Collected Moments of Survival

The African Elephant up close - almost posing for his photograph. It is Elephant Day today. For quite some time now I have been banging on about the Elephant Crisis that is sweeping through Africa. Those damned Chinese ivory carvers and their clients combined with bad governance by African leaders are keeping the momentum going, fuelling poaching and illegal trade. The losers in this story are the elephants that are dying at a rate of 15 per day. It can’t go on. So, besides Robert Mugabe and Jacob Zuma giggling and dismissing the frantic appeals by conservationists there is a large population whose concerns are more around filling their bellies and keeping starvation from their doors along with those who are filling their overfilled bellies and lining their pockets. And then there are those who, if they cared to listen, could perhaps be doing something more about this sad state of affairs. Why should you care, I hear you say? Well, let me tell you a little story that took...

The magnificence of a Male Lion with his mane in full flow In the wake of the what has to be termed a Paradigm Shift for lions in the wild and on Lion Day I am reminded of the many experiences I have had with lions on the plains of Africa. Getting close to lions ranks right up there with being some of the most exciting experiences that any one person can hope to see today. It is the one factor that I think has galvanised the world into action post Cecil the Lion. However, it is one thing seeing a single lion strutting his stuff out there in the African bush and an entirely different experience when one is privy to the might of the pride. In areas where lions are pressurised by other pack animals such as hyenas, the pride becomes paramount to survival and as such even male lions that can be solitary will form their own prides which we call coalitions. Happening on a coalition of male lions in the bush is a heart stopping event. The sheer power that a male lion demons...

My new title for my blog Travelling Light has a multilayered meaning and travelling light certainly also has something to do with how lightly we tread on the earth. It is my personal aim to make my own footprint as light as possible and to do as little harm as possible to my environment and the earth around me and it is in this light that I felt I should reflect a little on the past week's momentous reaction. This lion is not Cecil but a magnificent specimen who roams the plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania It is indeed strange what galvanises the human being into action. This last week we have seen momentum growing around the barbaric and senseless killing of a lion called Cecil. Before last week very few of us knew who Cecil was and probably most didn’t care. And then we can add that some still do not care. But then along came a crossbow hunter (Walter Palmer) from the great USA who decided that it was great sport to kill a lion in a most inhumane manner.  The shocking ...