Protecting Elephants and Rhinos in Malawi

Thank you for supporting Earthwatch’s Animals of Malawi in the Majete Wildlife Reserve research expedition. Dr. Alison Leslie has completed her analysis of the data collected during the 2017 season, the fifth year of this ongoing Earthwatch expedition in the reserve. Below, Dr. Leslie recaps the year and expresses her gratitude for your generosity that keeps this exciting project going.

Thank you, thank you thank you…what an incredibly amazing field season we had! We could not have achieved all we did without your help. Majete was once again full of wonderful happenings in 2017. We had a bumper of a fielding season and managed to collect a huge amount of very valuable data. There were a number of additions to the lion pride: Shire (the original female) gave birth to 3 new cubs in July and Elizabeth (Shire’s eldest daughter) also gave birth to 3 cubs in September.

Majete continues to serve as a “bread basket” for wildlife. In 2017, 154 elephants were translocated from Majete to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. Additionally, another 345 animals of various species (waterbuck, sable, kudu, eland and zebra) were translocated to Nkhotakota, Liwonde National Park and to a few newly established game farms in Malawi. This is a dream come true for Majete.

A number of the rhinos transmitters were replaced, and over and above everything else that happened in 2017, 2 masters students successfully graduated and another 2 students commenced with their studies in Majete. The endless hours volunteers spent assisting us with waterhole sessions to identify, count and sex animals, changing camera trap cards and sorting through what has now amounted to 100 000’s of camera trap photographs, driving transects in order to count animals, participating in school visits, helping repair vehicles, dish washing….to mention but a few of the happenings…..is so much appreciated.

African Parks are continuing to grow their portfolio of rehabilitated and managed parks and the organization’s aim is 20 parks by 2020. With your support, our thriving Majete Wildlife Reserve will continue to play a key role in rehabilitating these other parks by providing them with hundreds of animals to seed their recovery. We hope some of you will consider joining a research team in the not too distant future…and if not, perhaps send a friend or two!

Thank you again for all your support.

Warmest regards from the entire research team,

Dr. Alison Leslie
Earthwatch Lead Scientist

Want to learn more? Follow the link below to read the full results and conclusions of the 2017 research season. And remember - you don't just have to read about this research from afar... you can be at the center of the action as an Earthwatch research volunteer! Visit the expedition sign up page to see which teams in 2018 and 2019 are still accepting volunteers.

Thank you again for your generosity and commitment to conserving the last remaining wild places in Africa.

With gratitude,

Heather Wilcox
Director of Annual Giving & Advancement Services
hwilcox@earthwatch.org
978-450-1208 

Links:

• Earthwatch 2017 Final Field Report
• Join this research as a volunteer - expedition sign up page

A message from Earthwatch Lead Scientist Dr. Alison Leslie following the conclusion of last year’s field research and data analysis:

Thank you, thank you thank you…what a wonderful field season we had! We managed to collect a huge amount of very valuable data this past season!

2016 was full of wonderful happenings in Majete Wildlife Reserve: there was yet another addition to the lion pride, when Elizabeth gave birth to her first cub in July 2016. This is the first of the 3rd generation of Majete’s lions. One adult male and one female were collared with brand new satellite collars and the other adult male was collared with a new VHF collar. Our rhino population grew as well. Two new calves were born, and a very healthy young male black rhino was reintroduced to Majete to add to the current gene pool. We were honored to welcome Prince Harry to assist with the reintroduction effort.

Majete has finally become a “bread basket” for wildlife and in 2016, 550 antelope (waterbuck, kudu, sable, eland and zebra) were translocated from Majete to Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. This is a dream come true for Majete. African Parks is continuing to grow their portfolio of rehabilitated and managed parks and the organization aims to support 20 parks by 2020.  

The endless hours Earthwatch volunteers spent assisting us with waterhole sessions to identify, count and sex animals; changing camera trap cards and sorting through what has now amounted to over 220,000 camera trap photos; walking and driving transects in order to count animals; participating in school visits; helping repair vehicles; and dish washing….to mention but a few of the happenings…..are so much appreciated.

We certainly could not have achieved all we did without your help. We hope to have some of you join a research team in the not too distant future! Thank you for all your support.

Warmest regards from Alison and the entire research team –

Dr. Alison Leslie, Senior Lecturer and Wildlife Specialist
Department of Conservation Ecology & Entomology
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Be sure to visit the link below to see the full results and conclusions of the 2016 research season. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to preserving Africa's iconic wildlife.

With gratitude,

Heather Wilcox
Director of Annual Giving
978-450-1208
hwilcox@earthwatch.org

Links:

• 2016 Fielding Season Data Analysis and Conclusions