Expo showcases wildlife conservation in Africa

I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry, and unhappy like we do. --Cesar Chavez, farm worker and activist (1927-1993)

Grey crowned crane

What an animal-rich day today has been: wake up to our beloved felines, Harry and Billy (who had been trying to wake us up!), think about a blog post on animals, then around 11 am, tune in to the Wildlife Conservation Network’s third virtual Expo. 

As occurred before, today’s expo featured reports from around the world about how wildlife is being helped and protected by committed scientists and local people who are ever more sensitized and highly trained to care for animals in their environment.   

And now, taking a break by taking a brisk (I hope) walk, when I’m bound to encounter various animals – sure, the dogs being walked and the “bird-watching” outdoor cats, after a meal, but  possibly groundhogs, squirrels, birds and maybe even a deer besides.  (Everyone must have been napping, except for a few birds chirping and a distant woodpecker.)

Since much of today was devoted to African animals, I’ll share some things I learned from Expo.

Rhino

**    “Wildlife crime” is the greatest cause of danger to rhinos. The illegal trade in their horns – believed (falsely) to have medicinal value – threatens them everywhere.

**    Large animals, like rhinos and elephants, need space/land.  But as human populations grow, the accompanying development shrinks land for large animals hampering normal animal life and migration.

**    Pangolins continue to be the world’s most trafficked mammal.  One video showed a poacher starting to pick up a pangolin, who curled into a ball – virtually its only means of “defense” and with that, the balled-up animal was put into the poacher’s sack.  (Last year, an estimated 1 million pangolins – widely eaten as a delicacy and whose scales are used in traditional medicine -- were killed by  

Pangolin on 'defense'

poachers.)

**    Bonobos, sharing 98% of our DNA, are one of 2 great apes who are our closest relatives.  Unlike more aggressive chimps, our other great ape-kin, bonobos do not kill, truly living to “make love, not war.”  In their Congo rain forest habitat, they are often hunted as “bush meat” by local people who need money.

**    Grey-crowned cranes are making a comeback in Rwanda, thanks to efforts to remind inhabitants of their traditional affinity with these unusual-looking and beautiful birds.  Once, the cranes had been totems and models for the people, but over time, they were captured and fenced in to be used as live garden ornaments (!).  At one point, Rwanda had more captive cranes than  wild ones.  Now those numbers have been reversed; there are no captive cranes in Rwanda.

**    Elephants were also on today’s agenda, of course.  Because there was so much to see and hear about them, I’ll save all that till the next blog post.    

Bonobo

**    Footage throughout today’s Expo showed ongoing efforts to engage local people (often starting with children, who will inherit the country and its fauna) and grow their interest in animals and conservation.  Among other benefits, a country’s healthy, valued wildlife can attract tourists and improve the economy.

The Wildlife Conservation Network (wildnet.org), behind today’s event, works “to put communities in the forefront of protecting wildlife.”  Which was why local people who have become deeply involved in conserving their area animals were often co-speakers and/or leaders in what’s happening there.

But that’s not all for now.  You must see a Dodo video-story featuring an up-and-coming scary African animal who decided it was time to terrorize some tourists.   https://tinyurl.com/z8w9kyu7

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