Africa wildlife news 1
August 7th, 2009
Photo of Semien Mountains (Wikipedia)
- 10,000 foreign tourists flock to Semien Mountains Good news for wildlife tourism and conservation in Ethiopia. The Semien Mountains National Park secured more than 1.4 million Birrfrom tourists who visited the park last year, coming to see endemic animals such as Walia Ibex and Ethiopian Wolf.
- Attempt to save the Colobus Monkey in Kenya. In the 12 years since the Colobus Trust has been counting, the number of colobus monkeys (Colobus angolensis palliatus) has plummeted from 482 to 276. Many have been killed by power lines. Now they are building bridges at strategic points to avert further deaths. Also in Kenya the government has been asked to extend the campaign against destruction of forests to the Coast.
- Six young lowland gorillas rescued from the illegal bush meat trade, have been freed on a lagoon island just outside Loango National Park in Gabon.
- The discovery of ancient human burial site in Niger, Africa last Summer with graves, plant fibers and seeds is confirmation of what scientists have long known: that the Sahara region was once a relatively lush region hospitable to many early human groups. Many other larger animals such as hippos, lived in the area. Ecodaily
- Elephants are putting strain on Kenya’s National Park ecosystems, trampling woodland and putting other species at risk, according to a new report.
- And rather bizarrely from the Zim Dispora: “A man in this remote area of Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province was last weekend fined a beast and a bucket of millet for claiming ownership of a marauding hyena that was killed after it had devastated livestock belonging to local villagers.”
With breathtaking views of the Himalayas, you can soar alongside Egyptian Vultures and Black Kites who will approach to take food out of your hand. They are specially trained rescue birds who can’t be returned to the wild. Among them is Kevin the young Egyptian Vulture, famous for his scrapes with Steppe Eagles. The ultimate aim of the venture is to draw attention to the serious decline of Asian vultures, being poisoned to extinction by vet-prescribed drug Diclofenac. Visit 
This year breeding conditions have been exceptionally good for budgerigars in Queensland, Australia. Heavy rain and river flooding revived the land, providing plenty of grass seeds for the birds to feast on. When all the available trees with the best nesting sites had been taken, budgerigars were laying their eggs on the ground. And now local people are marvelling at the unprecedented size of the flocks, turning the sky green. 
Customs officials first suspected the 22-year old Norwegian, who’d just stepped off a ferry from Denmark, when they spotted a tarantula scuttling inside his bag. They then noticed “his whole body was in constant motion”. The wriggling movement was due to the 14 baby royal pythons tucked away in socks strapped to the man’s torso. That wasn’t all: when the officials made him drop his trousers they found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing an albino leopard gecko. As Norway bans the import of reptiles, including unendangered species like these, he has been fined 12,500 Norwegian crowns (£1,800). 
