Africa

Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

There is intense pressure on remaining populations of hippos in West Africa, so the establishment of a community-managed sanctuary for a still-intact population in the Black Volta river system of Ghana is very exciting. A sacred forested island in the river serves as a natural safe haven for hippos and also protects a myriad of bird species. Local culture restricts human use of the island so its vegetation has remained pristine. Hippos give birth there, hiding their young in the maze of flooded streams during the wet season. However, much of the land along the river banks is used for dry-season farming. This has resulted in increased erosion and depletion of the hippos' natural shelter and grazing grounds. In addition, hippos are sometimes killed by villagers to protect their fishing nets, canoes, and farms, and hunters occasionally kill them for meat. If current trends are not reversed, hippos are in danger of disappearing from Ghana.

This project is a community initiative and will ultimately be managed by local citizens who will benefit by protecting this unique resource. The sanctuary will also provide refuge for a group of hippos downstream that will soon be displaced by the construction of a dam. With this project, the Calgary Zoo has an exciting opportunity to be involved in the creation of a new protected area, one that will conserve a valuable natural resource base including hippos. The Conservation Fund contributed the full support required to conduct a baseline survey of the ecological, sociological, economic, and cultural factors along the river to provide data for a sanctuary development plan.

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For more information on the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

      African Wild Dog Project

Tico McNutt. You never forget a name like Tico McNutt. I first read about this dynamic biologist in a National Geographic cover story on the wild dogs of Africa, several years ago. Wild dogs, also called "painted dogs", are a species of canid with similar habits to our wild wolves here in Canada. There's one big difference, however: the wild dog population has been spiralling downwards and now could be as low as 3,000 Africa-wide. They have become the rarest large carnivore in all of Africa. During a 2004 "CEO" ZooFari assembled by then Zoo President Alex Graham, we met up with Tico and his wife, Leslie, deep in the wilderness of Botswana. They flew their Cessna 182 from their research site to our safari bush camp to present a talk to our group. Alex was able to present a $2,000 cheque to them following their presentation, to augment the $10,000 we 'wired' over a few months before. The Calgary Zoo Conservation Fund donation, secured through generous contributions over the previous 4 years from "The Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival", will be used to purchase radio collars and other equipment for tracking various dog packs. And the good news? All the observed packs in his study area are producing good numbers of surviving pups in recent years, an exciting trend. The CEO group witnessed some of this good news, with some incredible sightings of a litter of highly energetic dog pups at their remote den site!

 

 

Booking and contribution information call (403) 232-9352 or email briank@calgaryzoo.ab.ca