Dear All

My header is a photograph of Zambezi Sawmills Community School. You can see the wall which had been knocked down by elephants and ... just about see ... the new electric fence along the top of the wall.

Livingstone’s Elephant Problem

Livingstone has a serious problem with its elephants and something has to be done. No-one is really quite sure, at the moment, what is the solution and organisations are just putting on patches, as if it is a mere scratch, when the wound needs major surgery. Major surgery needs big money and proper planning, neither of which are available.

Last week, I went to witness the completion of a ‘patch’ by Elephant Connection. It is a small contribution to the problem, but a large commitment for such a small NGO. Elephant Connection is working in Zambia to help keep our elephants safe. They work in Southern and Western Provinces in the KAZA area. Many elephant have been collared and are monitored for their movements so that we can learn where the migrations are happening. But they also help, where they can, with human-elephant conflict, hence their help with our elephant problem in Livingstone.

If you look at the map, you can see the Game Park which is ‘fenced’. The fence is often knocked down by elephants or cut by poachers, so it is full of holes. To the west are our fairly ineffectual sewage ponds. Further west, along the river, are the developments of Waterfront and David Livingstone Safari Lodge and then, circled in blue is the new hotel development.

Also on the map is a school – Zambezi Sawmills Community School. Their wall had been knocked down by elephants and the teachers and parents were concerned for the safety of the children. Elephant Connection, through their CEO, John Carter, had put up an electric fence atop of the wall to try to keep the elephants away.

Look at a closer image of the school site:

The school is in the centre of a suburb with thousands of people living there. But the elephant are constant visitors to raid gardens, especially liking the mangoes when they come in to season. (Soon). I am told that the elephants usually wander in at night and are quite used to the layout of the suburb, knowing where to find food. If the people stay off the streets at night, they are safe. But, kids being kids, have taken to waking up in the night and venturing out in the streets to find the elephant and to scare them. In the Video Section of the email, you can see a poor elephant being chased by a horde of children. Had that elephant turned and charged at the children, he could have wiped out at least 10 of them. The newspapers would have announced that the elephant had ‘attacked’ the children. And the elephant would have been shot. Elephants are very intelligent; they do not ‘attack’ anyone unless they are frightened.

The school is very grateful to John Carter and his wife under Elephant Connection for their help in keeping the children safe at school and I know that these children have been taught to respect elephants. But what of all the other children in the suburb who think that chasing elephants is fun? It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Looking at the bigger picture, there are moves afoot to find a lasting solution for our elephant – the numbers of which are increasing every year. The new hotel has taken over a lot of their land - a bit of a disaster. The hotel owners say they will not fence the property, but we all know that they will – they have no choice. The Game Park is quite degraded with little for the elephants to eat so they are forced to look elsewhere for food … heading to town or up to Mukuni. But there are so many fences now and the elephant are forced to walk along narrow corridors between developments.

I don’t know the answer, but let’s hope the authorities can find a way which does not include killing …

And then this happened later ..

CATS-Conservation And Tourism Society

We would like to express our disappointments in people of Cold storage, sawmills and DSS areas for stoning our service vehicle leaving one member seriously injured.We seriously don’t understand why people would resort to such behaviour especially that we are trying to help with the human and animal conflict in the mentioned areas. Investigations are been done by the police and we hope the members of the community can share with us why such an action was taken. To our member, we wish him a quick recovery.

G: CATS uses their vehicle at night to help with the elephant problem. The driver is always on call throughout the night and, when he is phoned, he collects a team to go into the suburbs to move the elephant out. They move the elephant with persuasion, not alarm. So far, they have been very successful, but now that one of their members has been injured, they will be much more reticent to give up their time for free to help the communities.

Now it seems, finally, that the Livingstone Council has come involved. It’s about time …

Birdlife

I am in bird heaven right now. This is the time of year for all of us when the birds don their breeding plumage and our migrants arrive. Many of the trees have not yet put out their foliage for the rainy season, so viewing is good. My garden is always alive with visitors to my bird baths. And, all day, I can hear the birds singing or twittering.

Someone asked on Facebook where they could find a bird bath. They are very difficult to find in Livingstone. But we don’t need a ‘proper’ bird bath; any water container will do – an old plastic bowl or tin tub. Just fill the bowl or tub with large stones so that the birds have something to land on, and fill it with water. Place the bird bath in a quiet corner of the garden, away from the house. And, don’t be disappointed if the birds don’t come at first – it takes time.

Soon, my garden will be quiet. The birds will have found their mate, built their nests and eggs laid. From that point, they rarely give us a tune as they do not want to draw attention to themselves and the little ones they are raising. So, I am enjoying this time while it lasts.

The photogrqaphs are taken from my living room. I don’t spend my life staring out of the window - my desk is next to it!

LIVINGSTONE

Zambezi Working Donkey Project

Two broken souls... our latest rescues came home with us from Libuyu market yesterday. Belinda’s neck is one of the worst we’ve seen and ‘Better’ has broken knees from falling under an impossible load - we hope he will live up to his name!

New 750MW plant lights up ZambiaSouthern Times

Zambia’s 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower (KGL) Power Plant comes on-stream next month in what will be a major boost for the country’s electricity supply situation.

Zambia has been grappling with an electricity deficit of about 800MW and the US$2,2 billion KGL Plant will ease the situation by adding 150MW per stage in four phases from September 2020 to January 2021. The plant has been built with a loan facilitated by Kenya’s Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation and China’s Eximbank. Zambia’s power utility Zesco was the project lead.

ZAMBIA

GRI - Zambia

We are delighted to announce the official ground breaking of the Lusaka National Park Conservation Education Centre!

With critical funding from David Shepherd and Prospero Zambia, GRI is partnering Department of National Parks & Wildlife (DNPW) to develop a world class education centre in the heart of Lusaka National Park, which will enable us to deliver in-situ conservation education to thousands of Zambian schoolchildren each year.

Complementing and intensifying GRI’s existing Community Outreach Programme, the Conservation Education Centre will promote wildlife conservation, education and job creation through growth in tourism!

A huge and heartfelt thanks to all who have helped us reach this significant milestone!

Mizu Eco-Care

More Rosewood spotted on the Great North road.The harvest of these trees must be controlled. It is not a question of legality but a moral choice for our ecosystems.Keep the pics coming!!

More than 25 apes trafficked from Congo recovered in ZimbabweThe UK Guardian

Large seizure of pangolin scales also carried out, government says, as four suspects are arrested

At least 26 great apes illegally removed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been seized in Zimbabwe, where four suspected traffickers have been arrested. Congo’s environment minister, Claude Nyamugabo Bazibuhe, also announced a large seizure of pangolin scales from the country’s north-east.

Congo is one of the world’s last refuges for endangered great apes, such as eastern lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas, while the pangolin is considered the most-trafficked animal worldwide for its scales, which are prized in traditional Chinese medicine.

Two Congolese nationals, a Malawian and a Zambian were arrested on Wednesday during a routine border post check as they entered Zimbabwe with the apes in a truck, Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwean parks and wildlife authority said on Friday.

Farawo said the primates were being cared for by Zimbabwe officials until they could be returned to Congo. Nyamugabo Bazibuhe said in a statement that 32 live chimpanzees were recently taken from the Haut-Katanga province in south-eastern Congo, on the border with Zambia.

Traffickers used fake documents to take them out of the country and were destined for South Africa, he said.“The investigation continues ... to identify exactly the specimens” seized in Zimbabwe “before considering their repatriation”, the minister said.“All great apes – gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees – and pangolins are fully protected.” …

ZIMBABWE

Bhejane Trust

A TRAGEDY WITH A FAIRY TALE ENDING

While at Deteema Dam last week I noticed an elephant cow with an obviously broken front leg, accompanied by a small calf. She was on the edge of the dam, with a small herd nearby. One young elephant detached itself from this herd and came behind the injured cow and started pushing her into the dam. She could barely hobble and was screaming in agony, but this young elephant persisted, pushing her around while she screamed. I have no explanation for this strange behaviour, unless it was one of her older calves confused by the mothers inactivity. After a while, this young elephant stopped pushing this poor cow around the shallow water ( she went down once and I did not think she would get up again but she did) - it was all very traumatic! When I left the dam, the cow was standing in the water with this poor confused calf by her side.

That night she collapsed in the dam and died

The next dat day I spoke to the Robins Area Manager, Mrs Moyo, about saving the calf, and she agreed and got hold of the Cluster Manager, Mr Chibaya, for permission to catch the calf. I got hold of Jos Dankwerts at Wild is Life and alerted him to the situation. Permission came through and Jos and the Wild is Life team shot through to Deteema, caught the calf, took it back to their base and released it with their own small elephant group.I am very happy to report the calf has settled in with the other young elephants at the Wild is Life facility - a very happy ending!!A big thanks to Parks - Mrs Moyo and Mr Chibaya for their assistance, and very well done to Jos and crew!!

Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust

Last week we translocated a young female calf of questionable provenance...she looked part kudu and part eland. The “kuland” was found on her own in Victoria Falls town and was not afraid of people. With the assistance of Zimparks, vfapu and zambezihorsesafaris we moved the “kuland” to our rehabilitation centre. Yesterday we then introduced her to a young bushbuck. She is slowly gaining weight and improving. DNA samples have been taken for species confirmation.

Zambezi Book Company

Tourism map of the Victoria Falls from late 1930s... shows the Victoria Falls Hotel and trolley line (as well as railway line) running down to Falls. Note a section of the line also runs upstream along what is now Zambezi Drive to where the Hotel operated its boating services. Corridors Through Time - A History of The Victoria Falls Hotel

Zimbabwe: Elephants die from ‘bacterial disease’BBC

Wildlife officials in Zimbabwe say they suspect a bacterial disease is responsible for the deaths of more than 30 elephants since late August. The elephants were found lying on their stomachs, which experts say suggests they died suddenly. Park officials do not believe they were the victims of poaching as their tusks had not been removed.

Earlier this year hundreds of elephants were found dead in Botswana from a type of bacterial poisoning.Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) says about 34 elephants have been found so far. How-ever it’s thought that there may be others which have not yet been found.

The animals were discovered in and around forests between Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls.

Post-mortem examinations of some of the elephants found they had inflamed livers and other organs. …

BOTSWANARex Kelly

Fires in the kasai channel.

G: I wondered where all the haze had come from in Livingstone ...

Construction of Okavango River bridge in Botswana to be complete next MayConstruction review

Construction of the Okavango River bridge at Mohembo in Botswana is expected to be complete in May 2021. Accord-ing to senior resident engineer for the project Mr Veeranagowda Patel the project is currently 79% complete. “Most of the main items are done while the erection of a flyover across the river will commence in a few days,” he said.

The project commenced in November 8, 2016 with an original completion date of July 7 2019. It has however experienced setbacks, …

Mystery shrouds plans to start fracking near Namibia’s Kavango River and Botswana’s Tsodilo HillsDaily Maverick

A Canadian oil and gas exploration company, ReconAfrica, says it has the go-ahead to frack in some of Africa’s most sensitive environmental areas, including the Namibian headwaters of the Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills, a World Heritage Site in Botswana. But they may have jumped the EIA gun.

Canadian oil and gas company ReconAfrica said in a press release last month that it is planning to drill oil and gas wells into an environmentally sensitive, protected area in Africa that supplies the Okavango Delta with water.

The drilling location sits along the banks of the Kavango River, straddling the border between Namibia and Botswana, inside the newly proclaimed Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, the KAZA TFCA.

ReconAfrica, which is listed on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange, explains on its website that it has acquired the rights to drill in more than 35,000km2 of north-east Namibia and north-west Botswana. Maps from both the Namibian and Botswanan ministries of mines confirm that they have been granted petroleum prospecting licences in the area.

ReconAfrica claims that this new discovery could be bigger than the Eagle Ford shale basin in Texas, which the United States Energy Information Agency says is one of the largest terrestrial oil and gas finds in the world. ...

‘Kavango oil drilling not fracking’The Namibian

The environment ministry says the drilling of two strategic wells in the Kavango region is meant for data gathering to understand the geology and confirm the existence of oil or gas.

In a statement on Friday, the ministry explained that the drilling by Reconnaissance Energy Africa, which was issued with an Environmental Clearance Certificate, is for possible detailed oil and gas explorations and not fracking as reported in The Namibian earlier this week.

Environmental commissioner Timoteus Mufeti said as per the Environmental Impact Assessment approved by his ministry, the exploration activities will not cover the entire license area and will be limited to areas situated 80 kilometres south of the Okavango river, 40 kilometres from the boundary of the Khaudum National Park.

It is also more than 260kn from the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

“The approved areas where the two strategic wells will be drilled are not located in any conservancy. In the event oil or gas is discovered, a production license will have to be issued by the competent authority,” Mufeti noted.

Namibian Sun

Inspections by the police’s Special Field Force have uncovered looting and plundering of natural resources by Zambian and Congolese nationals in the Zambezi Region. This was confirmed by police inspector-general Sebastian Ndeitunga, who said illegal fishing had been uncovered, with the dried fish being smuggled from Namibia through Zambia and sold in the Democratic Republic of Congo. PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED

NAMIBIA

Peace Parks Foundation

This was one lucky python! She got completely entangled in an old discarded fishing net at one of the lakes in Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique. It must have been around her for quite some time as one could see the impact on her body. The reserve’s rangers and members of the Environmental Management and Conservation Trust quickly sprang into action when they found her, and freed her from her human-made prison. She took a moment to compose herself - and off she went into the coolness of the lake.Well done to the team!

MOZAMBIQUE

Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)

Migratory bird cemetery discovered in Cyprus: Participants of the current CABS bird protection camp in Cyprus have found hundreds of dead migratory birds on the coast south of Larnaca. In addition to dozens of bee-eaters, numerous swallows were also found, as well as a kestrel, hoopoe, night heron and a European Roller. Obviously, the protected birds - which are scattered together with thousands of shotgun shells in an area near Meneou - have been killed by poachers for no reason other than target practice. The police, informed directly by us, have refused to even send a patrol car and so far, no investigations have been made and nobody has bothered to secure the evidence. CABS has therefore issued a press release today and called on the authorities to intervene immediately. At the same time, our teams are now intensively monitoring the area to prevent further shootings. Our partners at BirdLife Cyprus had initially given us the information about the area.

OTHER STUFFCOVID-19 Stats as at 4 October (WHO)

Country Total confirmed cases

Total deaths

Zambia 14,830 333Zimbabwe 7,858 228Botswana 3,172 16Namibia 11,572 123Mozambique 9,049 64Malawi 5,783 179Angola 5,370 189TanzaniaDRC 10,751 274South Africa 679,716 16,938

Country Total confirmed cases

Total deaths

Zambia 12,776 295Zimbabwe 6,837 206Botswana 2,002 8Namibia 8,685 89Mozambique 4,444 27Malawi 5,614 175Angola 2,965 117TanzaniaDRC 10,209 260South Africa 638,517 14,889

COVID-19 Stats as at 8 Sept (WHO)

The Story of Mimi and Toutou

At the beginning of the First World War (1914), Germany scuttled the two boats owned by the London Missionary Society and the African Lake Company on Lake Tanganyika – Good News and Cecil Rhodes. The Germans then set about arming their own boats so that they could control the lake. They then had two armed boats patrolling the lake – Kingani and Hedwig von Wissmann – which were based in the harbour at Bismarckburg. Another large boat was being fitted out ready for the campaign – Graf Goetzen.

John Lee, a hunter, had an idea to help the British on the Lake. His idea was to bring in two small, but heavily armed, boats which could move swiftly around the lake unlike the steam ships of the Germans. This scheme was approved and two 40-foot boats were found in Britain and shipped to Cape Town. Along with the boats came a very eccentric, and not very nice, Commander in the British Navy. He bragged all the time about things he was supposed to have done and bored everyone to bits. His name was Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson. It was Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson who named the two boats - Mimi and Toutou. He had wanted to call them Dog and Cat but authorities had not approved this choice.

While the boats were en route to Cape Town, John Lee and colleague, Frank Magee, organised over 1,000 men to begin clearing a road towards the Lualaba River from Fungurume, 240 km away. Frank Magee had been a journalist prior to the war and wrote the story of the expedition in a journal afterwards. Frank Magee:…..going ahead of the main body to select a route across the African bush from the point where the boats would be taken off the train. It was important that a route be as free as possible from hills, gorges etc, yet close to water, should be chosen, as our boats were to be taken over this trail intact, each drawn by a [steam] traction engine. Great difficulty was experienced in finding a suitable route over which to make our road, owing to the hilly nature of the country, as well as long stretches of marshland, and breeding ground of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. But at last a route was selected and thousands of natives were recruited from adjacent villages to set to work under white supervision literally to carve a passage through the bush.

After arriving at Cape Town, the two boats were put on a train and brought to the furthest point along the line, Fungurume. By this time, John Lee, Frank Magee and their hundreds of men had cleared the road to Sankisia, near the Lualaba River, over the Mitumba Mountains and to the lowlands below.

Frank Magee:…where slopes were too steep they were levelled down. Bridges, constructed from timber growing on the spot, were thrown across river beds. Giants trees, when blocking our path, were uprooted with dynamite. Rocks and boulders were treated in a similar manner. Our single biggest problem was a dried-up gorge, 40-yards wide and about 20-yards deep. This we completely filled with tree trunks. Thousands of trees were cleared out of the way.

John Lee and Frank Magee came out of the bush to meet the consignment of two boats and the naval commander, Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson. By this time Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson had made a plan to get rid of John Lee, seeing in him a threat to his own self-aggrandisement. Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson accused John Lee of insulting the Belgium authorities, paid him off and nothing more was ever heard of John Lee.

Being ‘supreme commander’ of the expedition, Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson, organised hundreds of men to accompany the team, the men being needed as porters and general muscle-power. The boats, now with their own wheels made from railway stock, were attached by chains to two steam traction engines, and dragged through the bush. One of the biggest problems was finding water to feed the traction engines. On more than one occasion, the men were left without water, all of it being poured into the thirsty engines.

The expedition crawled along, sometimes only covering a few kilometres in a day. Having reached the summit of the mountain range, they then had to get down the other side which provided its own challenges. At one point, one of the traction engines slid down the steep hillside, only stopping when it hit a tree. Finally, however, the expedition reached Sankisia where a railway took them to Bukama, on the Lualaba River.

The boats were then put into the Lualaba River and for 17 days floated downriver to Kabalo where another railway line took them to Albertville (Kalemie).

Luck had been on their side as no rain fell, but on reaching their destination the rain clouds dropped their load.

The British were being hosted by Belgium officials at Albertville and they too learned to ignore Geoffrey Spicer-Smith and his antics which now included wearing a skirt and rolling up his sleeves to show off his tattoos of snakes and butterflies along his arm.

It took a while to organise the harbor and fit up the boats but, around Christmas time all was ready. One of the German boats, Kingani, had been seen on several occasions patrolling the lake and, once Mimi and Toutou were ready, an attack was launched on the Kingani. The Kingani being powered by steam could only chug along and this is where Mimi and Toutou had the advantage with their petrol engines. They nimbly took up positions either side of the Kingani which only had a gun in the front, and fired into the side. The captain was killed and the rest of the crew surrendered.

Bringing the Kingani back to the Belgium/British harbour it was repaired and re-fitted with extra fire-power. The Kingani was renamed Fifi. Meanwhile, back at Bismarckburg, the Germans were wondering what had happened to the Kingani. The Hedwig von Wissmann was sent out to look for it.

Once all the repairs were done, Mimi, Toutou and Fifi took to the lake to find the von Wissmann. The von Wissmann was more than twice the size of Mimi and Toutou but because of their agility and massive guns, together with Fifi, newly kitted with powerful guns, they managed to fire repeatedly at the von Wissmann, disabling it and setting it on fire. It sank, most of the crew being rescued.

Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson was now a hero, not only to himself but also to those back in Britain. A congratulatory message was sent to him which must have added to his feeling of self-importance. However, a later message did not endear itself to him as he was ordered to help with the attack at Bismarckburg and the Graf Goetzen. Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson prevaricated. In fact, one story stated that he took to his bed. The Graf Goetzen was five times the size of Mimi or Toutou and, as Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson was told, had massive firepower. Actually, it had no guns as they had been removed to help with the inland campaign, but Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson did not know this. The ‘cannon’ placed in the front of the Graf Goetzen which would have been seen through binoculars was, in fact, the trunk of a palm tree.

Geoffrey Spicer-Simpson was saved from disgrace by the arrival of two float planes which were used to bomb the Graf Goetzen causing enough damage to incapacitate it. The Germans then decided to scuttle the boat with the intention of raising it again when it was needed.

The battle for the lake was over with British and Belgium forces now in charge. The Graf Goetzen remained on the lake bed until 1927 when the British brought it up, repaired it and put it to work as a ferry. It is still in use today chugging along the shores of the lake between Mpulungu and Nsumbu and is now called the MV Liemba.

EXCHANGE RATESUS$1 K20.00

P11.45Nam$16.55Zim$83-100

WEATHERMin Temp Max Temp

25°C (77) 40°C (104)

Have a safe few weeks

Gill

SMILE

Nice and warmy and toasty ...