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Getting ready ... ... Delays, $$'s to earn, fix car, sort out God.

Delays, work, to pay for the trip, if I must, I will. And small, getting larger, modifications to the Land Rover, fridge, new back seats (to accommodate the fridge), servicing (mechanic in hospital with malaria) etc. Lots of people have emailed me wanting to join the Safari (reduces my costs, am I cheap, well a little), though many are a bit slow in confirming dates, makes planning hellish. Then we have Godie (the cook, Godfrey aka God, godie etc) in his spare time a scout leader, the scouts

hanzophoto

hanzophoto

Safari Vehicles and User Experiences

I’m a student at Coventry University (UK) studying Transport Design and I’m currently doing a project involving safari tourism and would like to get your input on the whole experience and The vehicles used. I am focussing on the vehicles but would like to get a better understanding of user experiences and why people enjoy safaris. what do photographers/videographer recommend in the design of a safari vehicle? I have discovered a big problem with overcrowding, especially around the animals lik

moses33

moses33

Ngamo Lion Release - Update

Its now been two months since the pride of eight lions were released. To assess how they are doing compared to lions in the wild research has been undertaken on a variety of behavioural factors including prey choice, hunting ability and strategy, average daily meat intake, territorial behaviours, activity and social behaviours, amongst others. Some of these studies will take much longer to produce meaningful data, however early indications against one of the established criteria for success ca

David Youldon

David Youldon

Ngamo Lion Release

On September 1st our honoured guests arrived and were treated to a game drive around the Ngamo release site; adjacent to Antelope Park. This project is a joint public / private initiative and guests included Francis Nhema, Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, the Director General of the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Authority, the regional Governer, and representatives from a host of public organizations from all facets of government and public life as well as the Zimbabwean press.

David Youldon

David Youldon

The Kwara concessio: A green season secret

QUOTE The Kwando camps are not overly luxurious and squarely target those interested in serious game viewing. Having spent hours following cheetah spoor or boating on the calm waters of the Okavango, the concession ticks all the boxes for those wanting mixed activities on their Okavango adventure. A Green Season Adventure The confusing element of any Okavango safari is understanding the great flood and its impact on a particular concession. During the ‘peak’ season of June through to October,

Alex The Lion

Alex The Lion

Makalolo: Home of the Silhouetted Giants

QUOTE There are a number of shallow pans spread throughout the Park, around which wildlife congregates, making for excellent and reliable game viewing. This Park is one of the best for predators – lion, leopard, wild dog and cheetah are regularly sighted, along with the smaller African wildcat, serval, honey badger, civet and spotted hyena. Makalolo Plains, situated in a remote and private concession within the vast Hwange National Park, is one of the few camps built within the Park. It is lege

Alex The Lion

Alex The Lion

More news from the field

In brief... Out at Dambwa, the lions are now undertaking regular forays into the site and have started to hunt, although as yet have been unsuccessful. Leya and Loma are showing the greatest promise. Of course the site is designed specifically for the lions to practice their hunting skill and with most of the lions taking part in this element of their pre-release training having made kills already, we are sure that they will be able to learn to tackle the species available to them soon. The

David Youldon

David Youldon

News from the field

Our Night Encounter area is now complete in Dambwa, just outside Livingstone, and populated with game including zebra, puku, wildebeest and impala. The choice of species and number for this first reintroduction of game to the area was compiled following a further environmental impact assessment by the Zambia Wildlife Authority. The lions have been on their first forays into the site already but full operations are not due to start until the end of June after we have had the opportunity to inst

David Youldon

David Youldon

Bushdate 12-03-2010

Almost a whole year after my last Blog entry.. i'd better have a good excuse.. Well, how about this. Finished my contract at Basecamp Masai Mara, and at the same time was offered the chance to work with a company that has been flying passenger balloons close to the Amboseli National Park in South eastern Kenya. The same company holds a lease on a 20 thousand acre piece of land, part of the Olgulului-Lolarashi Group Ranch which encircles almost 90% of Amboseli park. The Kitenden Wildlife corrid

Riz Jiwa

Riz Jiwa

Over 4.8 million tune in to Lion Country

The big story for the last month is of course the transmission of the first two episodes of Lion Country on the UK’s ITV1 channel. Episode three airs tonight (Wed 10th Feb, ITV1, 7.30pm). Around 4.8 million people tuned in to watch the show which we hope will bring much needed awareness to the need for quick action to ensure the future of the African lion, arguably the world’s most iconic species and a prominent symbol of Africa. Of course we also hope that those people watching the series wi

David Youldon

David Youldon

Where is your pride?

As we enter a new year ALERT has taken a moment to reflect on the last 12 months. You can read this with our latest newsletter here. Click here for our full Review of the year In other news: On Wednesday 6th January at 7.30pm on ITV1 in the UK the first episode of the six part series filmed about the lion release program will air. ITV have elected to call the series Lion Country. In October last year we announced our support for The Tashinga Initiative (www.thetashingaintiative.org), a wil

David Youldon

David Youldon

More recently...

The first truck of materials to build the Dambwa Forest release areas has arrived in Livingstone. The first task is to build three large management enclosures at the south western corner of the site. Progress on this has been very quick. As soon as the remaining trucks arrive we will start building the main site itself. We are hoping that the whole site will be complete by the end of the year but with the rains setting in the end of January may be a more realistic goal. The first area to be

David Youldon

David Youldon

Production Diary

Since late September we have been hosting a film crew producing a series about the lion release project for the UK's ITV network. The production diary is below. 25th September The ITV film crew arrived into Zimbabwe today, and will travel from Harare to Antelope Park outside Gweru this afternoon. Over the next seven weeks, the crew will be filming all aspects of the program both at Antelope Park and later at our Livingstone program. 26th September Offloading over 380kg of equipment – includin

David Youldon

David Youldon

ALERT and well...

Apologies for being lax in updating this blog, but things have been a bit hectic to say the least. Here are the highlights from September: Temi & Tswana at only 11 months old are already killing waterbuck and impala. The 2Ks of Kosey and Kanu have spent the last three months or so settling into life at our stage one in Victoria Falls, and opened their hunting account in dramatic style on the 14th September. A mid-morning walk along the river led the cubs to an encounter with a lone buffa

David Youldon

David Youldon

What we are currently working on...

Download the latest newsletter (c. 0.9 mb) at September newsletter This month's issue includes... • Renewed calls to upgrade Panthera leo to CITES Appendix I... • ALERT’s response to the proposal… (also see previous post in this blog) • Another week and another victim falls foul to Kwandi… • The last time the 2Bs were featured in this newsletter… • The 4Ss continue at full steam with their Night Encounter careers... • The final hunting update of the month comes from Antelope Park’s 2Es... •

David Youldon

David Youldon

Response to unconfirmed reports of a proposal to upgrade lions to CITES Appendix I

ALERT has received a circulating draft document to upgrade the African lion to the CITES Appendix I category of “threatened with extinction”. CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. CITES was established to reduce the export and marketing of a variety of species as a contributory factor to their further decline as a result of commercial use. All import, export, and re-export and introduction of a variety of species thus necessitate ag

David Youldon

David Youldon

Pre-release training

Download the latest newsletter (c. 0.9 mb) at August newsletter This month's issue includes... • Perhaps the most incredible tale to come out of stage one came on the 12th July when 13-month old Leya brought down a giraffe... • Just as all the excitement from Leya’s latest kill was dying down… • Soriah kick-starts the Ss Night Encounter careers… • The 5Ls complete Night Encounter and Luangwa comes out on top... • 3T’s first Character Walks... • Behavioural and physical monitoring int

David Youldon

David Youldon

How many lions do we need to lose?

Download the latest newsletter (c. 0.7 mb) at http://www.lionalert.org/Newsletter%20July%2009.pdf This month's issue includes... • A long walk for Antelope Park’s 2Ss ended their walking career with an exceptional accomplishment... • Sango and Swahili return to Antelope Park… • Luangwa moves into fourth place… • Leya’s first kill... • The 2KLs take on the buffalo… • Stage one welcomes Damisi, Dhakiya, Kanu and Kosey… • Medical and teaching assistance in Gweru… • Health education… • Ground Hor

David Youldon

David Youldon

The community has their say on human wildlife conflict...

Download the latest newsletter (c. 1 mb) at http://www.lionalert.org/Newsletter%20June%2009.pdf This month's issue includes... - A report back on ALERT's recent discussions with Gorongosa NP in Mozambique - Work has finally started on building the first release area in the Dambwa Forest with the full support of the Government of the Republic of Zambia and the local communities surrounding the Forest - Elephants return to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park - ALERT UK patron finally conquers Evere

David Youldon

David Youldon

Results of an independent review of stage two

Response by ALERT to the paper “The rehabilitation of captive bred lions (Panthera leo) in a semi-wild environment for release into the wild: case study of Antelope Park, Zimbabwe” by Roseline L. Mandisodza, 2008, (unpublished). In 2008 ALERT facilitated an independent review of our stage two release program at the Dollar Block reserve in central Zimbabwe. ALERT’s own research technicians were also present at this time conducting our own research on the released lions. The aim of the study wa

David Youldon

David Youldon

The conflicts continue...

As predicted last month the wild dog that have moved into our lion walk area in the Mosi-oa-Tunya have come under persecution. One dog was confirmed killed by communities bordering the Park after it was discovered predating on goats. The other two have not been seen since and are also thought at this time to have been killed. We are now in final preparations for the next community meetings in Victoria Falls where we will present the options available to them and the Parks & Wildlife Manag

David Youldon

David Youldon

Treasures Of Africa

What would safari be without the beautiful souvenirs? Handicrafts that add a signature to the rich cultural heritage of the African people and Continent? Every tourist who visits any African country, surely buys a souvenir on his return home. Why? Because behind the earth of adversity that covers Africa on the surface lies a beauty that cannot be matched for the hospitality, creativity and hope it bestows in our hearts. This is the treasure box of A

MamaAfrica

MamaAfrica

"Wanted Dead or Alive?" and "Black Rhino: On the Brink"

First of all, I'd like to point out to my readers that I inadvertently misinformed you in my previous post (which I have now edited). All our DVDs which are for sale on Amazon ARE multi-language, so you can watch any of our films either in English or Swahili, and in some cases also in Maa and Kikamba... Please note: The DVDs will start playing automatically in the default language, which is English, but if you then return to the main menu, you will have the chance to select other languages...

Tanya_in_Kenya

Tanya_in_Kenya

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