Wildlife Heroes

Caring for Eden

It was about forty years ago that I moved to Kenya and acquired the responsibility to look after a piece of heaven on the Eastern Great Rift Valley, Ol ari Nyiro, a biodiversity oasis of rugged, dramatic landscapes, with a relic forest and natural springs, gorges, and ravines, where endemic species of wildlife and flora survived and still do, in stark contrast with the now degraded landscape surrounding us, from where most indigenous vegetation has been removed.

In the very early ’80s, after the tragic deaths of both my husband and my son within a short space of time, witnessing the tragic environmental degradation and loss of habitat and species occurring all around Kenya, I resisted attempts from friends and family to get me to abandon Ol ari Nyiro to its destiny and return to my native Italy, and actively joined the great world environmental movement. I decided to dedicate my life and resources to making a difference and to make Ol ari Nyiro an example of coexistence between people and the wild.

I became a Kenya citizen and a spokesperson for my adopted country on matters of environment, and transformed the place from an operating livestock ranch into a nature conservancy with no domestic stock, where all life is nurtured and protected.

What was happening at that time? With the collapse of Somalia and deserters from that country’s army infiltrating the northern parts of Kenya—their only wealth their weapons—the killing of rhino and elephants became an unprecedented issue in Kenya, and, having lost nine black indigenous rhinoceros in Ol ari Nyiro in less than one year, I decided to do something about it. I started the first private antipoaching unit in Kenya.

What was beginning to happen—and has happened since—all around us, and throughout Africa and the planet, is the drastic restriction in wildlife habitat, pressures of all kinds due mostly to population increase, change of land use from pastoral to agricultural land, consequent interruption of migratory routes, deforestation, pollution, overgrazing, erosion, siltage in lakes, climate change with subsequent droughts, lack of job opportunities for growing populations of tribal youth and the concurrent growth of demand for wildlife products in the surging markets of the Far East, insecurity, tribal conflicts, and, in Kenya, the proliferation of small weapons from the troubled neighborhood of Somalia and the Sudan.

This, in conjunction with the soaring black markets stimulated throughout the Continent as a consequence of the sales of ivory allowed by CITES in 2007, after the twenty-year moratorium in all sales initiated by the ivory fire in Kenya in 1989, has signified an increase in poaching and illegal trade of animal body parts throughout the continent of Africa, and in particular from elephants, rhino, lions, snakes (pythons), tortoises, in addition to leopards, and plants—African sandalwood, a once-common shrub, has become rare—just to mention the most dramatic and tangible species loss. As an honorary game warden with the Kenya Wildlife Service, I have committed to do all in my capacity to fight the illegal trade that is at the root of the cruel and senseless killings that I witness continuously in the African bush.

The commitment to active conservation of the wild parts and inhabitants of our Earth demands time, stamina, vision, dedication, and daring. It can be dangerous, but in my case, despite several physical attacks (one of which crippled my left hand) and endless threats, this is one battle that I am determined to keep fighting with all the means at my disposal since I passionately believe in our responsibility to protect what has never been easier to destroy.

I am honored to introduce this impressive list of wildlife heroes, all leaders in their chosen fields, men and women of extraordinary expertise, talent, and courage, who spend and often risk their lives in the front line of conservation in remote and often lonely parts of our planet, to ensure that today’s species will not become tomorrow’s dinosaurs.

Your contribution is incalculable, and with deep respect and gratitude, I salute you.

GREG Rasmussen hates the name many people have given his favorite animals. “They are not simply ‘wild’ dogs; they are not feral domesticated canines with which people confuse them because of their name. When people know nothing about them, they fear them. Instead,” Rasmussen counters, “they are beautiful and endangered ‘painted dogs’ which need our understanding and assistance if they are going to continue to survive in Africa.”

Rasmussen is particularly sensitive about misperceptions of these social and wide-ranging canines—known not only as African wild dogs and painted dogs but also as “African hunting dogs,” “Cape hunting dogs,” and “spotted dogs.” “When my mother first read about the animals I was intent on studying many years ago,” he says, “she was fearful for my life, as there were so many awful and false descriptions of the dogs in books she read.” Today those myths carry on in many of the animal’s range countries. “Most people grow up being told to shoot the dogs on sight because they think they are cruel, bloodthirsty, savage, and no good to anyone.”

Rasmussen started working with painted dogs in 1989, when he was overwhelmed by the human-induced carnage to this highly endangered species. “No sooner than I had identified the presence of this rare animal did I find that shortly afterwards, they had momentarily left the sanctuary of the national park and were either shot by ranchers, killed on the road, or caught in poachers’ snares set for bush-meat. These senseless mortalities distressed me deeply, and so I decided to make the species my flagship in the hope of ‘making a difference.’” He started with neither funding nor accommodation and precious few savings, and he was distrusted by just about everyone—the local Africans, ranchers, and even safari operators who did not recognize the dogs’ potential value. Winning confidences—without falling off the track—became the issue.

To combat this, he started a major awareness campaign alerting people to the truths about the species and the problems they faced. Rasmussen’s vehicle, which also served as his home in the beginning, frequently touched ranchland areas where it was not welcome, and he was seen as much a problem as the dogs themselves. Rasmussen and his programs became a point of vociferous public discussion. He recalls being delighted at receiving a call from a rancher who said he was going to “bury him” because the dogs had expanded to the point that they were now on his ranch and Rasmussen was “responsible.” The very fact that he called said one thing; the fact that the dogs had expanded into a new area said even more. Years before, the rancher would simply have killed the dogs and not considered calling. Rasmussen translocated the animals to a safer area, thus demonstrating his ability and willingness to do whatever was necessary to keep them alive.

A decade after Rasmussen started his painted dog work, Zimbabwe overnight became a turbulent mix of conflict, lawlessness, increased poverty, and starvation, and once again African painted dogs were in jeopardy. Snaring, a technique using wire to catch animals for meat and sale, hit astronomical proportions, and painted dogs often fell victim to these death traps. All the gains of the previous years were threatened. It was back to the drawing board for Rasmussen, though this time accompanied by Peter Blinston, who came from the UK to “help out” for a few months and ended up staying on. In a climate where few locals had much to rely on, the tenacity of the project carried through and the Painted Dog Conservation project (PDC) was expanded to include the community as partners.

As conservation ignorance is Rasmussen’s greatest enemy, the program of which he is most proud is the organization’s Children’s Bush Camp. The effort introduces local kids to native wildlife, as well as to the dogs at the PDC rescue center. “Zimbabwe children, as in many other countries, often never get the chance to experience or learn positive things about wildlife in their own nation. Once they do, they are forever changed,” relates Rasmussen. The children attend classes, perform skits, write reports, and visit Hwange National Park to see animals in the wild. The kids even get a “surprise” encounter with the normally elusive painted dogs by taking a nature walk down a long, raised walkway through the rescued dogs’ enclosure right before feeding time. The dogs are then released and come running toward their meal, right beneath where the children are standing, to their complete thrill and astonishment.

Painted dogs used to regularly roam over much of Africa, their range extending to thirty-nine countries. Now there are estimated to be fewer than fifty-five hundred painted dogs in all of Africa. Shooting, snares, and road strikes are the major threats, and the Painted Dog Conservation program is busy addressing them all. Besides education, there are concrete, practical solutions that can save individual dogs’ lives. For example, PDC places wide, spiked, reflective collars on dogs, which serve multiple purposes.

First, they can aid in freeing the dogs. The spikes on these collars help break or prevent tightening of snare wire, often placed to catch other game animals, but sometimes catching dogs instead when they investigate the bait. Reflective material on the collars helps warn drivers of dogs crossing the road at night. The collars also double as radio transmitters, helping to keep track of packs and their movements and add to the body of knowledge about these misunderstood animals. Coupled with road signs at common dog crossing points, radio collaring has reduced road mortality by 50 percent.

PDC is a popular employer of locals, who find careers as dog keepers, educators, researchers, anti-poaching patrol team members, bus drivers, facility maintenance workers, and cooks. “It has made a difference that we are a relatively stable provider during some of the worst economic times the country has ever seen,” Rasmussen says. “We take care of the dogs and the people.”

PDC has become somewhat of a regional phenomenon. Neighboring communities are impressed with the work Rasmussen has accomplished, and the dogs’ reputation has improved. “People around here are now telling us when they see dogs in the wild, and if someone finds an injured one—by car collision or snare, they will often alert us so we can try to save the dog.”

This lesson in compassion can be learned from the dogs themselves. When a pack member is injured, the rest of the pack, adults and pups alike, will take care of it, bring it food, and lick its wounds until it has recovered. “Learning about that loyal behavior has made a big impression on both those who work with African painted dogs and those who previously hated them, but now are willing to share their land with them.”

In 2003, Rasmussen found himself in a dire situation when he crashed his plane while helping the National Parks Service look for a rhino. Since he crashed outside of the search area, he spent more than twenty-four hours in the wilderness with broken legs, ankles, and pelvis before help arrived. The crash was made legendary by the retelling both in a Discovery Channel documentary and on a television series called Alive. Rasmussen has recovered, but is forbidden by his friends and associates to ever fly again. Many would have quit working in the bush after such a terrifying near-death experience. But Rasmussen remains committed to the painted dogs and their future survival. “Painted dogs have increased from just 350 to 700 animals in Zimbabwe since we started our programs twenty years ago. My colleagues and I have faced many challenges along the way—but the news is positive overall. Whether you call them painted dogs, African hunting dogs, or spotted dogs—there are more around today than there were when I started working with them, and that’s a great sign for their future!”

BELINDA Low, born and raised in Kenya, has nearly always regarded the Grevy’s zebra as one of the most spectacular large animals on the planet—and for good reason. It is striking, powerful, unique, and endangered.

Kenya is home to 95 percent of Grevy’s zebras, but it wasn’t until after Low began studying this limited-range species that they became her passion and focus. “It was only when I started working with them that I understood the magnitude of their decline. I didn’t want these beautiful animals to disappear from my homeland,” she says. “I had to do something.”

Low works as much with the people who share the same land and resources of Grevy’s zebras as she does with the zebras themselves. Where the zebras range in northern Kenya, people are mainly pastoralists. As keepers of livestock, they have an intrinsic knowledge of nature that has served them well for centuries; life-giving rain supplied regularly twice a year has helped them and the animals survive on the arid land. But things are changing. The rains are no longer predictable—or often, as plentiful. “The future of these peoples’ livelihoods and the survival of the Grevy’s zebra are inextricably linked.”

Today, Low is teaching a low-tech method of range management using the same cattle that once competed with the zebras, but now help till and enrich the soil and restore native grasses for wildlife. Cattle are kept in smaller but mobile grazing areas to rid selected zones of invasive grasses. In the process, the cattle provide natural fertilizer and a churning of the Earth by their hooves. Once indigestible, tough grasses are eaten to the root and tramped down, native seeds can naturally take hold. “Cattle allowed to roam widely don’t provide benefits for indigenous plants and therefore the wildlife,” says Low. “It’s when cattle are concentrated that improvements can occur, and that’s actually pretty easy to do. It’s such a simple concept and an all-around winning situation for locals, wildlife, and the environment. We just need to reach a lot more communities to set up these management systems.”

Low works across an area of more than ten thousand square kilometers (approximately sixty-two hundred square miles), transected by a huge mountain range. “We camp whenever we are away from the field headquarters, which gives us great opportunities to interact directly with the locals,” she says. “Some of the most significant conversations have taken place around the campfire!” As difficult as the terrain and the zebra’s challenges are, Low enjoys the work and the relationships she has built with her neighbors. She has worked to set up task forces and national strategies to ensure community commitment and long-term support for the Grevy’s zebra. “We must recognize the critical role the local pastoral people play in the Grevy’s zebra’s survival,” she says, “and help them manage the entire ecosystem effectively for all its inhabitants.”

Grevy’s zebras have a totally different social system than the more numerous plains zebra, which served them well in their ecological niche until resources and numbers began to decline. Breeding males remain on their territories year-round—sometimes even in times of severe drought. Females and nonterritorial (bachelor) males will migrate to more habitable pastures. As fewer than three thousand Grevy’s zebras remain over thousands of square kilometers in northern Kenya and Ethiopia, the strongest, most territorial males are often left with a territory no females traverse. On top of habitat loss, water shortages, hunting pressures and human disturbance, this certainly makes a successful breeding season more difficult, so the downward population spiral continues.