Conservation News

Exciting Elephant News from Abu

Abu Camp in Botswana's Okavango Delta is pleased to announce the birth of a male elephant calf, born on Saturday the 4th of January. Another elephant is currently pregnant and set to give birth in February. As a result, the camp's elephant experience will be strictly controlled for the next few months to avoid any stress to the calves or to the other herd members. As such, there will be no walking with the elephants over this period. However, Abu Camp guests will still have the unique opportunity to meet the herd, learn the history of each elephant, and observe the animals in their natural environment eating, drinking, mud-wallowing, playing, and returning to their boma at night. It is hoped that the new calves will ultimately be introduced into the wild, along with the other herd members that have chosen to return there of their own accord; this forms an integral part of Abu's conservation program. By introducing elephants from the Abu herd into the wild in Botswana's remote Okavango Delta, Abu is making a direct contribution to the future of Africa's elephants, as a species. 

Longtime partners in Zimbabwe, Wilderness Safaris, Capmount Lodges and Painted Dog Conservation,  joined forces to translocate a pack of African wild dogs from Hwange National Park to Chikwenya at Mana Pools. Watch the video about this exciting initiative here.

At Lewa Wilderness Camp guests are given the opportunity to purchase a ready-made school bag from the curio shop. This bag includes all the essentials that one child will need for a year at school. When enough bags for an entire class have been assembled, they are delivered to Leparua Primary School, one of the 23 government schools supported by Lewa.

A team of Scots and a team of Maasai will walk together from Elewana Tortilis Camp to Esiteti Primary School in Amboseli National Park, a total of 6.2 miles across rugged terrain and open wilderness, on February 10th. All funds raised will be used to provide solar power for the new school library recently constructed at the school, which brings books, computers and arts and crafts to the local Maasai children.

 Rhino Tracking on the Borana Conservancy

As part of its anti-poaching campaign, Kenya's Borana Conservancy rangers are required to locate each individual rhino on the conservancy once per day. Guests staying at Borana Lodge, Laragai House or Lengishu have the opportunity to head out on foot to assist the rangers in this important endeavor.