RIVER FLOWS AT MENO A KWENA FOR FIRST TIME IN 17 YEARS!

It was midnight on 25th November 2008 that we watched, with almost disbelief, the Boteti River flowing into our waterholes! Too good to be true after such a long time battling with water shortages for wildlife in the area. No, not a dream, we awoke after just a couple hours sleep to make sure it was really happening. The riverbed in front of camp was steadily filling up, herons, egrets, storks, pelicans and many other new species of birds not seen for almost two decades were dropping in, as were many visitors from the villages and Maun to witness this miracle river. I still look out in front of camp in awe of all that water. The history of water shortages for wildlife at Meno A Kwena was terrible to experience and we can now thankfully say it is behind us, we hope for a long time ahead. The migration had already gone since the rains started earlier in the month so when they return at the end of the rains we will be waiting with more water for them than they have seen in a generation.

Reports are flooding in of river levels in the Zambezi, Chobe and Okavango far exceeding expectations, and this dramatic rise in water levels is quite a bit earlier than normal. Lodges and villages in the Caprivi are being flooded and evacuated. In Kasane, people are watching the river banks disappear before their eyes as water creeps up their boat jetties and gardens. At Rundu in Namibia, the same news pours in. And there are still loads of waterlogged floodplains in the Okavango Delta from our local rains. Mmmm? The more there is flooding upstream, the more water we will get and there is no way our hundred foot high river bank will flood over!

MIGRATION DUST SETTLES ON A DILEMMA

Southern Africa’s largest zebra and wildebeest population had already started their mass migration eastwards from the Boteti River to the saltpan grasslands before the first rain drop splashed against the dry Kalahari sands. The November build up of colossal tropical cloud build up was the signal to make the dangerous annual hundred kilometre move across the waterless layer of sand to their breeding grounds.

We set out on an expedition across the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park to the saltpans to look for them scattered across vast grasslands and water logged saltpans. The area was a lot drier than I expected for January, when most rainfall in Botswana occurs. We had prepared ourselves for the mud and slush of the pans and to perhaps have to turn back for fear of getting stuck for hours, or days!

We eventually found the migration, what a sight it was, thousands of animals as far as the eye could see along the shoreline of Ntwetwe Pan. Then as we approached the saltpan itself an even more spectacular sight unfolded ahead, the vast pan was full of water. A mirror of the evening sky filled with setting sun coloured clouds blew me away! Add to that the silence broken only by mirrored distant thunder explosions …and the mirrored zebra calls …mirrored sandpiper whistles. We camped in this paradise for the night…

Far away and behind the migration the lions of the Boteti remain in their territory to come to terms with the sudden disappearance of their staple food supply. The lions are forced to face their biggest test of resilience ever, as they have done for generations before and somehow triumphed. Except they have been under a lot more pressure this summer rainy season than previously experienced.

Myra is the name given to a lioness of the Kumaga pride by researchers studying the human/wildlife conflict along the Boteti River boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Myra was immobilised in November 2008 to fit a tracking device collar to monitor her movements during the ‘zebra crunch recession’! We are concerned about stock raiding forays by lions across the fence into rural communal farmlands, particularly as the fence is not being maintained satisfactorily. Myra is going to help us put a stop to lion/livestock conflict, is the plan. Botswana’s Problem Animal Control policy states that farmers are permitted to kill predators responsible for their livestock deaths, so naturally we in tourism and the environmentalists are concerned about the threats to our wildlife and want to find a realistic solution. Myra will be texting us frequent location updates so we know where she is at all times. Can you believe this technology?! And no we do not text her back to say thanks for the SMS!!!

Figure One: Lioness (green dots). Note the limited movement out of the park due to the park fence along the riverbed.

Male brown hyaena (red dots) GPS locations from the 27th November to the 13th December. Neither animal crossed the
fence over that period.

The detailed location information transmitted by Myra is the key to our knowledge of lion movements to confirm when and where the lions are crossing through the fence to raid livestock. This will help us prove to the park management authorities that due to poor park management there are still human/wildlife conflicts. It will also help us understand what to do to reduce the continuing conflict, so far the fence has made a substantial positive difference, just not enough.

All looked well until we started receiving text messages in February from outside the park fence in livestock country. The lions were breaching the fence where they crawled under the wires at night, making hit and run stock killings, to then return back into the safety of the park at first light. Glyn Maud sent me updates of Myra’s movements by email, it was typical of the lions along the Boteti during the wet season, and my concern for the Meno A Kwena pride grew as we saw less of them. A few years ago we were witness to lion shootings close to Moreomaoto Village when they hung the carcasses for all to see at the Chief’s Kgotla.

I was taking a break with friends on a game ranch in the Eastern Cape of South Africa when I opened a text message from Glyn. “MYRA SHOT!” “…Forfuxakes!” - Was my immediate response. Myra and the rest of the pride had started making regular crossings over to feed on livestock when she became trapped between the parallel park fences. Apparently she had been shot by farmers in close proximity to the fence, as had three or four others. It gets worse…

Myra immobilised by vet to fit tracking device collar … And her skin and tracking device collar in the police station at Kumaga.

News of the migration’s movements in the east of the park was showing a possible early move back to the Boteti, rain was not as substantial as we were experiencing over the Okavango and Chobe. Even if the migration returns for just a few days it will take some of the pressure off the lions, even if temporarily. We discussed all aspects of the issues involving the lions and increased conflict with farmers. Then we heard there are the six starving cubs of one of the shot lionesses wandering around Kumaga. Why? Why was this year deteriorating back into a more serious state since the construction of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park fence? Why are we seeing the surviving Kumaga lions in really poor condition? Starvation? Poison? Disease?

Then news of the lion conflict and possible disease was taken up by government with a sense of utmost urgency. I was seeing more officialdom at camp and the area in a week than I had seen in years. The long grass along the fence was cut, more patrols, more interest. Two emaciated lions were trapped and taken for tests in Gaborone. Turns out rabies was the result of tests, the disease had already been reported in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve since 2008. Sadly we are facing the complete annihilation of the Kumaga pride, and very likely spread of lion conflicts to neighbouring Meno A Kwena.

I increased patrols of the fence at Meno A Kwena and sure enough disclosed our own lion conflict ugliness – wire snares set in holes under the fence where lion tracks could be seen in the wet sand after recent rain. To add to the slap in the face, we found the snares to be tent gye cables, probably from our old discarded tents grabbed out of the rubbish trailer before it gets chucked at the village dump! We picked up three snares over a few days and destroyed them, filling in the holes with thorn branches and soil.

Steel cable snares set for lions under fence at Meno A Kwena February 2009

When considering the complexity of our conflict situation it is necessary to understand the broader past present and future of human settlement in and around natural environments. Our lions have a history of survival based on livestock resources in their environs. The construction of the fence did not stop that, it merely created a temporary difficulty that the lions soon adapted to and overcame. Nature has a cunning sense of seeking out the most beneficial resources available. The lack of fence patrols and maintenance resulted in lions figuring out they can cross the fence, feed on livestock and return to the safety of the park, with a lot more ease than hunting meagre and difficult wet season food resources in the park. The recent incidents have proven this simple fact and we are endeavouring to prevent further confrontations for the sake of wildlife conservation. We started with a simple step; saltlick blocks in the park to attract prey species to the area thus improving access to them by lions. We did the same in the communal free ranging farmlands at cattle posts so livestock can be better managed and herded into the safety of enclosures at night. Now it is up to the authorities to maintain a presence along the fence to create additional difficulties for lions to breach the fence.

Have a look at this remarkable video footage of human/wildlife interaction…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd97TnKlRZM

CAMP GETS SOME MAKE UP

After years of investment into the conservation of the Boteti area wildlife we have finally taken the plunge to improve the comforts of camp for our guests, within reason of course. I want to maintain the tented safari camp theme and to develop sustainable and environmentally friendly systems that reduce our Carbon footprint, seeing as that’s the trend these days.

Karien Belle’s speciality is producing the most stunning and original jewellery, she came to camp last year to create a vision in her mind’s eye of what the camp ought to look like. Maintaining that safari atmosphere, I reminded her. And practical, I demanded. The horror look she gave me said it all. Creative people are not practical at the best of times, so I let her get on with it without too much stomping the ground in defiance. Karien spent a few months in India gathering ideas and then making orders for all sorts things - furniture, leather, brass and copper equipment, military parachutes. What are we going to do with parachutes?

The project finally reached completion in March this year, and despite the creativity/practicality conflict, is looking absolutely stunning. Karien has excelled in turning Meno A Kwena Tented Camp from a simple Outdoorsman’s bush camp, into a beautifully charismatic and stylish safari camp that enhances the pristine natural surroundings on the banks of the Boteti River. I’ve yet to collect images of the new camp to publish in the next diary update. This one is seriously overdue and needs to be sent now.

CAVE CROCS

Caves are a rare geological fact here in Botswana. The Kalahari sand basin that covers this 99.9% dead flat country has engulfed all but a few outcrops of an elevated nature. So the caves in the banks of the dry Boteti River are quite special. More special is what lives in them. I wonder if they sense the river is flowing just thirty kilometres upriver from them, if they then would perhaps start crawling along the dry riverbed to the water. Well, not necessary, the river is coming. My prediction, this year, is that we will see water in the river all the way to Rakops, perhaps even the saltpans just beyond. Does anyone know how we are going to cross the Boteti into the national park at Kumaga in a few months?

WATER FOR LIFE PROJECTS

As is often the case with conservation efforts we are always constrained by financial support. The river flowing has eliminated our water problems at Meno A Kwena. So huge fuel expenses are no more, the sound of diesel pumps no longer pollutes the exquisite quiet of the African nights. The flowing river has brought change for the better but we still have a lot to deal with, it’s not all directly related to water despite its influence. The large herds of water dependant wildlife will still come to the river and will still have limited access because of the fence that traverses the park side of the river bank for most of the national park boundary. This will still create pressure on food resources within reach of the river.

It is our aim to carefully scrutinise the next dry season happenings along the Boteti as we expect the river to be flowing for years to come. The zebra and wildebeest population will grow steadily putting more and more pressure on water demands. To this end we must encourage the powers that be to consider moving the fence to allow increased wildlife access to the river. It is our intention to put more effort and time into the benefits from tourism being directed to the development of the rural communities living along the boundary of the park. It is after all our next phase in justifying the existence of the national park so that one day we see the light at the end of the tunnel. That light being the Central Kalahari Game Reserve being quite rightly connected to the Okavango and Chobe wetlands so necessary for the survival of Botswana’s natural wildlife resources.

I do think the present global economic situation is proving that tourism has to be of great value since it is one of the three major industries here now. And when considering that foot and mouth disease all but eliminated the beef industry for a while recently, and now the recession has shut down mining, it is up to us in tourism to help sustain Botswana’s economy from deteriorating further. Our incredible wildlife and environment needs us for their survival.

The Maun Festival planned for the end of April is a great juncture for all the reasons, especially when mulling over the economic and politic doom and gloom of late - …”SO LETS PAAAAAAAARTAY!!!” I am entering the Moreomaoto Village Primary School traditional dance group who are practising like mad at the moment, and Rustur, the woodcraftsman who is producing brilliant furniture for us at camp. The exposure will be fantastic for their huge potential.

Have a look at their website…

http://www.maunfestival.com

I was about to send this update when I heard the really sad news from the USA that Skip Essex had died from a heart attack. Skip hunted with my Father back in the 1970s, he loved the adventures of Africa so much he invested here, became a hunting guide and built a house for the hunting seasons. His African adventures diminished in time until many years later Skip returned to Botswana in 2005 on safari with his family. He was hooked again and bought into a partnership with my Brother Roger’s mobile safari company. Skip and his lovely partner, Danny joined our Water for Life Project and so set out to assist with raising awareness and funding in the States. Skip is my other founding trustee for Water for Life and will be missed and remembered for his wildlife conservation passion.

NEW WEBSITE

After years of putting up with my boring old website I was finally inspired to find the time to deal with it, scratch off another irritating point on my ever growing list of things I must do before I die…! But it is back on the list again as I have to now go and change everything to allow for the river flowing since the new website still speaks of the dry riverbed. I’m not complaining okay!

www.kalaharikavango.com www.menoakwena.com

MIGRATION RETURNS

One more thing I promise. The zebra migration has started to return early to the Boteti from the saltpans. This is the first time these zebras will find a river to drink from since they left the area after the first rains just before the river flowed in November. The first groups arrived on the 28th March, they usually only return as late as June but rain over the saltpans was somewhat less and earlier than normal. It is quite heart warming to see the zebra herds dwarfed by so much water in contrast to the last almost two decades of meagre water for so many desperate animals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ob8e6aNH8

Tags: Boteti River, Botswana, David Dugmore, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Meno A Kwena, Safari