Blogs

In general in Amboseli calves are born between December and June with a few outliers from July through November. In 2007 only six calves were born in the second half of 2007 with no calves at all born in December which was unusual. It is the third favorite birth month after March and April which have the highest rates.

Pangani Giant Land Snail

The Easter weekend rain chased away the elephants from central Amboseli National Park, but it brought out many other interesting creatures, like the Pangani Giant Land Snail (Achatina megapodus) pictured here. It was about 5:00 PM on Good Friday, and the rain was pelting down. I went out with an umbrella to check on the solar battery bank and surprised this fine specimen who appeared to have been radulating for calcium on some of the elephant lower jaw collection. The Panganis usually only occur south of Kili, but climate change and the heavy rains must be causing a range shift. This is the first one I've seen in Amboseli in nearly 40 years, although Cynthia and Iain Douglas-Hamiliton used to have a pet female in Lake Manyara. They become quite tame, but can play havoc with a small kitchen garden.

Rupi Mangat, an excellent journalist working in Kenya, has published an article on the problems facing Amboseli's elephants. It is on the cover of The East African's magazine section. Rupi interviewed me in Amboseli about 10 days ago.

The East African, 17 March 2008
Amboseli: Dim future for the elephants
By RUPI MANGAT
AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK’S Elephants are probably the world’s most famous. They are not only the longest studied elephants in the wild but also the longest studied wild mammals. Talk about being doubly famous.

There is dancing in the streets, literally, in Kisumu and Mombasa. On Thursday, 28 February 2008, President Mwai Kibaki and Hon. (now Prime Minister) Raila Odinga were bearded for more than five hours in Harambee House by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and current Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete. As a result, they agreed to a power-sharing agreement that was signed that afternoon under the scrutiny of millions of jubilant Kenyans and the world.

I managed to get some photos of Elettra's calf yesterday when she was three days old. Active and strong, she had some trouble figuring out who her mother was among the 33 other members of the family, but she seems to know what she's doing now. Elettra, at only 12 years old, wasn't sure what she was doing herself but she seems to be getting more and more competent each day. The calf is suckling well. The main allomother is Elaine, Edwina's daughter, and she is seen in one of the photos comforting the calf.

One of the great joys of living in this beautiful country is the relative freedom of the skies for aviators (and birds, of course). Join me in a flip over Amboseli.

Instead of disturbing or depressing news from Kenya, I actually have some good news to report. This morning I got word from Amboseli that there is a new baby in Echo's family. Elettra, the 12-year-old daughter of Ella (Echo's sister), gave birth to her first calf last night. It's a female and she seems robust and healthy. Martyn Colbeck, the cameraman who is working on the Animal Planet series we are currently filming, was the one who found her and he has been filming her since early this morning.

Nairobi, 11 February 2008
Philip Mwakio

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Seventeen African countries, including Kenya, have signed a document for the establishment of a coalition to save the elephant.

It was also agreed that a global elephant action plan that will fight illegal killing and trade in ivory be implemented.

By Brandon Keim
January 16, 2008 | 12:57:50 PM

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Hungarian researchers have written a program that explains the meaning of dogs' barks.

The software is still a bit buggy, but it's promising enough to suggest that computers could one day translate not only between humans, but between species.

Click here for some recent news! Have a look at Ushahidi, a Kenyan people-driven website with news and blogs on the situation. On first read, it seems quite balanced and factual. ('Ushahidi', by the way, is Swahili for 'testimony' or 'evidence'.) The site points to other blogs and commentaries from Kenyans and others inside and outside the country. For example, it announces a fund raiser called One Kenya, One Voice that's being held in Boston on 2 February. (And 'vuma' means 'rumble', 'roar', or the sound a distant drum makes.) Where there are voices like these, there is surely hope.