Sunday, March 10, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
BLOG #2 – 16TH FEBRUARY
2013
By: Aileen Sweeny
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!
The rains have continued heavy and often
throughout January and February which can be frustrating at times, but of
course there’s always plenty of work to be done at camp…be it coding videos,
updating documents or weighing faecal samples! All this rain, with intermittent
sunshine, is causing the grass to grow fast and tall. In some areas there are
already patches of grass taller than me (and I’m 5’9’’, so not exactly short!).
It’s so easy to miss the baboons in the grass. Several times we have spotted
one and presumed that we have reached the edge of the group, but after a few
minutes of standing still we will notice that we have left 10 or 15 behind us
and are in fact in the middle of the group! It’s great to see how habituated
they are, but at times it would be helpful if they barked when they saw us,
instead of continuing quietly at whatever they are doing, in order to alert us
that we have encountered them!!
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| The main road, flooded due to rainy season! |
xx
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Long
grass and difficult to see roads: rainy season in Kasanka.
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KINDA CAMP: YOUR LOCAL INTERNET CAFÉ!
There have been a lot of problems with phone
signal at Kasanka for the last two weeks. Unfortunately I rely on signal for
both my phone and also internet access, so when it’s gone I’m completely cut
off from the outside world (of course, I still have radio contact with the rest
of the park though!). It’s amazing and unbelievably peaceful to feel so utterly
at one with nature when you can’t even send a text message if you want…but,
like most things, the feeling starts to wear off eventually! Luckily for me though,
signal has been coming back intermittently for a few hours at a time here at
camp for the last week (while it has been completely gone from Wasa Lodge for
the entire time). This has led to Kinda Camp being busier than ever as everyone
comes to get signal here, which has been great as I get to see them all much
more than usual. I’ve joked that I’m the new “Kasanka liaison officer” and that
I should start charging them with all proceeds going to the project!! As soon
as I hear “Kinda” being called on the radio, I know someone is checking if signal
is available here or not. Hopefully it will improve soon though (18th:
It did! Wasa have signal again).
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Beautiful
sky view from the camp’s hide, where I have spent a lot of time recently for
signal.
|
SARAH DARLENE HOGLE SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Just a quick update on our sponsored student,
Leah Mwamba. Leah will be starting high school this week and all arrangements
money-wise have been put in place to make this happen for her. She seemed
extremely excited when I met her last week to discuss everything and draw up a
budget together. She will travel to Serenje for shopping on Monday (18th)
and then onto Mukando High School to begin her studies. Best of luck Leah!!
NEW BOOK CLUB
While I was in Lusaka (unsuccessfully)
attempting to collect my work permit, I was able to collect books and journals
that Anna had sent over for the Girls Conservation Club (along with peanut
butter kitkats and cashew nuts for me- thanks Anna!!!). We had been discussing
starting a book club for the girls before Liz left so it’s very exciting to now
be able to start it up. The girls were delighted with the books (which they are
allowed to keep) and we are starting out with Anne Frank. I will be reading
along with them so that we can all discuss it during class. This famous story
is a great book to start with and will give the girls (and me!) a perspective
on a life completely different from theirs. They will be recording their
thoughts and feelings about it in their new journals.
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|
BABOON UPDATE
I have been here for almost 4 months now and
the entire troop is still accounted for. I hope it remains that way for my
entire stay as I have become attached to all the individuals already! Of course
the reality is that it won’t though. We also still haven’t had any new males emigrate
into the troop yet even though we well and truly need some as our adult male
count is quite low. I realised this particularly when we encountered the
“other” group recently (which numbers around 100 individuals) and I was really
surprised by the number of adult males in the group. It seemed like every
second baboon I looked at was an adult male! Marley has decided at least two
males need to move from this troop to ours as “there is not enough fighting
going on at the moment to help us find them in the long grass!”
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Lovely
MJ with her gang of kids! Mowgli (L), Madonna (R) and little Macy (centre).
|
We are almost certain that Yoko is pregnant (Anna
picked it up as soon as she saw her in December) and so she will be the first
to give birth this year. I’m very excited about it! It will be her first infant
and it means she became pregnant just after I arrived here (therefore I call
dibs on Godmother!). The fact that Liz saw a grand total of 12 infants born
last year means the number of possible mothers this year is much lower, so each
and every birth will be extra special for me. I hope I will get to see every
possible colour morph in the new infants; I’m still
beyond fascinated by this unique Kinda characteristic. I also have a suspicion
that Dolly may be pregnant, and I predict Frieda will be (or has been) the next
to conceive.
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Yoko
(who we believe is pregnant) and Short Tail, who have been spending increasing
amounts of time together!
|
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Dolly
(also possibly pregnant) observing me observing her during a focal!
|
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
BLOG #1 – 10TH JANUARY 2013
By Aileen Sweeny
A NEW YEAR AT KINDA BEGINS!
Happy New Year everyone! And so Kasanka Baboon
Project enters another year. Here’s to 2013; let’s hope it’s filled with
baboons, research, faecal samples(!), health and happiness here at Kinda!
Unfortunately it’s been extremely rainy here
since January began (“Yes, it’s the rainy season…” is the response I get every
time I complain how wet it is!), so much so that the solar battery drained due
to lack of sunlight. Luckily I was able to ration charging items so we got
through it just fine.
HELLO ANNA AND GOODBYE LIZ
We
have unfortunately said goodbye to Liz as I (Aileen) take over the position of
Camp Manager. Liz has been exceptional, and while I was only with her for two
of her 12 months here, I can easily see how much hard work she put in. Best of
luck with all your future plans Liz; we will all miss you here at Kinda
(especially me and Aretha!). Liz left a little memento for us to remember her
by in the form of a beautiful sign she made for camp!
We had an additional primate enthusiastic here
at camp for a few weeks during December- of course it was Anna, the project
director! It was so nice for me to finally meet her, and it was great that myself,
Liz and Anna all got to spend time together. 3 generations of Kasanka Baboon
Project ladies!
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| The new Kinda Camp sign designed and made by Liz. |
SARAH DARLENE HOGLE SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Anna’s visit coincided perfectly with the choosing of a girl to receive the Sarah Darlene Hogle Scholarship Fund, which will see her through high school. After narrowing down applicants, conducting interviews and giving the short-listed girls an exam, we had our girl! Congratulations to Leah Mwamba who will be receiving the scholarship. Leah excelled in all aspects of her application and we have no doubt she will excel in school. We are all very excited to be involved in assisting with Leah’s education. Anna, Liz and I were all able to meet her and have a discussion about the funding she will receive once she accepts a place in a school of her choice.
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Aileen, Liz and Anna with Leah
who will receive funding for her education from the Sarah Darlene Hogle
Scholarship Fund
|
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| Anna, Liz and Aileen with the Girls Science Club members. |
CHRISTMAS IN KASANKA
All
of a sudden December 25th was upon us and it was Christmas at Kinda
Camp! It was my first Christmas away from home, and while I knew I’d miss my
family, I was excited about the new experience. Between us, Anna and I had
brought decorations and so we put them up around camp. However, even with
decorations and watching Christmas movies, it still didn’t feel fully like
Christmas because of the weather!
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| The Kinda Camp Christmas tree! |
On Christmas morning I had a package to open
from my family which Anna had been kind enough to lug all the way over from the
US for me. Such a lovely little surprise! We then began to make our way to Wasa
for Christmas dinner with everyone, stopping to track the new zebra along to
way (as you do on Christmas Day!!). We had a lovely afternoon with a total of
15 of us at dinner which included turkey and gammon! How amazing to experience
eating Christmas dinner while overlooking Wasa Lake from the lodge, such a
special experience.
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| Christmas dinner at Wasa Lodge with various staff, volunteers and visitors. |
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Two of the new zebra in the Park
on Christmas morning.
|
ANIMALS, ANIMALS, ANIMALS
There
have been quite a few animal encounters recently. Firstly, I finally saw my
first side-stripe jackal one morning while out with the baboons. Sure enough,
when there’s one, there’s two, and I saw another one the following evening. On
another day out in the field with Anna and Marley I suddenly noticed something
large and dark moving quickly through the forest towards the plain (we were
standing in the middle of the Wasa 3 plain). I told Anna and Marley and the
next thing we knew, two stunning adult Sable antelope appeared out onto the
plain. It’s difficult to describe how excited Anna and I were as this was the
first time for both of us to see Sable! It was special for me; so for Anna, who
has been in and around Kasanka for years now, it must have been amazing.
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One of the two male Sable
antelope we saw on the Wasa 3 plain.
|
I also encountered elephants
for the first time while cycling. I was on my way back from Wasa on January 1st
when I came across them. I must say I was quite nervous, but while I have no
doubt they were fully aware of me, they didn’t let on that they’d seen me at
all. I got to see my first hippo footprints, and it just so happened they were
only a few metres from my tent. While I’m well aware of how large a hippo is, I
was still very surprised by the size of the prints; they were huge! And all the
rain had made the ground so soft that they were perfectly formed and quite deep
in the mud. It’s thrilling to think how close I live to nature. Speaking of
which, the night after I saw the prints by my tent I had to go back to the
dining room as I’d forgotten my water bottle. My head-torch isn’t the strongest
as its LED (but lasts for weeks without needing new batteries!) so before I
knew it, I had nearly stepped on a python that was easily over 2m long! Of
course, initially I got a huge fright and the adrenalin was definitely pumping,
but I quickly recognised it as a python and knew the only way it was going to
kill me was if it got hold of me and squeezed me to death! Yet another amazing
animal encounter at Kinda Camp!
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Hippo footprint on the track to the
hide here at Kinda Camp.
|
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| ~3m long python just outside the tent one night! |
BABOON UPDATE
Everything
is going well in the troop and luckily we haven’t lost any members since I
arrived two-and-a-half months ago (touch wood!). They were all unbelievably
calm around Anna and I had some amazing close encounters with them while out in
the field with her. Hopefully some of
Anna’s magic has rubbed off on me and they will continue to be as relaxed as
they were when she was here. So far, so good it seems. The only time they’ve
seemed strange with me was when I arrived on a bike one evening straight after
a shower to check which sleeping site they were using. So I think between
arriving on a bike (they really don’t seem to like bikes) and being fully clean,
they didn’t initially recognise me!!
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Frieda being
groomed by Muma while Floyd suckles.
|
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| Add caption |
Friday, December 7, 2012
BLOG # 13 –
30TH NOVEMBER 2012
By Elizabeth Winterton and Aileen Sweeny
IT’S RAINING ELEPHANTS
After weeks of speculation, the rains are finally
here. After 6 months of no rain, it’s a bit of a shock to have to don the rain
coat every day, but at least it’s preparing me for the English weather I’ve got
to look forward to in 3 weeks!
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The first rains
|
Along with the rain, have come the elephants. After a
rather noticeable absence around Kinda camp (on my part anyway, as I never seem
to be in the right place at the right time) the elephants are back with 2
visits to Kinda already in the last week! So along with the 10 million fruit
bats every morning and night, and the potential for a zebra to wander into camp
at any moment (Kasanka have just released 9 into the park) we’re doing pretty
well for animal sightings.
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| The Elephants |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF KINDA CAMP
My name is
Aileen and I will be taking over the role of Camp Manager at Kinda Baboon
Project when Liz leaves in a few weeks. I have been at Kinda Camp for a month
now and I love it. Of course, I had my concerns about coming out to the bush
for a year, but those worries all rapidly disappeared during my first week
here. Liz has made me feel so welcome, and she’s been a brilliant mentor.
My first
impression of camp wasn’t until the morning of 30th October as we
had arrived the night before. It was different to how I’d imagined it, and yet
somehow exactly how I’d imagined it! Camp has everything we need and I can see
myself happily living here over the next year. I also got to meet the baboons
when we went out that afternoon. I think they were possibly checking me out
just as much as I was them, as they almost paraded passed us! It was incredible
to see the white infant (Macy) and also the mixed coloured infant (Elton), as
I’ve previously worked with Chacma baboons (Papio
ursinus) and so I’m used to only seeing black infants.
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| Aileen & Liz in the field |
Of course I
have to mention the bats, as it’s not possible to come to Kasanka National Park
in October/November and not mention them! Watching around 3 million straw-coloured
fruit bats pour out into the evening sky from one small patch of forest on my
first evening here was just mind-blowing. And their numbers have trebled since
then! Every evening we see them; whether at camp or still in the field. I must
say my first full day in Kasanka was amazing; exploring camp and Fibwe Hide in
the morning, meeting the baboons in the afternoon and then watching the bats in
the evening!
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The bats
at dawn
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Friday, November 30, 2012
Independence Day, New Arrivals, and a Theory of Kinda Baboon Natal Coat Color
Blog #12
By: Elizabeth Winterton
Independence Day – 24th October 2012
Chongololo Club Play:
As part of the project’s work at Kafinda Basic School we also participate in the schools ‘Chongololo
Club’. A government initiative, the clubs aim to increase awareness about conservation and
conservation issues.
This term, I asked the club to write a play about local conservation, focussing on some of the animals
found within Kasanka National Park and the neighbouring Bangweulu Wetlands. The animals chosen
were the elephant, sitatunga, straw-coloured fruit bat and the shoebill. As well as information about
the animal itself, such as physical characteristics, diet, and threats to its conservation, the students
wrote poems about conserving the animals, and were going to perform a poaching sketch and
various songs and dances.
The students chose to perform the play on Zambia National Independence Day, so after rounding-up
some of Kasanka’s volunteers and management team we set off for what we thought was going to
be an excellent play (I had seen a rehearsal, and it was great!).
Unfortunately after all the anticipation, and after watching a few hours of all the other school’s
clubs performing, it turned out that half of the Chongololo Club hadn’t turned up because they
were Jehovah Witnesses and didn’t celebrate Independence Day, so therefore the play couldn’t be
shown!! Bit of a disappointment.
So we’re still awaiting the actual play, and planning a date when they can come down to Kasanka to
perform it.Blog
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| One of the dances |
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| Some of the costumes from the dress rehearsal |
Netball Match:
After losing to the school’s team back in June, it was time for our Girl’s club to have revenge.
With a team made up of Selina, Charity, Victoria, Agness, Leah, Abia and Angela (a last-minute sub
for me) we were looking pretty good and got off to a great start. After being told I was only going to
play for 5 minutes in the 2nd half (apparently I didn’t impress with my last performance, but note I
was unwittingly at the start of a bout of malaria!), I actually surpassed all expectations and managed
to play for the full 15 minutes!! Unfortunately though my energetic burst didn’t help us too much,
and in the end we lost 13-6.
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| The winning shot |
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| The Team: Selina, Me, Leah Abia, Charity, Angela, Agness, Victoria |
BATS, BATS AND MORE BATS
Kasanka is known for 2 things; the sitatunga, and the World’s largest mammal migration (in terms of
biomass). These mammals are the straw-coloured fruit bats, which arrive from the DRC towards the
end of October and roost in Kasanka until the beginning of January when they fly back to the DRC.
When I was told we’d have up to 10 million bats arriving I couldn’t quite comprehend what that
would look like, and now they are here it’s even harder to comprehend. Every evening around 6pm a
continual wave of bats fills the sky, and it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed.
Living at Fibwe, I’m lucky enough to see this spectacle every night as the bats roots only a few
kilometres away from camp, and it never fails to amaze.
The baboons don’t seem to be too disturbed by this sudden influx of mammals into their home
range, however the vehicles packed with tourists arriving at 4.30am each morning does seem to
be affecting their activity patterns with them now leaving the mushitu around 6am every morning
which means extremely early starts for us researchers!
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| The bats leaving their roost for a night of feeding (all the black dots are bats!) |
NEW ARRIVALS
In the last few weeks we’ve had a few new additions to the project….
Firstly, I want to give a big warm welcome to Aileen Sweeney who is to be the new camp manager
for the coming year.
Secondly, the last baby for this year has been born! Indigo, the daughter of Norah has given birth to
her first child. A healthy black infant, this brings our total number of births this year to 12 (not bad
considering we only have 18 adult females in the troop!), with 5 white, 3 black, 1 grey and 3 mixed
infants.
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| Aileen at Kinda Camp |
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| Indigo with her new baby, being groomed by Norah |
THE GENETICS OF COLOUR
One thing that is so baffling about the Kindas is the huge variety of colour in infants. All other
baboon species have black infants, so why do Kindas also have white, grey and mixed coloured
infants? The white infants in particular stand out hugely in the forest and therefore appear to be
under much greater threat from predators, so what fitness benefits must there be to counteract
this? Another question raised is how are they different colours in the first place?
This question has perplexed me over the last week as I was 90% sure Indigo’s baby would be white
as 2 of her siblings (the other was born before research started) were born white, so I would assume
she was also born white and therefore would be a strong carrier for the gene.
But what about mixed and grey infants? They must be a mix of black and white genes, but why
would one infant have a black head and a white body, and another be completely grey? Could there
then be co-dominance or even multiple alleles??
After a thorough look through an A-level biology text book(!), and the assumption that grey is indeed
different to black and white, we (Myself and Aileen) have come up with the following theory…
Kinda baboon’s genes for colour have multiple alleles, with the black and white alleles being co-
dominant, and the grey allele being recessive to both the black and white alleles.
As an example; if a female is dominant for the black allele, but is a carrier of the grey allele, and her
male mating partner is dominant for the white allele and a carrier of the grey allele, you would get
the following ratio of offspring;
1 mixed(black and white):1 white:1 black:1 grey
| Female | |||
| Male | IB | IG | |
| IW | IBIW | IWIG | |
| IG | IBIG | IGIG | |
just co-dominant as only a mixed infant could be born.
 |
White (MJ’s infant) |
 |
Black (Indigo’s infant) |
 |
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Grey (Roseanne’s infant) |
Anyone want to fund the research so we can find out whether our theory is correct!?? Maybe this
could lead to the Kindas being classed as a species in their own right rather than just a sub-species…
*** Side note from Anna...The Kasanka Baboon Project considers Kinda Baboons to be its own species.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Blog #11
The Girl’s Overnight to Kinda
Written by Kasanka Baboon Project Womens Science Club
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| Watching the baboons |
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| Bastiaan teaching us about animal tracks |
After all this,
we came back to camp where we had lots of fun. Around 19.30 we had dinner, and
afterwards watched a movie and went to sleep.
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| Cooking dinner |
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| The finished meal |
Very early in the morning we went on a game
drive where we saw lots of animals; sitatunga, warthog, bushbuck, baboons and
so on. We also saw birds flying in the sky. When we came back from the game
drive we had breakfast, and afterwards received a certificate each saying we
had completed the animal tracks course. Around 11.00hrs we left Kinda and set
off for home.
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| The start of the game drive |
x
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| After receiving our certificates |
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