cmoss's blog

I followed the progress of Emily Kate’s oestrus over the next two days. Echo stayed with her the whole time. The biggest male with them was Winston in full musth. He kept close to them but at one point he turned and moved off to go to the swamp. Echo immediately followed him with Emily Kate right behind her. This was a wise move on Echo’s part because it is at such times that the younger, less desirable, males rush in and start chasing the oestrous female. Old, experienced Echo wasn’t going to let that happen.

I flew down to Amboseli on Tuesday, 10 June. The following day I had a report from one of the tour operators that Echo was in oestrus (the time when female elephants are ready to mate with males). I was a little doubtful since Echo is about 60 years old, but it is not unknown for females this old to have calves. Later in the afternoon when I knew the family would be out of the swamp I went out to find them. Some were already out on dry land but Echo was still happily feeding in the swamp. She was separated a bit from the others and only had her youngest calf, Esprit, with her.

Today was the final day of filming for the Animal Planet series. Martyn Colbeck did some last shots of Soila, Norah, Katito and me on the top of Observation Hill in the middle of the Park.

We are sad to have Martyn leave but mostly relieved that the filming is over. It has been intense. We started in early September so it’s been over eight months. There were a few breaks but with two cameramen, Martyn and Mike Cuthbert, some filming was going on nearly every day. However, that intensity paid off because they both got marvellous footage of elephants and people.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm writing this blog on Saturday, January 19. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there was mass action to protest the Kenya elections. Unfortunately, more people were killed. However, yesterday Raila Odinga announced that there would be no more public rallies for now. He has said that ODM will try to get justice in other ways. Mediation efforts are continuing. Kofi Annan will be arriving on Tuesday and along with some other eminent Africans he will try to help Kenya resolve its problems. We are hoping for the best.

I wish I could report that Kenya was peaceful and that the political turmoil has ended, but unfortunately the situation remains very tense. There is far less rioting and protesting but the outcome of the election still remains unresolved in the minds of at least half the Kenyan population. The Chairman of the African Union and President of Ghana, John Kufour, is here trying to mediate between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.

I just flew up to Nairobi yesterday morning after an intense period of filming with Echo and her family. Martyn Colbeck has been filming for two months now and is very pleased with what he has been able to get so far. Mike Birkhead, the producer, visited for four days this week, and was also satisfied that everything was proceeding at the right pace.