One of Amboseli's up-and-coming prime bulls was killed by poachers the day before yesterday. Winston had just turned 30 in January of this year and was regularly coming into musth. It should have been just the beginning of a successful breeding life but he was cut down for his ivory tusks.

I felt particularly close to Winston because he was one of 14 calves I chose for a special study in 1980. I carried out research on mother-calf bonds and calf development on these calves and so I spent hours with them in the first year of their lives.

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The following is the second half of a TV review that appeared in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/last-nights-t....

There was a two-part review in the Guardian that included another program: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/aug/06/mistresses-natural-wo....

Below is the part relating to "Echo an Unforgettable Elephant":

"Echo An Unforgettable Elephant"

For UK friends and supporters you have a special treat. The final film about Echo, which includes a retrospective of her life and the consequences to her family after her death, will be shown on BBC2 on August 5. In the days previous to this premiere BBC will be showing all the other Echo films. To read more about the schedule and see a preview and interviews go to:
http://www.mikebirkhead.com/Programmes/EchoUnforgettable.html.

US viewers will be able to see the new film on PBS channels on October 17. I will post more information closer to the time.

Two Recent Articles

While I was in the US in May, I did two interviews in California, one for the Santa Ynez Valley Journal and the other for the science section of the Los Angeles Times. They have both now been published and below are the links:

http://www.syvjournal.com/article.php?a=6498

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cynthia-moss-20100625,0,72067...

I flew up to Nairobi from Amboseli this morning. The Park and surrounding areas are looking gorgeous. It is green and lush. The grass is thick and there are new plants I don’t remember seeing before. It is such a contrast to the last six months of 2009.

The EB family is back together after nine months of separation. Echo died in May 2009; Ella and her eight left shortly before or after her death and were not seen for about four months. We have no idea where they went but it must have been an area with some food because when they did return to the Park they had not lost either of their young calves. Elettra’s calf born in 2008 and Emma’s born in 2009 were there. Over 40% of the calves born in this age group died in the other families.

I took a bit of film of Ely a few days after we discovered him (see our note here and click Read more below to see the clip).

I thought you might enjoy seeing some before and after the drought photos. These were taken from the verandah of my tent in late October and in January. What a difference some rain makes. I am always amazed at how resilient African savannahs are. Part of Echo's family, the EBs, are in the after picture.