Conservation Archives - Page 8 of 62 - Endangered Wildlife Trust

From Kalahari to Malawi: Cheetahs Thrive in New Home

Both females relocated to Liwonde National Park (Malawi) in December are doing exceptionally well. After a brief adjustment period in the boma, they were released into the reserve on December 28th, 2023, at the height of the rainy season.

The rainy season in Liwonde can pose challenges for cheetahs, as large areas of the park occasionally flood, and the game is widespread. However, this appears to have also limited their post-release movements, meaning they had less area to explore and, as a result, settled quickly. We are pleased to report that both females have been thriving since their release. This is especially encouraging for the female who was born and raised in the Kalahari and unfamiliar with this environment – this just shows the adaptability of these remarkable animals!

One of the females exhibited denning behaviour a few months after her release. While we typically encourage den checks to enhance our monitoring and understanding of the population and breeding success, the Liwonde cheetah population has shown successful denning in good habitats over the years. As a result, we recommend minimising disturbances and instead suggest monitors check on this female from a distance using telemetry. Female cheetahs generally den for 50 to 54 days, after which they begin moving with their cubs, often caching them while hunting. By conducting daily monitoring, we can track whether the female remains at the den site, indicating that denning is still ongoing.

Regrettably, the female left the den after approximately 40 days and did not return, suggesting that her denning was unsuccessful. The exact cause of the cubs’ death remains unknown, as is often the case. However, we have recently observed denning behaviour again, and monitors have reported that the female is also showing signs of nursing! While we will watch closely to see if this litter survives the denning period, both females are first-time mothers, which often results in the loss of first litters or lower overall cub survival rates. Nevertheless, the relocation of these females has been a massive success so far, and we look forward to following their progress as they continue to explore this new environment!

We once again thank Manyoni Private Game Reserve and Tswalu Kalahari Reserve for donating these females to this important conservation project. We also thank our partners African Parks for creating a safe haven for this threatened species, and the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust for their diligent monitoring efforts, along with The Bateleurs and Mercy Air Africa for assisting us in transporting these cheetahs to Malawi!

Maps showing the movements of both cheetahs (from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve and Manyoni Game Reserve) after their release into Liwonde National Park. Both females have exhibited extensive exploration behaviour, which is to be expected. Hopefully, this will help them find suitable denning areas going forward.

Images of the two females released into Liwonde National Park in December 2023. Due to the limited road network in Liwonde National Park, the vast majority of sightings of these females have been through camera traps placed by Lilongwe Wildlife Trust monitors. However, this can be a fantastic way to remotely monitor their body condition. Thank you to Lilongwe Wildlife Trust for providing us these images!

The female from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve after successfully killing of a young kudu. This female has adapted amazingly well, especially considering she was born and raised in the Kalahari. This just shows how adaptable these animals can be! (photo credit: Tilly Sant’Ana)

The female from Manyoni Private Game Reserve after tucking into a meal of a male impala (photo credit: Tilly Sant’Ana)

Rhino Peak Challenge

Rhino Peak Challenge – Highlights

A total of 48 invited ambassadors, including school participants and a mix representing WACT and EWT, set off at 6:30 am from the RPC start line on Saturday. It started as a misty cool morning, with the Rhino Peak hidden from sight, but still present in everyone’s minds. The weather soon cleared up with the Underberg in full colour and all its glory. You seldom escape the wind on the mountains, and this year was no different. If anything, one of the strongest winds I have ever experienced. But the escarpment and the summiting of the peak is always a special and humbling experience. Not to take on the mountain, but to be part of it. However brief. To be part of nature and something that has stood majestically and purposefully through millennia.

The intensity of the climb and the diversity of people that the challenge attracts was apparent in this years finishing times. With our fastest ambassador home in 3hours 19 minutes, and the longest day on the mountain closer to 14 hours!

But this is why our RPC ambassadors do what they do. To protect, appreciate and conserve. To realise that everything is connected. To be immersed in nature, and all of its harsh and beautiful elements, for a magical moment in time.

Thank you to Spurgeon Flemmington from RMA (Running Man Adventures) for knowing that this mountain and this event would raise millions for conservation.

To the event beneficiary partners, WACT and KZN Ezemvelo, whom we work with to protect this important heritage site and the species and people that rely on it.

To every ambassador that not only takes on the challenge of fundraising but of summiting the peak.

To all the EWT ambassadors and personal incredible donors such as the Ford Wildlife Foundation and Go2Africa for supporting our work. This event would not be possible without you, and conservation thanks you.

DCP showcasing Projects and “furries” with Funders

DCP showcasing Projects and “furries” with Funders.

On the weekend of 31 August and 1 September, the DCP team enjoyed the company of the Table Mountain Fund (TMF) Board and officials at Papkuilsfontein Farm in the Northern Cape. TMF is funding the project: Fynbos on the Edge, which is aimed at exploring and developing opportunities to diversify the farming income, through making the overall business model more sustainable from a financial, agricultural, and ecological perspective. Diversifying and growing income from a single agricultural income to a tourism income targeting a range of visitor profiles is aimed at taking pressure off the natural resources, particularly the natural rangeland. The Papkuilsfontein Farm is located on the Bokkeveld Plateau and is the stage for a phenomenal flower display during August and September. On arrival on the farm, the Board members were introduced to the Van Wyk family, who are the 6th generation who bravely took the step to sign a Protected Environment Stewardship Agreement and enter into diversifying their agricultural income through developing remarkable eco-tourism products such as mountain biking, hiking routes and the Via Ferrata on the farm. The group enjoyed hikes, the Via Ferrata and sundowners on the cliffs before returning to their respective destinations.

Esté and Delta mesmerized the Rainforest Trust Board on 8 September on the Worcester Geometric Reserve. Delta, being the star of the day, ensured that her nose and loving persona captured the imagination of the group of Board members before she was put to work to locate, and indicate, live geometric tortoises. This range restricted species is endemic to the winter rainfall region of the south-western Cape and is listed as one of the top 25 most endangered tortoises (and turtles) in the world. The species face threats such as habitat loss due to urban and agricultural expansion, fragmentation of existing habitat leading to isolated populations, invasive alien vegetation and animals, such as feral pigs, and too frequent fires. The risk of poaching of specimens from the wild is also a significant potential threat. Delta ensured that some of the guests on the day saw a Geometric tortoise for the first time in their lives.

Projects made possible by Table Mountain Fund and Rainforest Trust.

International Vulture Awareness Day, Cape Vulture Conservancy

Every year, people from all around the world, come together on the first Saturday of September to celebrate internation vulture awareness day. Originally started by the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Hawk Conservancy Trust in 2006, it has grown since inception into a global platform to celebrate a group of birds that don’t always get the attention and publicity that they deserve. This year, the Endangered Wildlife Trust in the lowveld region of eastern South Africa, joined up with the Cape Vulture Conservancy, to share knowledge and education about vultures in general, along with the threats they face, and how we can collectively work together to create a better future where the skies are filled with vultures.

Cape Vulture Conservancy plays host to the second largest colony of Cape Vultures Gyps coprotheres globally, and as an organisation, they have prioritised the long-term conservation of the colony, and really making this the core of what they do. With over 700 breeding pairs nesting along the cliff faces of the Drakensberg escarpment, it makes for a wonderful backdrop, and a perfect venue for celebrating such an important event.

This year, one of the major aims was to include youth from surrounding areas and the greater Hoedspruit community and afford the chance to not only get to know the property better, but also educate people regarding the plight of these special birds. With roughly 300 school kids attending, and with some travelling from as far as Selwane, to the north-west of Phalaborwa, it undoubtedly was an event that stood out as one of the highlights of the year. The day started with a fun walk covering a 5km section of the property, after which everyone could explore the permaculture gardens, several stalls from organisations such as Daktari Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage, Moholoholo Wildlife and Rehabilitation Centre, and Animal Relief for Rural Communities. After some introductory presentations from Frikkie Kotze, the manager of Cape Vulture Conservancy, and John Davies from the Endangered Wildlife Trust, everyone got treated to a snake demonstration from the Hoedspruit Reptile Centre, which was a real hit and a great way of ending the day.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust would like to thank the wonderful team from Cape Vulture Conservancy for taking the initiative to not only host and drive this event, but also commit to the long term conservation of these magnificent birds within the region.

Conservation Canines Help to Combat Rhino Poaching

On 22 September, the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s joined countries around the world to mark World Rhino Day.

The Day has become synonymous with the plight of the white and black rhino as poachers decimated populations of this iconic member of the Big Five in the past 15 years.

It is during this onslaught that the EWT again sprang into action to save the pachyderms from extinction by founding and deploying our canine conservation unit to not only detect smuggled rhino horn, but also to track poachers within conservation areas.

World Rhino Day is marked annually to raise awareness of about the plight of the species, which has faced a poaching onslaught for more than a decade. South Africa is home to an estimated 79% of the world’s rhino population, of which approximately 2,056 black rhino and 12,968 white rhino are privately-owned. Since 2008, over 8,000 rhinos have been poached the country.
South Africa’s black rhino are listed as Critically Endangered and the white rhino as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their biggest threat is the illegal wildlife trade.

The EWT’s Canine Conservation Unit (CCU) is a special project established to support the conservation efforts of the EWT through scent detection and tracking dog services. Our Conservation K9s are certified and specially trained to fulfil two critical roles. Firstly, to support anti-poaching initiatives in game reserves using tracking and detection dogs, and secondly, to detect wildlife contraband before it is smuggled out of the country.

Anti-poaching dogs are trained to track people, locate snares, find arms and ammunition, and help with the detection of spent cartridges at crime scenes. Our detection dogs are capable of detecting various plant and animal samples as well as poisons and thus have a wide range of possible conservation applications. We are continuously exploring new applications for our conservation canines to ensure that the EWT is recognised as an industry leader in the field of working dogs.

Our work began with the deployment of Rico, a Belgian Malinois and wildlife sniffer dog, at the O R Tambo International Airport’s baggage and car sections in 2012. This new member of the EWT pack was deployed to sniff ou rhino horn, ivory, abalone and other wildlife products.

The EWT’s Canine members have been deployed successfully in reserves across the country since…

The North West Province is a stronghold for Black and White Rhino conservation during these difficult days of declining national populations. With the support of funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we are assisting the provincial authorities to prevent poaching and grow their rhino populations for the species’ long-term survival.

Besides the use of cutting-edge technology to track rhinos remotely, and the use of real-time camera technology to strengthen surveillance of roads, fence lines and reserve areas to aid in the detection of poacher incursions, a key contribution is that of the EWTs conservation canine and handler team in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve to detect wildlife contraband and to track poachers.

Our conservation canines are stationed at reserve gates, screening vehicles for illegal wildlife products like ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, and ammunition. Since 2012, the EWT’s Conservation Canine unit has been a vital part of wildlife protection in reserves across South Africa. Focused on preventing illegal firearms from entering protected areas, our dogs have also been instrumental in stopping wildlife crime. Our canines have frequently been used to locate illegal arms and ammunitions and this year alone, one of our conservation canines flagged a suspicious vehicle, leading to the discovery of hidden rifles and the successful arrest of the suspects.

The Conservation Canine Unit team will assist Pilanesberg management until the end of September 2025. Having our scent detection dog, Kisha, at the gate will deter and prevent poachers from bringing weapons into the conservation area, and transporting illegal wildlife products out of the reserve if they have succeeded in poaching an animal. Weekends are very busy and the team search up to 60 vehicles in a day.

Tracking dog, Ruger, is specifically used to patrol fences and follow tracks of poachers when reserve boundaries have been breached. A key role for Ruger is to assist anti-poaching security to determine entry and exit points and routes taken by poachers, which is critical in guiding optimal placement of field rangers.

While the EWT is assisting Pilanesberg with a range of other anti-poaching activities, detection and tracking dogs are considered a crucial part of the anti-poaching arsenal to keep Rhinos and other wildlife safe.

In the nearby Madikwe Nature Reserve, the EWT has provided cutting-edge night vision scopes to the two canine teams, giving them a massive strategic advantage during anti-poaching patrols. We have also funded the installation of additional License Plate Recognition cameras at prominent intersections around the reserve. Any vehicles passing through these intersections with previous criminal ties will be flagged, with notifications sent to local law enforcement, as well as the North West Parks Board anti-poaching operations centre housed at Madikwe.

Combatting rhino poaching requires a coordinated, multi-pronged approach, the cost of which can be prohibitive in some situations. We are confident that our support to the North West Parks Board is having a tangible conservation impact, echoed by the reduction in reported poaching incidents in the province.