By Heather Wilcox | Director of Annual Giving & Advancement Services
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:
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