People here talk about animal sightings the way people in Southern California (where I lived before the Tetons) discuss movies.  The featured attraction for the past month is grizzly bears.

A mother grizzly called 399 and her three cubs, 399′s daughter 610 and her three males cubs, and another  grizzly called Blondie, are all stars getting a lot of attention currently. (The rangers here give the bears a number (Jane Goodall, can you please talk to these rangers), once they have sows)). Mommy bear 610 recently sent her cubs off (dependency on mom ends after 2 years with bears), offering additional areas with bear activity matinees for those of us following the grizzlies.

SPRING TIME MEANS WILDLIFE BABIES

It’s early spring and baby everything’s are everywhere.

Fuzzy-haired moose are foraging with mom, young yellowish-brown bison are trying to keep up with the herd.

In the back yard (ranch) of a friends house I watched a pair of fox each catch a rodent. Carrying it through the field, over the stream and under the barb-wire fence, past cows and horses who took no notice, the pair fell out of  view before the pair reached their final destination- the den where I imagine baby’s were waiting.

Birds are everywhere here too.

The bright yellow Western Tanager with the orangey-red head (male) would make anyone (even me) into a birder.

If that species doesn’t do it, the Mountain Blue bird (the color of a cloudless mountain sky) will.

The hummingbirds have arrived also.  I found one lying on the deck (it probably hit the window) in a puddle of water, and thought for sure it was dead. I needed only one finger to lift the emerald green being into my palm. It lay there flat with one wing spread to the side and its beak and throat against my warm skin. I stayed motionless until  it looked up at me as if to say, “I’m ready”. Then, I propped up its head, and felt it’s feet curl around my index finger.  Looking around as one would do after regaining consciousness, I heard the familiar buzzing noise as it flew to a tree branch close by.  Though still wet and shaky, I knew it was determined to go on.

Wildlife sightings are sacred to me. And in places like Africa and the Tetons the odds for experiencing them are in my favor.

What are you seeing in your neighborhood now that spring is here? I l would love to hear from you.

**And now that spring is here, there is no excuse not to do the easiest heath tip you’ve never heard of.

I’m off to watch the grizzlies.

Thank you Tim Mayo for the moose, geese, and blue bird photos.

The post Wildlife Lovers Candy Store appeared first on Africa Inside.

But first I want to tell you, the subscribers and readers of AfricaInside.org, how much I value your time, and appreciate your interest in Africainside.org. Thank you!

OK, now for the two useful resources:

1. The Africa Books page has a brand new look.

   

   Browse our new bookshelves

New titles are always being added, so when you are looking for a new book to read I hope you will check our book shelves. The latest additions are from author Peter Allison who I recently interviewed.  His book, Whatever you Do, Don’t Run is one of my favorite reads.  And don’t forget, if you have favorite African books, we want to hear about them. You can add your favorite titles by commenting at the bottom of the African Books page.
Also, a big Ngorongoro Crater wide thank you! to everyone who is using African Inside’s Amazon link (you can find it on any page of this blog) whenever you purchase through Amazon. A small portion of any purchase you make (using our link) goes to our programs. Thank you! Thank you!

2. Are you, or someone you know, planning an African Safari?

Subscribers to AfricaInside.org can now sign up for a free ‘ask me any safari question’ consultation with Lori.
Get all your Where, When and How African safari questions answered, and turn your dream safari into a reality while saving both hours of research time and lots of money.

Those are the two new resources I hope you’re able to take advantage of, either now or in the future.
And, if you check out the Africa Books page please let me know what you think.
As always,  I Love hearing from you!

The post New Resources for you at AfricaInside.org appeared first on Africa Inside.

The tales of Peter’s African misadventures have been collected in two humorous books – Whatever You Do, Don’t Run, and Don’t Look Behind You!. I’m thrilled that despite Peter’s travel schedule and the fact that he had just returned to Africa from Australia and was “dragging my eyeballs along jet lag’s dusty trail,” Peter agreed to be interviewed for AfricaInside.org.

Labrador retrievers. I was practically raised by two of them, and I think any child that has them in their life and doesn’t grow up loving animals will probably go on to be a serial killer. Or a dentist!

2. What is your favorite animal and why?

Elephants! Along with baboons they are probably the most entertaining animals to watch and I always see some new behavior. Lions on the other hand are usually

asleep when you see them.

3. What is the most dangerous wildlife encounter you’ve had in the bush?

I’ve had encounters with everything from lion to leopard to buffalo and elephant, but the most frightened I’ve been was with an animal I never saw. Late at night by the light of a paraffin lantern I went to my tent to fetch a book. When I came back outside the tent I noticed my footprints in the dust coming towards my room. Over the top of them were lion tracks, so she must have been right behind me. On closer inspection I could see marks where her belly fur had scraped the ground. She’d been stalking me.

4. Where is your favorite place on the planet and why?

I love The Okavango Delta in Botswana with all my heart. I’ve lived on five continents but when I’m in the Delta I feel more at home than I do anywhere else in the world.

5. It’s one of my favorite places as well. I love to go there, and I love helping tourists plan safari’s there. Who were your favorite types of tourists?

Bird-watchers always see the best game because they’re looking for such small detail. They’re the ones who will spot a leopard by the flick of the cat’s tail.

6. My birder father will love that you said that. I wrote a story published in Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana about being with my dad on safari; he wanted to see birds while I was focused on mammals. I know you have two books worth of crazy tourist stories but what was the craziest situation?

These two are not in my books. Members of a women’s rugby team had quite a few gin and tonics and asked to ‘scrum’ against me. My mantra may be ‘whatever you do, don’t run’, but in that instance I decided the best defense was absence, and skedaddled.

Another was a guest who was taking Larium (a potent anti-malarial) mixed with other medications – a poor cocktail. After several attempts we lured him down from the thatched roof of our camp, where he had aimed streams of urine at us while declaring he could beat up an elephant.

7. Ok, those are pretty crazy. How did living in the African bush for almost 10 years inform your life, change you, etc.?

Just being in Africa forced me to review my petty complaints. When I observed the conditions many Africans lived in I realized I was still part of a very lucky few. Living in the bush gave me the best lesson of all though – that I need to work with animals. If not, I go bonkers.

8. What would you tell someone who dreams of working as a safari guide in Africa. How can they turn their dream into a reality?

I get this question a lot! Times have changed since I began in the bush (half a lifetime ago this year), and these days the industry is (thankfully) more regulated and guides have stricter training than working in the bar for six months, then grabbing a land rover, rifle, and startled tourists, and heading into the bush. Reputable organizations such as Eco-training in South Africa and Botswana run guide-accrediting courses. After graduating, the wanna-be guide can tackle the greatest challenge of their career – getting a visa!

9. The stories in your books are told with a self-deprecating sense of humor that reminds me of another one of my favorite laugh-out-loud books, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Where did you get your sense of humor?

Hmm, I’ve never really thought about that. Perhaps it began as a way of reacting to a world that seemed skewed towards cruelty. Given the choice I would far prefer a chortle to snorting into tissues. People I work with would probably say I got my humor from the gutter.

Many years later Peter finally made it to South America, to seek out the continent’s best, weirdest, and wildest adventures, and to chase the elusive jaguar. The result is his most recent publication, How to Walk a Puma.

Currently Peter works for Wilderness Safaris, based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Thank you so much Peter for taking the time, dragging eyeballs and all, to be interviewed for Africa Inside. Check out all three of Peter’s books, and find out what books Peter recommends in our Africa Books section.

The post Whatever You Do, Don’t Run! appeared first on Africa Inside.

Photo: Henry Holdsworth

In pursuing the magnificent tusks, humans have slaughtered elephants in their millions.

After a brief respite following the carnage of the 1970s and ‘80s, which halved the population, elephants are once again under siege. In an attempt to get to grips with the scale of the crisis, science editor for Africa Geographic (I am one of the bloggers for this magazine) Tim Jackson interviewed scientists, researchers, NGOs and policymakers across the conservation and trade spectrum, and wrote this comprehensive article.

I have referenced this on AfricaInside.org because it is one of the most fact filled informative pieces I have found on Elephants.

Let me know what you think?

Featured image from Chris Martin. THANKS CHRIS!

The post Everything Elephant – Understanding the Crisis appeared first on Africa Inside.

China’s new president, Xi Jinping, is on the move.  His first stop, Russia, second Tanzania, then South Africa and the Congo.  Those of you who have followed the ongoing saga of the Serengeti know what this means… As the illicit blood ivory trade to China clearly illustrates, massive new Chinese investment does not bode well for Africa’s wildlife. China is intent on extracting as many resources from Africa as it can. And it doesn’t attach strings to protect natural areas as Western donors often do. The Serengeti, it may turn out, is simply in the way.     A spokesman for the Chinese government said the new  president considers Tanzania a top priority.     In Tanzania this week, China’s president will inaugurate the construction of a new sea port at Bagamoyo. Though small, the port reflects China’s interest in shipping resources from deep inside Africa. China has had a long relationship with Tanzania, which provides an ideal outlet for neighboring landlocked countries. A Tanzanian spokesman said that China will be supporting Tanzania in other projects, including a satellite city and airport. This, he said, will be in addition to a “major highway connecting the port to inland regions of Tanzania as well as neighboring countries.” As we have reported, big plans for transport corridors throughout East Africa have been thrown about for years. But now these are building momentum and coming off drawing boards. The World Heritage Site of Lamu in Kenya is undergoing massive port development. Another new port at Mwambani harbor in Tanzania is expected to be the terminus of a railway to Lake Victoria and Uganda. See: Tanzania and Uganda sign rail pact with Chinese An article in the Tanzanian press last November stated that this transport corridor…   “is expected to pass through the world famous Serengeti National Park, a development which environmentalists had vehemently opposed, arguing that with noisy trains passing through the wildlife sanctuary the ecosystem would be disrupted. This is what had caused the plan to be shelved during the reign of the late President Julius Kambarage Nyerere when the idea was first mooted in the late 80s.”       This clipping in its entirety was taken from Serengeti Watch.      Serengeti Watch is a project of the Earth Island Institute.

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The post Do YOU trust China in East Africa? appeared first on Africa Inside.

This week is a celebration for one elephant and possibly the beginning of re-wilding for many more like her.

Thandora, an African elephant, has lived behind bars with one other elephant at South Africa’s Bloemfontein Zoo for eighteen years.
When her sole (and probably soul) mate died recently, the directors at the zoo decided to return Thandora to a wild place.

This wasn’t an easy undertaking and I’m sure part of the reason releases back to the wild are so rarely attempted.
AfricaInside.org commends everyone involved in this heartwarming endeavor. You are all wildlife heros!

For Thandora to be released back to the wild it would take:

THREE STEPS TO REWILDING A ZOO ELEPHANT

1. Where? Step one entailed finding a suitable place large enough where she can live the second half of her life, have companion elephants who will accept her, and a place she will be safe.

Accomplished: the Gondwana Nature Reserve along the Western Cape’s Garden Route will be Thandora’s new home.

Thandora’s new home as of this week

Re-Wilding Routine

2. Preparation. Thandora’s muscles needed strengthening to be able to do what elephants not in boxes do- walk for miles and forage. She also needed to gain confidence, besides weight, and to be weaned from zoo food to natural forage.

Accomplished: Removed from the zoo in March, Thandora was placed in a holding area or boma at the reserve while the project managers transitioned 23 year old Thandora from captive held to roam-free readiness.

3. Release.

Accomplished: This week the gate to her large closed off section of the reserve was opened and Thandora, reluctantly at first, took her first steps toward the freedom she has been denied since she was first brought to the zoo at the age of five. According to John Vogel, Gondwana Game Reserve’s wildlife manager, “She was initially reluctant to come out of the boma, which we had expected…She is progressing nicely with growing confidence and she has now travelled 2km, and is already browsing and grazing and drinking.”

While exploring the reserve this week, she met the resident elephant cows and their young briefly, but since then has stayed close to the truck following her every move.

For now the vehicle is her herd.

Thandora’s re-wilding progress is being closely monitored by Conservation Global’s research department who hope to publish the results as a model for future captive releases.

The post Thandora the Elephant: From Zoo to Wild appeared first on Africa Inside.