6/14
Earlier this week we had the opportunity to do some cool trips with the UF students. The first was a night game drive around Mpala using huge spotlights. Mpala is unique compared to most game reserves and to all national parks in that you are allowed to be driving around after dark. So this leads to some interesting night game drives as a lot of cool carnivores and other animals are nocturnal...cool things like ratels, anteaters, pangolins, several cats species, and several mustelid species. On our drive we got lucky to see a cute little bushbaby (a nocturnal primate) jumping around through the tree as well as some genets and mongooses. At a couple points during the drive, we stopped, turned off our lights and vehicles and Todd played recordings of different dieing animals to hopefully bring in the hyenas and lions. We got lucky and in one place where we stopped, a large group of hyenas came in.
Elisha and I also had the opportunity to go to Ol Pejeda game reserve with the class. This reserve is home to one of the largest densities of black rhinos and southern white rhinos in the world (both critically endangered species). It is also home to 4 of the only 7 remaining northern white rhinos in the world. Our trip here did not disappoint as we were able to see all 3 species, including a cute baby black rhino walking around with its parents. In addition to the rhinos we saw huge herds of buffalo, elands, oryx, heartebeast, lots of cute little warthogs, and of course huge herds of gazelles, zebras, impala, and waterbuck.
On the trip we also visited a chimp sanctuary where we got to get up and close with chimps who were rescued from the pet trade. The students had a lot of fun watching the chimps which of course did chimpy things like pick their noses and eat their boogers and throw dirt and poop at the students. The funniest part was when the chimps (who are crazy strong) mock charged some of the girls and really scared them, even though they were separated by an electrical fence. But it was also fun to hear the stories about the chimps who had devised clever ways to escape the electric fence using tools
The other highlight was getting to pet and fee Baraka, a blind rhino who they keep in captivity and to promote rhino conservation awareness.
The Ol Pejeda reserve is quite cool because it is doing an amazing job of protecting rhinos and other species while also working with locals to allow them to farm and graze and be not only sustainable, but make some money. The reserve has also built corridors to allow animals from places like Mpala and Samburu NP to migrate in and out in order to promote genetic diversity. It is a great example of successful conservation in action.
Some pictures below from our trip to Ol Pejeda as well as some photos around Mpala and the last one having some fun in our Land Rover with my field assistants on the way to our plots
Earlier this week we had the opportunity to do some cool trips with the UF students. The first was a night game drive around Mpala using huge spotlights. Mpala is unique compared to most game reserves and to all national parks in that you are allowed to be driving around after dark. So this leads to some interesting night game drives as a lot of cool carnivores and other animals are nocturnal...cool things like ratels, anteaters, pangolins, several cats species, and several mustelid species. On our drive we got lucky to see a cute little bushbaby (a nocturnal primate) jumping around through the tree as well as some genets and mongooses. At a couple points during the drive, we stopped, turned off our lights and vehicles and Todd played recordings of different dieing animals to hopefully bring in the hyenas and lions. We got lucky and in one place where we stopped, a large group of hyenas came in.
Elisha and I also had the opportunity to go to Ol Pejeda game reserve with the class. This reserve is home to one of the largest densities of black rhinos and southern white rhinos in the world (both critically endangered species). It is also home to 4 of the only 7 remaining northern white rhinos in the world. Our trip here did not disappoint as we were able to see all 3 species, including a cute baby black rhino walking around with its parents. In addition to the rhinos we saw huge herds of buffalo, elands, oryx, heartebeast, lots of cute little warthogs, and of course huge herds of gazelles, zebras, impala, and waterbuck.
On the trip we also visited a chimp sanctuary where we got to get up and close with chimps who were rescued from the pet trade. The students had a lot of fun watching the chimps which of course did chimpy things like pick their noses and eat their boogers and throw dirt and poop at the students. The funniest part was when the chimps (who are crazy strong) mock charged some of the girls and really scared them, even though they were separated by an electrical fence. But it was also fun to hear the stories about the chimps who had devised clever ways to escape the electric fence using tools
The other highlight was getting to pet and fee Baraka, a blind rhino who they keep in captivity and to promote rhino conservation awareness.
The Ol Pejeda reserve is quite cool because it is doing an amazing job of protecting rhinos and other species while also working with locals to allow them to farm and graze and be not only sustainable, but make some money. The reserve has also built corridors to allow animals from places like Mpala and Samburu NP to migrate in and out in order to promote genetic diversity. It is a great example of successful conservation in action.
Some pictures below from our trip to Ol Pejeda as well as some photos around Mpala and the last one having some fun in our Land Rover with my field assistants on the way to our plots
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