Category: Africa

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Elephant death mystery solved, but no nearer to a solution

In Zimbabwe, elephants started dropping dead, no-one knew why. This has now been solved, but were not any nearer to ending the problem, and now its spreading.

It is unfortunately a fact, that in the majority of instances, sudden deaths from an unknown illness are impossible to prevent until we know more.

In total, 300 died in Botswana with another 35 dying in Zimbabwe just 2 months later. 50 more elephants have died since in Botswana.

It turns out that these animals have fallen as a result of an obscure bacteria, and scientists are concerned that it could spread to other species.

Should something similar happen amongst, say the lions of an area, we could quickly see all the lions die.

It took 3 years but a wildlife veterinarian at the Victoria Falls wildlife trust has worked out what happened. Although initially thinking it was anthrax, it was spreading in a strange way, and killing to many animals.

It turns out that a bacteria called Pasteurella Bisgaard taxon 45 was responsible. It is relatively rare, and had not been known to kill elephants. Unfortunately, in previous heatwaves, similar issues have been known to jump the species barrier and kill large numbers of antelope – particular during a heat wave. This bacteria caused blood poisoning, and mostly killed recently weaned young, which are generally weaker anyway.

It is unfortunate that outbreaks like this are so easily linked to high temperatures, as our behaviour means that these high temperatures occur more often – so deaths like this may become a way of life. Given the slow rate of reproduction in elephants, this could threaten populations if not dealt with rapidly.

The same bacteria is thought to have been responsible for 200,000 saiga antelope dying on the steppe of Kazakhstan in 2015.

Oddly, this bacteria is thought to live happily in the mouths of a variety of animals from elephants and antelope, to lions tigers and even chipmunks. If all it takes for this bacteria to become deadly is an increase in temperature, we have a hard task ahead of us.

Currently, there are 350,000 savannah elephants in Africa, but this number is already declining by around 8% a year (around 26,000 animals each year, or the equivalent of twice the total elephant population of the Kruger national park – one of the largest in the world. While it is possible to turn this around it is not easy.

African Dwarf crocodile

African dwarf crocodile

The dwarf crocodile (also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile -a name more often used for the Asian mugger crocodile) or bony crocodile), is an African crocodile that is also the smallest living species of crocodile.

Found in lowlands to mid-height areas, in small and mid-size streams (they avoid large rivers). Generally, they live in rivers that lie in rainforest, though they will venture into the open.

They are known, in places, to be found in pools deeply isolated in Savannah. In western Gabon, there are also a group which have been living long-term in caves. It is considered vulnerable by the IUCN and is Appendix i of CITES. Where they are declining, it appears largely as a result of deforestation and hunting for the bushmeat trade. As a result, while in some regions they have a healthy population, in others (like Gambia and Liberia) they are almost lost.

In zoos in the USA and Europe there are a few of this species, however, records are not good, and quite a few of them are clearly hybrids with little conservation use. I should note, a zoo I occasionally volunteer at (marwell zoo) had one of these crocodiles until last year when it went to another zoo for breeding.

We hope to be able to list places for you to visit to see this species as soon as possible. Any of these will appear below the video and the news section (this lists all the times that this species has been mentioned (if any) in this blog). Below this, we will list all the easiest places we have connections to, to see this species.

 

African forest Elephant

African Forest elephants

There are three species of elephant, the African savanna elephant, African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. 

With the African species, Forest elephants have declined 86% between 1986 and 2015, African Bush elephants declined 60% 1965 and 2015 leaving just over 400,000. African forest elephants are thought to number between 100,000 and 150,000.

Perhaps the most scary fact is that the African forest elephant was only declared as a separate species in 2021 only 2 years ago. These species are not particularly similar – indeed the Asian elephant is more genetically similar to the mammoth, than the African savannah elephant is to the African forest elephant! 

The African forest elephants population has declined precipitably in the last few years. Given the recognition that the forest elephant is a separate species only came 2 years ago, it is hard to get accurate historic figures. Never-the-less, the combined african elephant species population was thought to be around 26 million in 1800, and 1.34 million in 1976. The estimate is currently around 100-200,000 forest elephants. One of the problems, is that the African forest elephant is an essential part of the ecosystem. There are many trees, which rely on forest elephants to carry their seeds through the forest, so that they germinate a good distance from the original plant (more than a few of the same plant in the same area, causes the pest that feeds on the tree to multiply to the point where it can kill the tree. While it is true that other animals like gorillas and chimpanzees can do this, they do it far less. Should the forest elephant be lost, the African rainforest is likely to be far less capable of of handling the various changes, like climate change that is coming.

The last strongholds are in Gabon (a survey last year suggested Gabon has 95,000 forest elephants, rather than the 60,000 that was originally thought) and the Republic of the Congo and Democratic republic of the Cong, with smaller populations remaining in other African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea) and Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Ghana in west Africa. There is much space for forest elephants to greatly recover, if the poaching is able to stop.

Below this, you will see a video on this species, and below this is a list of any times that the african forest elephant has been mentioned within this blog.

Below this, at the bottom of the page, we hope to list places where you can go to see this species in the wild – if you work in conservation or tourism around this species, do get in touch. we would love to list you, and it costs nothing to be listed, we merely work on commission.

4 horned antelope

4 horned antelope

This is a small species of antelope that is found in India and Nepal. the sole member of its genus Teracenus (and only sharing its tribe Boselaphini with the Nilgai). First described in 1816, it has 3 recognized subspecies. It is quite hard to find, but feeds on grass shrubs herbs foliage flowers and fruit.

 

They tend to hide in long grass, and the undergrowth, which is why it is only areas like this that they are usually found in.

 

Population estimate in 2001 was put at 10,000. While they are wide spread, they live at low densities (0.7 per square km is considered healthy).

Below is a video of this species, and below this is a list of articles on this species; this is a relatively obscure antelope, but should it be written about, you will find all these articles listed here.

There are a variety of reserves where they can be seen. including Pench Kanha and Gir to name just a few. As the website grows, we hope to link to many of these places. These will all be listed at the bottom of the page.

 

Preuss’s monkey, Preuss’s guenon

Preuss Monkey

Once considered a subspecies of the LHoest monkey, it is a mountain dwelling monkey that lives in the forests of eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. 

While mostly eating fruit insects and leaves, it is known to raid human crops when given the chance.

As with many monkey species, this monkey is endangered as a result of hunting and habitat loss.

There are two subspecies of Preuss’s monkey:

  • Cameroon Preuss’s monkey, Cercopithecus preussi preussi
  • Bioko Preuss’s monkey, Cercopithecus preussi insularis

L’Hoest’s monkey (Mountain monkey)

L'hoests Monkeys

L’Hoest’s monkey also known as the mountain monkey, is a guenon found in the upper eastern Congo basin. They mostly live in mountainous forest areas in small, female-dominated groups. They have a dark coat and can be distinguished by a characteristic white beard.

It was Philip Sclater who originally gave the name Cercopithecus lhoesti so as to name the species after of Michel L’Hoest, director of the Antwerp Zoo, at the time.

L’Hoest’s monkey is currently classified as a member of the genus Allochrocebus. Formerly, L’Hoest’s monkey included the preussi as it was classed as a subspecies from the Gulf of Guinea region, but it is now considered a separate species.

L’Hoest’s monkey was formerly included in the genus Cercopithecus, but molecular studies in 2003 questioned whether L’Hoest’s monkey was a member of the genus Cercopithecus. The studies indicated that L’Hoest’s monkey (along with the others in its species group) is more closely related to the vervet monkeys of the genus Chlorocebus and the patas monkey (genus Erythrocebus) than to the other guenons of the genus Cercopithecus.

Gabon Talopoin

Gabon Talopoin

The Gabon Talopoin, also known as the Northern Talopoin, is a similar species to the Angolan Talopoin (which is known as the Southern Talopoin). Like the other Talopoin, this is an incredibly small monkey. It lives in Riparian habitat across Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the western Republic of the Congo and the far west Democratic republic of Congo

Gabon talapoin

Unlike the Angolan Talapoin, the Gabon Talopoin has more flesh coloured ears. It is currently considered near threatened, as their population is decreasing slowly, though there are still a large population of these primates.

 

Angolan Talopian

Angolan Talopian

The Angolan Talopian is also known as the Southern Talopian, it is the smallest member of the old world primate family. It is banded black and yellow on its side and grey or white on their stomach.

Found South of the Congo river, in the coastal watersheds of many of the rivers of the area (Mebridege, Loge, Cuanza, Nhia and Cuvo. They are found as far south as the coast of Angola.

One of the smallest monkeys of Africa, they have a head and body length of roughly 40cm with a tail length of around 50cm. Males weigh on average about 1.4kg.

It is limited to dense evergreen areas of vegetation on the banks of rivers that often flow throu Miombo woodland or when that is cleared areas which are now being cultivated.

In terms of their status, they are CITES apendix 2, which means that they are not currently endangered.

Below a list of any posts on this species, and the video, we will add any links which will help you see this species in the wild, as we get them. If you work in conservation or tourism where this species is, we would love to hear from you. We are keen to publish news from conservationists, and we are keen to list tourism opportunities. For both click on the 6th icon in at the top (our members area), and join us. Your destination will then appear at the bottom of this page for people to find you.

Allens swamp monkey

Allens swamp monkey

The Allens swamp monkey is found in the Congo basin in central Africa. They are concentrated in lowland forests of this region, including Cameroon, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – as the name suggests, they inhabit swampy forests.

Given where they choose to live, they are currently listed as least concern, however, the population is declining, as a result of a mixture of hunting for the bushmeat trade, and habitat loss. While it is also hunted by raptors, snakes and bonobos, this hunting relies on the availability of the monkey, which means that as populations decrease there is less hunting, unfortunately we humans have overcome this natural method to stop extinction.

Below is a list of articles on this site which have been published on this site, and below this is a camera trap video of this monkey in the wild. Below both of these, we will add any links to places where this species can be seen in the wild, which will help the survival of this species.

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You think pangolins greatest threat is the poaching? not everywhere, what is worse?

Pangolins are bizarre animals!

A wild pangolin out during the day, a rare site indeed Credit David Brossard

How many of you knew about a pangolin? How many of you knew about a pangolin before say 5 years ago when their poaching became big news.

Generally the reason that they are little known about, is that they are secretive, and one of the most strictly nocturnal animals in the bush.

Despite this, seizures of tonnes of pangolin scales are regularly made on the way to Vietnam or China (and other similar parts of Asia). To be clear, in pretty much all of these countries the authorities are making lots of effort to stamp out this trade.

So this is why it is so horrifying to hear that poaching is not the primary human cause of death.

Electric fences!

Now it should be noted, that there is a wide range of predators in the African bush. We all know about lions and leopards, and even cheetah.

What about the smaller species?

The caracal, and serval are both cats that are incredible jumpers, and as such usual fences will not cause them a problem as they can jump over. Black backed jackals? Well these canines, are essentially the equivalent of the northern hemispheres red fox. Certainly, it is true that these animals might be a threat, but they are too savvy to be blocked by a fence, and anyway, live happily both sides of the fence as it is.

Electric fences are used in South Africa far more than other countries in Southern Africa: South Africa has about 6,000,000km of fencing, while Botswana has 3000km and Namibia 1100km.

So what can be done?

Well Pangolins are not a tall animal, but tend to travel on their hind legs. Raising the lowest strand of this fence from 20cm to 30cm would likely eliminate these deaths.

Why are they specifically at risk? Very sadly, by walking on their hind legs they expose their belly, when on the move. They struggle to see the strands of the wire, so the first thing that they know is it touches their sensitive underside. What is worse, Pangolins roll up into a ball when scared, but in this case this does not help, as this will leave the pangolin hanging from the wire. As the shocks keep coming the pangolin stays, and often starves or dies of thirst.

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