Miles and Miles

[sporadic internet access is doing wonders for the order of my blog entries! A few short ones were posted where the upload speed was glacial, and the last week has been very busy with work. But even out of order they can give you a glimpse into my current expedition.]

Dateline: 16-17 April 2011 - Gabon

Gabon slid by for hours, or bounced, or oozed, threaded by constant AfroPop liberally mixed with something like House Music and the occasional Bob Marley or Papa Wemba. It was pleasant to me, a bit surprisingly. Somehow it threw me into the process and the brand new Land Cruizer had A/C so although crowded with six others and a little boy, the sun-saturated landscape remained interesting. At times the combination threw my thoughts back 22 years to Peru and the minibus we used to traverse the Andes into the Amazon – music all the time then too.

Iguela, my destination, is on the coast of Gabon north of Loango National Park. But to drive there we had to go far to the east in order to cross the Ogooue River, the 2^nd or 3^rd largest river in Central Africa, and the huge maze of a delta that normally I thread by boat. Although Gabon has a very low population density overall, I was surprised at how constant were the houses and tiny villages for dozens of kilometers east of Libreville. And the forest that once covered this region is now only low-stature second growth – not even the occasional giant of pre-independence times. It has been well logged and now an even population that keeps the cutting going for fuel and the construction of simple houses. It took nearly five hours of driving before the forest began to return in parts and the human presence became more patchy- at least in terms of houses.

Along this road I was more aware than anywhere else I have driven of the slanted poles along the road with bits of wire or cord hanging at the tip for displaying bushmeat to passers-by. Thank god the vast majority were empty, but I saw enough monkeys, a crocodile, and horrifically a live duiker hanging upside down in the sun – struggling against the bonds. Everyone groaned and exclaimed but they insisted there was nothing we could do. But now I am ashamed that I didn’t try to force a stop and at least ensure that the poor animal was put out of its misery. I think the others were concerned about being WCS employees and what the repercussions could be if we got embroiled in some mess. But still I should have tried.

Most of the two day trip was otherwise unremarkable excepting a couple of adjacent villages where I have never seen so many people wearing such deeply crimson clothing – head scarves, dresses, shirts, and shawls. Striking impressions on the mind’s eye against the verdant green forest.

Return of Miura

The bai continues to attract high numbers of elephants, mostly adult females and their young with only a few sizeable bulls. A few days ago we encountered a big bull in the river below camp upon our return after the daily observations. He calmly backed off and awaited our passage. I could clearly see that both ears were distinctly marked, the right ear with a big circular notch and the left ear with a noticeable hole. He was stocky in stature and with massive tusks which pointed straight with little curve. Small round ears whose lobes didn’t reach beyond his jaw. I kept this mental picture in my head not knowing if I had seen him before. Returning home I composed a line drawing and then made a search for a matching identity card. There he was, “Miura,” named by some Spanish tourists who told me that his name signified a race of bulls of the bovine type.

Miura was first identified in August 2007 when he was seen in musth and observed for a series of days between the 7 – 14th of August in the clearing. He wasn’t successful at finding a female but spent most of those days in the clearing. Since 2007 he hasn’t been observed so we wonder where he has been spending his time.

Miura, April 2011

Yesterday he entered the bai from the direction of the river where we had identified him. He spent a few hours in the bai and then headed back to the river where we again encountered him and two other younger bulls. They all walked up river in front of us clearing the way for us to return home.

Miura, August 2007

Mosquitos Evolve Silent Attack!

17 April 2011
Attention: Mosquitos Evolve Silent Attack!
Not that I ever liked that whining sound of a female mosquito zeroing in on a landing spot. It was nonetheless reassuring to me that I was afforded a last defense, especially at night. With a sheet or other covering for the lower body, exposed head, shoulders, and arms were close enough to the ears to hear a hovering blood-sucker and aim a swat in the general direction.

Last night in a lodging near Fougamou there was no sound. Whether based on sound science I’m not sure, but I believe that the whine is produced with the wings, and only by female mosquitoes, functioning to attract males. Silence could spell evolutionary death if you can get food but not sex, but that made little difference to me in the night.

All of this will need verification. A research project awaits. Of course, it is possible that my sixty-year-old eardrums no longer have an empathetic resonance to match the love song of Gabonese blood-suckers.

On the Ogooue

17 April 2011
The late afternoon light emphasized the dark expanse of the Ogooue River with reflections of golden-tinged cumulus clouds. Here at Lambarene I look across what must be a kilometer or more of flowing river to the hospital grounds that Albert Schweitzer started well over a century ago. Expanses of lawn fall down a slope to the river’s edge and huge trees shade the buildings. What an amazing thing to have done when most serious medicine was witch medicine in these parts. As his reputation for curing spread there must have been such a flow of people arriving and departing by this river highway.

Systems Approach

Dateline: 15 April 2011 - Libreville, Gabon

While in Libreville I went to see Mike Fay of Megatransect fame to talk about whether an automatic gunshot detection and communication system would help with anti-poaching efforts. He is working for the Gabonese government as chief logistician for the National Parks. Mike is an incredibly committed conservationist who has sometimes managed to get things done in a big way, to the benefit of people the world over who want to see the world's natural gems preserved. In fact, the 13 national parks in Gabon were created by the former president in large part because of the 'Megatransect'.

This was the first time I had met Mike, and perhaps my timing could have been better in terms of receptivity to any idea short of practically closing down the country! Mike was fired up - on a mission - pissed off. It was Mike (of course) who flew over Wonga-Wongué a few weeks ago and found elephant carcasses strewn across the savannah (see previous entry). Then earlier in the week he was in a meeting with the president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was genuinely incensed about the poaching – a great sign since this was not a public meeting and so probably not a show. The government already has been providing significant funding, especially in logistics support, for anti-poaching efforts and now might see a role for the military.

As for real-time gunshot detection, sure, Mike could use something like that, but not for $7000 each unit. Where would he get money for something like that?

“It’s such a rip-off! No competition. Look at elephant satellite collars – they were $15k when first used, now they are $3k.”

Yes, but the first to use a new technology always pay a premium. Would we have $3k collars today if Ian Douglas-Hamilton had not stumped for $15k ones a decade ago? What about the cost of the plane Mike is flying around Gabon? That was purchased by someone and shipped to Gabon for anti-poaching, and it didn't cost a few thousand dollars.

Basically Mike does not see any value in anything anyone else is doing to tackle the poaching problem. NGOs contribute nothing. He feels the incremental, some would say more sustainable, approach is just not fast enough. For example, ELP provided data proving that road barriers in one concession were porous (including one manned by National Parks ecoguards – their guys).

“This is useless! We already know they don't work. We need to throw out logging companies in critical areas and tell the others that if a poacher is caught in their concession, they are out.”

I’m sure he is right that such all or none methods would make a difference - but they are not the law now and what are the chances they ever will be? At least our 'in your face' data has started a cascade of pressure to do something more effective. The government makes big money through the logging concessions and mineral extraction leases so it seems improbable that they would kick them all out. And at least some of these companies, including one that ELP works with, are at least trying to do the right thing (if perhaps not hard enough) and there are many others that don't care a bit about how they rape the environment.

Anyway, an interesting “discussion”. However, interest was a bit more positive when I mentioned that I didn’t really care if he was interested or not – I was not trying to sell him a product, only willing to help make a system happen if they wanted it. “I’m an elephant guy, trying to figure out where they are, when they are there, and how they use the landscape. We do what we can, a step at a time.” His response was “send me some documents about the system, links to information, and yes, a short layout of budget would be useful”.

- Peter, in Africa

n.b. tomorrow I finally leave for the forest and elephant voices. I won't have access to the internet for awhile, but will post again with stories from Loango when I do.

Not My Favorite Pastime

Dateline: 11 April 2011 - Libreville, Gabon

Relaxing with a cold Regab on the veranda of the Case de Passage. A hot day, beginning now to moderate (and not just because of the cold beer). [nb - this is actually an ok pastime - it is the next bit, the hanging around, that is not my favorite.]

Stuck in Libreville for a few days, ostensibly to meet with people and talk about how to expand our use of acoustics to help forest elephants. News of recent slaughter in a fantastic Presidential reserve has once again highlighted the challenges of protecting wildlife in remote forested regions. The problems in Wonga-Wongué, where patches of savannah at least allow one to see, too late, the results of poaching make one fear even more what is hidden under the mantle of forest canopy that covers much of Central Africa.

Click here for a gorgeous image of the Wonga-Wongue landscape.

Wonga-Wongué Presidential Reserve, situated on the coast of Gabon is a remote and

fantastically wild landscape of savannah and rainforest bounded to the West by the

Atlantic Ocean and to the east by meandering lagoons, swamps, and mangrove forest.

Photo © Mary Moreau

Plans for my trip are beginning to come together:

First to the little village of Iguela, at the north boundary of Loango National Park. In some ways a similar landscape to Wonga-Wongué (photo above) and located to the south, ELP has worked there now for four years.

Second, after returning to Libreville by boat and then short flight, the night train through the midst of the country to Franceville in the southeast. This second-largest city in Gabon is to the north of the Batéké National Park where we have also been working for several years. Plans are afoot here to record at a little-known clearing in order to gather the first data on elephant abundance and seasonal patterns.

Third, from Franceville, I will work for a few days in a large forestry concession that borders the Ivindo National Park, home to the best known clearing in Gabon, Langoué Bai. Here we will continue intensive monitoring at a network of clearings critical to elephants from the Ivindo protected area and establish a new monitoring site to evaluate hunting pressure in the area.

Finally, to the little town of Ivindo, the gateway into Langoué Bai. From here we will begin another new monitoring project within the buffer zone of Ivindo N.P., recording hunting activity that might be coming in from a logging concession to the west.

Plenty to do - just would like to get out in the field and do it!

- Peter, in africa

From Africa

Dateline: 8 April 2011

In Morocco I walked into spring!

Grey, cold, dreary, dregs of an Ithaca winter be gone!

Early morning light and a cool breeze off the Mediterranean - with just the hint of bite - turned my thoughts (mostly) away from what I have left behind and toward Central Africa again.

Probably the main goal of this trip is to facilitate the transfer of routine acoustic monitoring to Wildlife Conservation Society staff in Gabon. Training has been slow and hampered by equipment that is a little to fussy and to accepting of human error. But this is changing and I will be working this trip with a new technician specifically hired to manage acoustic monitoring and analysis. Best of all, this will let ELP focus on pushing into new ways to apply acoustics to elephant conservation and conservation of biodiversity more generally.

As usual, Royal Air Maroc provided a day room during my transit time in Morocco. This time, however, instead of the Atlas Airport Hotel just a few kilometers from the runways, they took me and a bunch of French college women into downtown Casablanca. Not a particularly beautiful city from what I saw, but some striking homes and buildings tucked in here and there with the softened lines of Arab architecture and gorgeous filigreed ironwork on gates and across windows. I love the feeling of a hidden oasis invoked by the ubiquitous enclosing walls - mostly unadorned and forbidding to the outside, but the upper stories of enclosed buildings looking out on the world and inner gardens, with verandas and unseen alcoves catching the breeze.

- peter in Africa