Wildlife and conservation new, wild travel information and links for booking
Kahuzi-Biega National Park was established in 1937 by the Belgium colonial rulers and then expanded in 1975. It now covers 6000 square km or 2300 square miles. Roughly 13000 Batwa were cleared out of the area to make way for the park (along with other people who had settled more recently).
Continue reading “On the founding of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, locals were pushed out -they now have the right to return, what will happen”
Whether you are looking at the Amazon, Congo or the rainforests of South-east Asia, a study has shown that just 2% of species account for 50% of trees in all systems.
In numbers, this means, that of the roughly 800 billion trees on earth, roughly half come from around 1000 species, while the other half are made up of a further 46,000 different species.
While this could have many negatives, it suggests that accurately modelling may well be easier, as the forests would likely survive if just these 1000 trees were to live (this is not to say that we do not care, the 46,000 trees that might be lost, would likely cause many other extinctions, and who is to say that these trees, do not hide medication that would one day be useful to humanity?
Many species of primate within the Amazon rainforest has become quite content moving around in human areas, as they have sprung up fast across the region.
Yet, these cables are not surprisingly dangerous, carrying high voltage. As such, in some places an alarming number of them die as a result.
As these towns are built within the Amazon, we must make sure that it does not kill wildlife that wanders into town
Humans are not the only species of primate which can get ill or die as a result of malaria – an illness carried by mosquitos. The problem is, that while humans have developed ways to fight the infection, and many humans live far from where they could get bitten, the Chimpanzees gorillas orangutans and Bonobos all live in hot humid rainforests which are perfect breeding places.
Bonobos live the other side of the Congo river to chimpanzees, and while a relatively recent species to appear, they are very different to chimpanzees – make love not war, the hippy priimate.
This becomes a greater problem when humans have already reduced these species populations so dramatically.
One bonobo population was found to have developed an immunity to the illness, but unfortunately this has not been discovered anywhere else.
Should bonobos have got this condition naturally, it would have been fine – while it may have killed a small percentage, overall they would have been fine. Unfortunately, we have pushed them so close to extinction, that in many areas they cannot afford these extra deaths from malaria.
Up until recently, while infection had been noted in other great ape species, bonobos had not been found to suffer from the condition, but now we know better.
The issue is that, with humans having reduced populations through direct hunting and deforestation, the loss of any individual can have a far greater impact on the local population.
More people going to see this species in the wild would help save them, as it will give them value to the local population. We hope to add links that you can use to arrange your wild travel as soon as possible.