4 months in, must be time for a holiday

Month four has been a fantastic time in my African adventure, but that time is certainly going fast as I now only have 8 weeks left till I head on home.

This month kicked off with the amazing weekend of beach games, drinking, music and beautiful sunshine called “Diani Rules”; see some photos and read more about it here.

Diani Rules team photo

Hugo chased away a baboon who tried to attack Chip, he is one brave man and you can read about his troop here. I learnt how to cook Kenyan cuisine with our resident chef for an article on Vegan food in Kenya; so many of their dishes are naturally vegan like Sukuma Wiki and Kachumberi. The old school gym at Colobus Conservation is getting some use, I am talking a log as a bench, and iron bars with cement as weights.

Hugo (left) standing up to the baboon (right)

Omari with some traditional Kenyan food

The 2014 Brazil World Cup is underway and watching the games on the beach is great, however the games are on quite late meaning sleep has had to take a back seat lately. It is really interesting watching the games with so many different nationals; we have Dutch, German, French, Swiss, Ivory Coast, English, Chile, Brazil, Belgium, Spain, Nigeria and USA.

However, the biggest highlight of the month and of my entire trip is definitely the visiting of my parents and girlfriend Lara. Seeing them arriving at the airport was fantastic and the next ten days was a great holiday. We visited Kaya Kinondo (a sacred forest) and learnt about how you can use the different plants for medicine, use strong vines for swings and visited a traditional village.

Sniffing leaves that help clear sinesus 

Swinging on a vine

Visiting a traditional Kenyan village

I went on Safaris in Shimba Hills and Tsavo East National Parks where I walked to a waterfall and saw the rare Sable antelope, Masai Giraffes, Elephants, Lions, Buffalo, lots of herd animals and colourful birds. It was an incredible experience and so wonderful to see all these majestic animals in their natural habitat.

Learning how to collect fecal samples for parasite analysis also featured this month.

Waterfall at Shimba Hills National Park

A pair of black-faced sandgrouse, male in the front

Masai Giraffe

Herd of elephants

One month old elephants

A superb starling

Lion cubs waiting on a rock for parents

A female lion 

The view from our lodge in Tsavo East National Park

A group of Zebras

You can see all my photos of my time in Kenya on my Flickr page here -http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd

Or on my facebook page here - www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

Disclaimer:

"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog (except guest posts) are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used. If they are your photos and you would like them removed please just ask. The author retains full copyright for all content and photos and written permission is required before their use. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."

The Lion, the Witch and the photo!

There will not be many people who have not yet seen the photo below. This is Melissa Bacham, a USA TV presenter and proud hunter of what appears to be of anything that breathes. A massive uproar has begun since she posted this photo of her killing a lion in South Africa; and rightly so. However, what I wanted to discuss was the issue of, firstly how anyone could do such a thing, but secondly looking at what message this sends out to the younger generations growing up about respecting the creatures we share this planet with.

Melissa Bacham smiles proudly over her kill of a majestic Lion in South Africa.

Lets get my views out the way. I think what Melissa has done is disgusting and no animal should be killed, especially in this way for sport. It is not for survival or food, just a glammed up idiot who thinks pulling the trigger on a machine is somehow a thrill. Well no you are wrong and I completely condemn this action and the abuse and killing of all animals around the world.

I simply cannot comprehend how anyone can simply point a gun at an animal and end its life like that. Also, I do not see a difference between the killing of any animal be that a cow, chicken, dog or lion, but I have a serious problem when it is for photo opportunities.

The message this sends out to people is terrible. It's OK to kill whatever we like because we can. What about showing respect for a creature that was here before we were and will be here after we go (as long as we don't shoot them all before we disappear). People then grow up with this disconnect from wildlife and see it as a commodity to exploit rather than live in harmony with.

The Arguments

I am honest enough to say I don't know enough about the issues around trophy hunting like this, but it seems like the main arguments for are:

• Brings money into the country creating jobs and funding conservation efforts
• Population control as too many top predators can cause a lack of prey
• Saves more lions as males will fight other males and if they take over a pride will kill all the young
• Link for pro arguments click here

The main arguments against are:

• Only 30,000 left in the wild and this is pushing lions towards being critically endangered
• Most Lions kept for canned "Trophy" hunting are reared on farms or private reserves especially for this
• The Lion's pride is destabilised and another male will come in and kill all the young
• Hardly any of the money made with canned hunting reaches the actual conservation projects
• The total lack of respect for such a magnificent animal where the main purpose seems to be to pose and smile with your prize, and the message this sends out especially to children
• Link for against arguments click here

Instead of asking you to sign a petition or donate to Lion Aid, I simply want you to make your own mind up. Please feel free to comment or send me a message and lets get talking.

But please if you shoot an animal may it only be with a camera and nothing else. I could have gone in with a joke about a cannon camera, but I thought best not to.