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