachers to operate.

If you would like to help with the reward system and donate some much needed funds please contact me on my e-mail.

Although some of these are shotguns some are well capable of killing an elephant. There is even an old Greener shotgun.

The dogs are still active and although I have not seen them this year I have reports from people at the main camp that they have been chasing the bush buck and duiker.

Have you ever been glad you had Malaria?

I am now in Lilongwe staying at a friend’s house where I have been for the last 2 nights. Last week I was feeling rough (light fever) so kept checking my temperature with no real reason for concern. On Tuesday night I carried out a do it yourself Malaria test which proved to be negative. Wednesday passed by like Tuesday, but feeling no better I decided to use the last of my emergency fuel to drive to Kasungu for more tests. I arrived at the hospital and because I was a paying patient I was seen immediately. The blood tests proved negative again.

‘Oh dear’ I hope it’s not sleeping sickness again. Could Kasungu do these tests? No.

I drove the 2 hours to Lilongwe were I booked into the ABC clinic where they carried out bloods test again. They diagnosed level 3 plus Malaria. WAS I RELEAVED? The doctor told me that if I had left one more day I would have lucky to crawl into the hospital let alone walk into it.

I have never been so relieved to know that I have Malaria. The alternative was probably sleeping sickness which having had it before I knew was much worse.

I was admitted to a private room, excellent, and plugged into a quinine drip for 24 hours (4 doses). They tested my bloods again and the result was now level 2 plus Malaria which was seen as a good result. I was discharged from the hospital and given Coartem 20/120 which consists of Artemether Lumefantrine commonly known as LAR. This kills the rest of the parasites and clears the body of the stuff left over in your blood. (sorry, not very technical)

The first night I still had quite bad aches and felt tired all day but last night it didn’t seem too bad and I managed to get some good sleep but still had a fever and the sweats.

They say I must eat! It’s a bit like a hangover in that respect. You know you must eat something but you think as soon as do you will sick it back up again. Anyway I forced myself to eat something every time I have to have the drugs. Coco cola is meant to be very good for your stomach so I have plenty of that as well as a milky orange juice that lines your stomach so that you don’t get ulcers.

So things are going well at the moment and ill keep the blog updated.

OH! Mangoes are in season at the moment so I hope to eat loads of them as well.

As for the project and Kasungu NP, things are very much the same as usual. The main and everlasting problem here is fuel. I have only managed to fill the twice in the last 8 months and even the government vehicles struggle to get fuel. They are charging their workers to go shopping and they have to buy the fuel from the black market. Some of this is dosed with paraffin or water and this in turn damages the engine. Food etc. seems to be coming into the country as the whole salers have found their own way of getting supplies of fuel.

During October and November the department confiscated about 20 fire arms and arrested 20 gun poachers which they trying to prosecute. I am trying to find the funds to set up a sustainable reward system to give the scouts a bonus if they catch and prosecute the poachers. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen. The first bill should be ready soon.

Most of the animals and birds have dispersed back into the woodland now so the main animals to be seen daily are the hippos and puku. The grysbok and duiker are still around my house and it is good to see them from time to time. We saw 18 elephants about a week ago and they seemed quite peaceful and quiet.