Jackson Mwamure is the Snake Man of Mida Creek Watamu Kenya. He has a genuine love for these amazing reptiles, who are more friend than foe to humans. Sita Snake Park is a collection of a variety of reptiles are found in this beautiful UN Protected Biosphere Area. The Park is open to the public and everyone can appreciate the snakes, tortoises and a chameleon, in a safe environment, approved by Kenya Wildlife Service.
Learn more about reptiles – and visit Sita Snake Park when in Watamu.
Dolphin researcher Dr Gill Braulik and her team with the Wildlife Conservation Society have been scanning the waters of the Indian Ocean between the islands of Pemba and Misali for humpback dolphins since dawn, when suddenly a pod surfaces for air.
The excitement is palpable. Straightaway, the team starts taking pictures of the dorsal fins and record the exact sighting location with their GPS. The exercise will continue for two weeks, 11 hours a day, using a local dhow, come rain or shine.
Gill Braulik, head of the WCS dolphin team, has been studying dolphins for most of her adult life. She set up a dolphin research project in Pakistan, to study one of the world’s most endangered species — the Indus River dolphin.
Read more on the rare Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin in Pemba waters
Dr. Elena V. Chelysheva (PhD) is Project Founder and Principal Investigator of Mara-Meru Cheetah Project
Q and A about why we MUST be clear about Cheetahs
Can you explain briefly why we need to save cheetah
Cheetah as a species survived a genetic bottleneck approximately 12,000 years ago, when only a few thousands individuals were left in the world. Cheetah recovered in numbers, and in the beginning of 20th Century there were around 100,000 animals in Africa and Asia. Growth of human population, its activities and expanding their territories led to the drastically declining of cheetahs in the wild. Today the known cheetah population is only 6,700 (IUCN Red List, 2015) and estimated to be not more than 10,000! Such a rate of declining could lead to the total extinction of the species in the next 50 years. Saving the cheetah for posterity – is protecting its environment by working with local communities, stakeholders and authorities, as well as with international organizations and people.
By Femke Broekhuis, PhD
Project Director
Don’t:
– Come too close to the cheetahs. Even if cheetahs are used to the presence of vehicles they are wild animals and we need to treat them with respect
– Surround a cheetah on a kill. Kills often attract other predators such as lions and spotted hyaenas so make sure that they (cheetahs) can see approaching dangers
– Come between a mother and her cubs as this will stress both the mother and cubs
– Overcrowd at a cheetah sighting. If there are too many vehicles then see if you can return to the sighting later
– Let cheetahs climb on your vehicles! Some cheetahs are known to do so – if you see one of these cheetahs approaching, move away slowly
– Try and get a cheetah’s attention by making unnecessary noise, for example hooting or banging on the car door, or throwing objects at a cheetah
Do:
– Keep at distance of at least 25m
– When a cheetah is hunting keep your distance so that you do not disturb the prey or cheetah. If the cheetah is successful do not immediately rush in to see the cheetah Give the cheetah some time and then slowly and quietly approach the cheetah.
– Keep noise levels down to a minimum to minimize the stress on an individual
The Mara Cheetah Project is working to conserve cheetahs in the Maasai Mara landscape.
To donate or find out more about this project visit www.maracheetahs.org.
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