Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger, Author at Nikela: Helping People Saving Wildlife

Raiding Elephants, Foes Now Friends and More Wildlife News from the Thuma Forest

Jul 3, 2018 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: elephant, Human Wildlife Conflict, Lynn, Nikela Blog, wild animals Tagged: elephants, human wildlife conflicts, Lynn Clifford, Sheri Gann, WAG

For the past two years we’ve been involved with Lynn and her work in the Thuma Forest in Malawi. But we’ve never had so much good news to share before. Many thanks to Nikela Volunteer Sheri Gann for this informative summary: Raiding Bulls and a Mistaken Identity For many years now Chaka, our tuskless bull, has been blamed for breaking the fence line, raiding crops, and killing people. In February we had a spate of fence breaking and rangers tracked the elephant. We then hired a helicopter from African Parks and with the help of Dr. Amanda Said were able…

South Africa kills captive bred lions to sell their bones

May 9, 2018 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: canned hunting, lion, Nikela Blog Tagged: canned hunting, captive breeding, Conservation Action Trust, Lion bone trade

Visions of wild animals roaming free in Africa are fast becoming fantasy as we hear once again of the horrors happening to captive bred lions. It’s been a bloody time for the South African canned lion industry. Last week, a lion ‘abattoir’ was exposed on a farm in the Free State, where close to 100 lions were reportedly to be killed and their skeletons prepared for export to Asia. Shortly after news of the slaughter broke, a game reserve owner from Limpopo was mauled by one of his captive lions, Shamba. The lion was immediately shot, causing a social media…

The problem of an elephant bull who wants to stay home

May 2, 2018 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: elephant, Human Wildlife Conflict, Nikela Blog Tagged: Conservation Action Trust, elephant bull, human-wildlife conflict, Riff Raff

In Africa an elephant dies from a poacher’s bullet every 15 minutes. But in South Africa’s private reserves they’re breeding like bunnies and there’s trouble up ahead. The scramble head off the death sentence of a persistent elephant bull called Riff Raff is a synecdoche. It began with an unsanctioned two-strand electric fence. The wires were strung across the centre of the Greater Makalali Pidwa Private Nature Reserve in Limpopo to keep out elephants the owner of the northern sector said were were no longer welcome. There was a drought. The fence cut through the traditional home range of Makalali’s…

Cheetahs bred on demand in captivity for profit

Apr 25, 2018 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: canned hunting, Cheetah, Nikela Blog Tagged: breeding cheetah, Conservation Action Trust, wildlife conservation

Captive cheetah breeding is reaching epidemic proportions in South Africa. Cheetahs bred on demand for profit. An extremely worrying trend is emerging in South Africa. Cheetah cubs are bred and taken away from their mothers. They are then hand-reared for cub petting, to become well-behaved ambassador species, exported for “zoological” reasons or into the pet trade. With the number of cheetahs in captivity soaring to more than 600 kept in about 80 different facilities, concerns have been raised that this industry is showing alarming similarities of the lion breeding industry, with its links to canned hunting and legal lion bone…

Surprisingly not China – The major smuggler of Southern African reptiles

Apr 4, 2018 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: Animal Poaching, Nikela Blog, Wildlife Trafficking Tagged: Conservation Action Trust, European Union, reptiles, smuggler, wildlife crime, wildlife trafficking

When it comes to wildlife crimes China generally rises to the top as the major smuggler. But not this time. Not when it comes to reptiles. Most of the reptile species are protected by South African or Namibian legislation. They may not be removed from their natural environment but once they reach Europe the trade becomes legal as there is no legislation outside southern Africa protecting them according to a report released by the German organization, Pro Wildlife. The European Union is a major destination for illegally smuggled live snakes, lizards and tortoises from southern Africa, posing a serious threat…

Raiding Elephants, Foes Now Friends and More Wildlife News from the Thuma Forest

South Africa kills captive bred lions to sell their bones

The problem of an elephant bull who wants to stay home

Cheetahs bred on demand in captivity for profit

Surprisingly not China – The major smuggler of Southern African reptiles

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