Elephant Human Relations Aid Newsletter |  |
| | | | | | | | A difficult start to 2010 for the desert elephants
Mama Afrika's herd, having left the river during the onset of the rainy season, headed to the higher farmlands south of the Ugab. There they experienced high levels of hostility and conflict with residents, which thankfully are unheard of since their recent return to the Ugab area. Two of the elephants, known to EHRA as Janis (a cow approx. 20 years old) and Ubva (a young bull who was still within the herd) were both shot. Janis's carcass was found in November and Ubva had to be euthanized due to an irreparable injury to his front leg. On Tuesday 6th April the EHRA patrol found another dead elephant, a bull that we are still trying to ID. Another cow, Roo, has a gun shot wound to her foot, but seems to be recovering and is still with the herd. Four elephants split from the group when the shootings were occuring and had joined the group G6. On 25th April we also had a report of another dead or wounded elephant and we are investigating this week.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) is continuing to investigate, and we hope arrests will result. To increase the herds protection the MET have fitted matriarch Mama Afrika with a satellite tracking collar, a move which EHRA fully backs. Right top: Mama Afrika with her collar. Right bottom: Ubva
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EHRA PEACE Project Launched
In March, our training and education project, The PEACE Project, led by Dr. Betsy Fox and Hendrick Munembome, was launched at Twyfelfontein Country Lodge, Camp Xaragu, Doro !Nawas Camp, Mowani Mountain Camp, Camp Kipwe and Aabadi Mountain Camp, where 88 employees who are residents of the local area and several camp managers attended the seminars 'Living with elephants'. The seminars cover topics such as what are the signs that elephants are close by, what to do if elephants are encountered, how to train dogs not to bark at elephants, as well as information on the behaviour and structure of elephant society, elephant biology and physiology. In the future Betsy and Hendrick will also be presenting workshops to the schools in the area, and local communities, and will also lead conservancy game guard training sessions. The response so far has been extremely positive, and we hope that through empowering local communities with a greater understanding about the elephants we can reduce peoples' fear and decrease conflict incidents. |  
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Walk for the elephants
For the 4th year EHRA will be holding its annual challenge trek to raise funds for the conservation of the desert elephants. The trek takes place over 6 days and goes through one of the most amazing areas, not just in Namibia, but on the planet in our opinion! The distance for the week is a total of 130kms, so training is advised, although the most important thing is well worn, comfortable boots! Not only will you help fund EHRA's conservation programmes, but you will also finish the week with an incredible sense of achivement, a bunch of new friends and a big smile on your face! There is a discount for all trekkers who also join the volunteer project following the trek. For more information, or if you would like to speak to someone who has done the trek, just email Rachel either through the web site or at elephant@iway.na. For more information click here. | |
What have the volunteers been up to!We have had 35 volunteers so far this year and we send a big thank you to everyone. Some teams were working in the area where the elephants were shot and saw first- hand the reality of the conflicts that occur. EHRA could not operate without the volunteers and we appreciate all their hard work. It's not easy to build walls in 45 degree heat! Volunteers have come from all walks of life, from an ice cream maker, to Broadway dancers, to writers, farmers and beauticians! We have a new team member, Neil Bone, who previously worked in the Caprivi region on a predator conflict project. Neil is now managing the volunteer groups. Also a big thank you to volunteer staff Ben Kerley and Robin Wild who have been working incredibly hard for EHRA. We always need volunteers, so if you know anyone who may be interested, please direct them to the web site. We update the site and the Facebook page with photos regularly so take a look at what the volunteers have been up to!
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