Tag: africa

Reconnect With Nature

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Spending time in wildlife reserves is so good for the soul. It allows us the opportunity to reconnect with nature, to catch a glimpse into a wild world we have become so far removed from. It’s an opportunity to quiet your mind. When you’re in nature nothing is guaranteed and nothing is expected. It’s energizing, from the moment you enter a reserve there’s excitement in the air… You keep a look out for any signs of wildlife, looking for fresh tracks along the dusty paths and listening for the calls of wild animals.

There is so much to see. So many directions to venture in. You are surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness and I’m not sure there is anything in life that beats that feeling. Nature is home and sometimes we have to go back to it to realise how vital it is.

I’ve spent a lot of time living in reserves and sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and enjoy the amazing wildlife that share this place we call home. Today I wanted to post some of my favourite photos from past adventures. There’s so much beauty on this planet, there is so much still to save. I know that sometimes news stories are very doom and gloom so todays post is just a little bit of beauty to remind you that there is still so much to fight for.

Spending time in nature is important, a lot of us are disconnected, not only from nature but also from the impact we have on nature in our day to day lives. Everything we do has an impact on the world around us and the natural world needs us to make changes. We need to step up and make better decisions, we need to be more conscious of our choices and know that we can have a positive impact on the planet by making small changes. We live in a time when we can still turn this around so please, tread lightly on this Earth and appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds us.

If you get the opportunity to visit a nature reserve or national park… Please do! You won’t regret it.

Tread lightly on this Earth,

Coexistwithmeg ♥
Megan Richards

Poaching of African Lions

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How’s the future looking for African Lions? Did you know the king of the jungle, the mighty lion, is being wiped out by humans…

African Lion are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Redlist and their population is decreasing. The decline in lion populations has been huge, 100 years ago there were approximately 200,000 individuals and today there’s estimated to be less than 23,000 lions left.

Lions face many threats including:

  • Habitat loss
  • Prey depletion
  • Human-wildlife conflict
  • Illegal trade in body parts for traditional medicines
  • Trophy hunting

Cases of lion poaching have been reported in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

There is no history of lion bone use in traditional medicine in Asia but there is increasing cases of lion bone being used in place of tiger bone as a result of the decline in tigers (around 3,900 individuals remain).

CITES lists African Lion as Appendix II and allow “export for trade in bones, bone pieces, bone products, claws, skeletons, skulls and teeth for commercial purposes, derived from captive breeding operations in South Africa” with annual export quotas established and communicated annually.

In South Africa, there is something called ‘Canned Lion Hunting’ where the captive lions are shot in a fenced area by ‘hunters’. These lions have often been hand-raised by unsuspecting tourists who have paid for the experience of cuddling, taking selfies with and even helping to raise the cubs, thinking they are helping the wildlife in some kind of rehabilitation type of scenario when in fact it is another way for the canned lion industry to make money. Once the lions are older they are hunted within an enclosure. In 2017, an annual quota of 800 lion skeletons from captive-bred lions was approved and in 2018 the figure was nearly doubled to 1,500.

Lion have lost 85% of their historical range. They play a vital role in the ecosystem as they are top predators that dominate their environment and help keep a balance in the number of prey animals. They also help with disease control by taking the weakest members of the herd. Lions have no natural predators.  

How Can You Help Lions?

  • Raise awareness of the plight of lions
  • Do not buy wildlife products. The killing would not happen if the demand was not there.
  • Do not participate in lion petting
  • Support conservation efforts and anti poaching units

Tread lightly on this Earth,

Coexistwithmeg ♥
Megan Richards

Resources and further reading:
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12444
https://www.wwf.org.uk/wildlife/african-lions
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger
http://checklist.cites.org/#/en/search/output_layout=alphabetical&level_of_listing=0&show_synonyms=1&show_author=1&show_english=1&show_spanish=1&show_french=1&scientific_name=Panthera+leo&page=1&per_page=20

Have You Ever Been in Danger?

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I recently did a talk about my conservation journey and raising rhino orphans. After the talk a lady in the audience asked, “Have you ever been in danger…” I immediately thought ‘yes’ but as she continued her question, my answer changed “… as rhinos are so big and powerful, does working closely with them put you in danger?”

I said…

“That’s a great question. Rhinos are very strong and definitely have the ability to cause us harm if they feel it is necessary, for example to defend themselves, but I never felt like I was in danger while working with them. They are generally very gentle and tend to know our limits, especially when you’ve spent time with them and built that bond.

Although I have been nudged and stood on and knocked into the air a few times and ended up with some scrapes and bruises it was never the intention of the rhino to hurt me. To be honest, most of the ‘run-ins’ I had with the rhino orphans have been hunger-related… You know, in the wild they’d nudge their even bigger, even stronger mums when they are hungry but when they nudge us mere humans to tell us they are hungry it’s quite a bit more than a little nudge. That’s the only thing I can think of but it was never really danger.

However, there is another side to your question because when you asked if I had been in danger the first thing that came to my mind was poachers. So, yes, I have been in danger while at the orphanages but not because of the rhinos, because of poachers. The most afraid and at risk I feel I have been has been a result of the potential of poachers coming to attack the orphans for their small horns. There have been times we’ve been told we need to be on high alert because of intel that poachers are targeting us so for me when I think of being in danger it’s the humans that worry me, not the rhinos.”

Rhino sedated for dehorning procedure

Tread lightly on this Earth,

Coexistwithmeg ♥
Megan Richards

Zimbabwe Export Wild-Caught Baby Elephants

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Yesterday saw the export of over 30 wild-caught baby elephants from Zimbabwe, believed to be destined for Chinese zoos. This comes after 37 elephants were held within Hwange National Park capture unit for almost an entire year, it is said that 32 elephants were transported with 5 of them being rejected due to poor health.

The elephant were loaded into crates and transported in extreme temperatures – indicating a lack of concern for their welfare.

Zimbabwe National SPCA has been campaigning against this since the elephants were initially captured, inspecting the elephants when they were initially placed into the capture unit in late 2018 and reporting the animals were severely stressed. On October 15th three ZNSPCA inspectors and an experienced wildlife vet were denied entry into the holding area and 6 further attempts to gain entry were denied despite this being an obstruction of the Zimbabwe Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. *

Zimbabwean activists have desperately tried to prevent the move of the baby elephants. Earlier in the year, Advocates4Earth (previously known as The People and Earth Solidarity Law Network) launched legal action regarding the capture and export of wild-caught infant elephants. They recently demanding the government release the details of the export deal and also contacted lawyers representing Zimbabwe National Parks Authority warning that exporting the elephants before the case has gone before a judge could be in contempt of court.  

The move of the elephants and their future severely lacks transparency and accountability. A full independent investigation should be launched into this cruel trade. Evidence shows that since 2012, over 100 infant elephants have been exported and these elephants have been resold in China to unknown destinations and are now performing in circuses and zoos.

These baby elephants have been condemned to a life in captivity, a life of suffering. How is this still happening? It is devastating. Elephants are social animals, in the wild elephant infants are completely dependent on their mothers for around 5 years and build incredibly strong family bonds.

Please sign this petition calling on the CITES Secretary General Ivonne Higuero for a full independent investigation into China’s dark trade in Live Elephants:
Calling on the CITES Secretary-General to investigate China’s dark trade in elephants

* The act specifically grants an appointed ZNSPCA inspector right of entry upon any premises where he has reasonable grounds to believe that such entry is necessary for the prevention, investigation or detection of any offence in terms of this act.

Tread lightly on this Earth,

Coexistwithmeg ♥
Megan Richards

Sources:
Change
News24
Telegraph
BBC
CNN