Sandscript Number 17 Spring 2015

Going, going, gon... In December last year, I was critically endangered dama and Libya for the illicit trade in fortunate to visit Niger’s Ter- gazelle. Sadly, and in spite of everything from drugs, and mit & Tin Toumma National extremely good grazing, we cigarettes, to arms and human Nature Reserve. Established in didn’t see a single addax, the beings headed for Europe. 2012 to protect the world’s only indication of their pres- Several of these tracks run largest remaining population of ence being two old and dusty right through the reserve. addax, the reserve was created footprints. In previous years, Hunting of all species is on the in large part thanks to the ef- sightings could almost be guar- increase, weapons abound and In this issue: forts of SCF and its partners. anteed and it was not unusual the local population, with My visit took place against a to come across the tracks of whom the reserve staff has backdrop of chronic insecurity dozens of animals. What we mostly good relations, is largely Going, going, gon... 1 and the impacts of the fall of did see in abundance, however, powerless to do anything but the Qaddafi regime in Libya. were the signs of oil explora- report incidents back to park Our ‘passport’ into the area tion taking place in the reserve. headquarters. Flight of the dama 2 came in the form of a large Tracks were everywhere, with SCF is now engaged in an contingent of armed park rang- huge lorries and desert-going emergency strategy to find the Training for success 3 ers, together with a smaller bulldozers seen trundling addax and increase support for number of regular soldiers. across the dunes. their physical protection. With- Happily nothing untoward Tunisia 4 The massive disturbance out the full support of the gov- happened and we were able to caused by oil exploration, cou- ernment, the military and the travel safely and sleep peaceful- pled with the proven illegal Chinese oil companies, howev- Mali elephants 5 ly under the stars. hunting of addax by the mili- er, the efforts alone of SCF While setting up the reserve, tary detachments seconded to and the park rangers will not SCF business plan 6 SCF laid out a series of transect the petroleum camps for their succeed. Efforts to engage the lines across the heart of the protection, were without doubt Chinese and their sycophants addax’s domain in the Tin the major causes for the ab- in Niamey have so far drawn a Toumma desert. The lines, 10 sence of addax. We were left complete blank; they are just in all, make up over 600 km asking ourselves if the remain- not interested. And although along which wildlife has been ing addax had moved else- government is supportive of regularly censused for about a where or worse still, had been the reserve, they are not doing decade, creating a valuable totally annihilated. The more enough to build the capacity monitoring tool for both the we travelled the more we be- needed for its management. As presence and numbers of ad- came aware of the immensity for the military, they have so dax and the condition of their of the problem and the diffi- far proved to be the addax’s habitat. Encounters with peo- culty of controlling this vast worst enemy. ple, vehicles, car tracks, etc. are area twice the size of Belgium Unless significant action and also systematically recorded. or Switzerland. With the break- concessions are made in favour In December we drove all 10 down of law and order in Libya of the addax and other endan- and the massive exodus of At this time of the year, with transects and several new ones gered desert species it is sadly established to monitor wildlife workers there, the entire area just a matter of time before we temperatures soaring to well over was aflood with all-terrain ve- 45°C, birdlife welcomes water in and around the Termit are faced with further extinc- hicles. Over the past two years wherever it can find it (Photos: mountains, especially for what tions. John Newby/SCF). several major new tracks have is probably the world’s largest John Newby remaining population of the been opened up between Niger

SANDSCRIPT Number 17 Spring 2015 Page 2

Manga, Chad, ground and aerial survey teams (above); dama gazelles, Manga pastoralist (Photos: Tim Wacher/ZSL & John Newby/SCF) Flight of the dama Surveys carried out by the Saha- The aerial survey team flew about its protection and the ra Conservation Fund and its more than 1000km across the threats it faces. partners over the past decade in 1200km2 survey area. But it was Sadly, the area being used by Chad’s Manga region have only via satellite phone messag- the dama, not long ago remote, identified one of the largest es from the ground team that is these days traversed by heavy known remaining areas used by two small groups of dama, two vehicle tracks, exposing the the critically endangered dama females and a youngster, and a gazelles to disturbance and gazelle. Aerial survey is the best single adult male, were found. opportunistic hunting. As evi- method to show if this also The gazelles were not seen on dence, the skull of one dama means the population is one of transect but by flying over plac- gazelle was found beside the the largest known. In early 2015 es where tracks and fresh dung track. Being a naturally shy funds were raised to carry out had been seen by the ground animal, the dama gazelle avoids simultaneous aerial and ground crew. human presence and is increas- surveys. Ground survey sup- The results suggest that contra- ingly finding itself pushed out port provides valuable backup. ry to our original hope, dama of its normal range into highly The dama live at low density here are not widely distributed, marginal habitats threatened by and critical evidence such as instead live in tiny isolated drought and desertification. fecal samples, tracks and most groups. Comparing with obser- Saving this tiny but globally important of all, information vations from 2001-2010, they important, relict population of from the local nomadic pastor- appear to be being squeezed perhaps no more than 10-20 alists can only be obtained on northward by livestock and animals, is going to call for a the ground. human presence into ever more significant increase in protec- The aerial survey, done in Feb- marginal habitat. The ground tion, community engagement ruary 2015, was organized by team reported regular use of the and a land-use policy that better the Zoological Society of Lon- tough twiggy shrub Leptadenia balances the needs of pastoral- don with staff from Chad’s pyrotechnica, which would proba- ists with those of the area’s national park service and Afri- bly not be greatly used if the desert wildlife. A new, Chad- can Parks Network, who gener- gazelles had access to better Niger trans-boundary conserva- ously provided the pilot, ob- grazing. tion project funded by the EU server team and aircraft. Finan- is timely and will hopefully On the more positive side, dur- cial support was provided by provide an opportunity to im- ing stops at wells to fetch Conservation Force and Afri- plement some innovative con- drinking water, the strong com- can Parks Network. A team servation measures in favor of mitment of the local communi- from the Sahara Conservation the critically endangered dama ty to wildlife protection and Fund led the ground survey gazelle. especially for the dama gazelle with the financial support of was apparent. The herders had Tim Wacher the Saint Louis and Columbus a good idea of the species’ dis- Thomas Rabeil zoos. tribution and were concerned

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Maimounatou Ibrahim receiving training at Hannover Zoo (left) and Weltvogelpark Walsrode (right) (Photos: Mouna Newby/SCF) Training for success Thanks to the generous finan- from incubation through to SCF would like to warmly cial support of San Diego the care of the chicks during thank the staff of Weltvogel- Zoo Global, Saint Louis Zoo the first 3 months of their life. park Walsrode and in particu- and the Weltvogelpark Wal- Finally, the course was lar the Director, Geer Scheres, srode, Maimounatou Ibrahim, wrapped up with a visit to a and his assistant, Simone Os- the site manager of SCF’s private ostrich farm in west- termann, for making the train- ostrich breeding center in ern Germany, where the ing course possible. Special Kellé, Niger, recently spent 6 Jeuken family kindly invited thanks, too, go to Mike Mace, weeks in Germany training in Maimounatou to take part in a Curator of Birds at San Diego bird care and incubation tech- one-week, hands-on course Zoo Safari Park, for facilitat- niques. on the incubation of ostrich ing this wonderful opportuni- The training course focused eggs, ostrich husbandry and ty. To Maren Frerking and her on core knowledge and skills the technical skills needed to colleagues at Hannover Zoo in assisted breeding methods, run an efficient ostrich farm. also go our sincerest thanks for welcoming Maimounatou and more specifically the In addition to the practicali- know-how necessary for the and sharing with her the zoo’s ties, other helpful insights unique experience with North use and handling of basic were gained on the manipula- equipment and incubators. In African ostriches. Finally, to tion and preservation of eggs, the Jeuken family goes our addition to the theoretical and the preventative measures aspects of artificial breeding great appreciation for the and solutions available to fight warmth of their welcome and techniques, practical exercises the viruses and bacteria re- focused on the care and diet the hands-on experience sponsible for egg infertility, gained. Like so many conser- of new-born chicks and the thus minimizing the risks of monitoring of eggs set up in vation projects worldwide, losing eggs in the early stages training, skills and capacity- incubators and hatchers. of incubation. Most of the training course building, and constructive took place at the Weltvogel- Now back at home in Kellé, partnerships are often at the root of success and the build- park Walsrode, the world’s highly motivated and armed ing of sustainable solutions. largest bird park with over with the numerous new skills 600 different species and well she has acquired, Maimoun- atou is already putting them known for its savoir-faire in Maimounatou Ibrahim artificial breeding techniques. into practice and sharing her knowledge with her staff and Thomas Rabeil Maimounatou also benefited others involved in breeding Mouna Adam Newby from the expertise of Hanno- and returning the North Afri- ver Zoo in ostrich breeding can ostrich back to the wild. and ex-situ conservation,

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Tunisian biodiversity: scimitar-horned oryx (above); wildflowers, slender-horned gazelle, ostrich and addax (Photos: Marwell Wildlife, John Newby, Tim Wacher)

Championing Tunisia

Occupying less than 2% of the As would be expected, the Research Centre in Saudi Ara- Sahara, Tunisia is a relatively fortunes of antelope herds bia in 2012. After being raised small but remarkably diverse established in each location to adulthood in three loca- country, where nature is influ- vary over time as they grow tions, the ostriches bred suc- enced by the Mediterranean and contract according to cessfully in captivity and this and the desert. This is exem- prevailing conditions. Howev- allowed the release of initial plified by an extensive net- er, at a national level popula- cohorts into Dghoumes and work of coastal, wetland, for- tions remain healthy thanks to Sidi Toui National Parks at est, arid steppe and desert monitoring and managerial the end of 2014 and early protected areas. Many of these intervention when required. 2015. These birds are already sites are internationally recog- Moreover, the results of habi- reproducing while further nised and particularly im- tat restoration are more than releases are planned at other portant for migratory birds. encouraging as evidenced by sites. Furthermore, during the last the increase in biomass in Sidi Tunisia faces socio-economic 30 years Tunisia’s Direction Toui National Park clearly and security challenges like Générale des Forêts (DGF) has visible from satellite images, other countries in the region, pioneered Saharan antelope the mature acacia woodlands but political and administra- reintroductions, supported by of Bou Hedma National Park, tive reforms are showing Marwell Wildlife, SCF and and results of studies in through. A new national strat- others from the international Dghoumes National Park. egy for the development and conservation community. As a Here, vegetation cover is sustainable management of result, national meta- greater, the plant community forests and rangelands has all populations of scimitar- is more diverse, and reptiles the hallmarks of contempo- horned oryx and addax have and small mammals are more rary and progressive ap- been established as part of abundant than in equivalent proaches to conservation you wider initiatives to protect and areas outside the park. might expect anywhere in the restore aridland ecosystems. In addition to these achieve- world. With comprehensive Oryx and addax occupy a se- ments, another significant plans to extend, restore and ries of isolated protected areas conservation initiative is now conserve natural rangeland of limited size in an otherwise underway: the reintroduction resources, and to deliver equi- densely populated pastoralist of the indigenous North Afri- table benefit sharing, there are landscape. This brings chal- can ostrich to Tunisia follow- further reasons to be optimis- lenges of managing inherently ing an absence of 127 years. tic for Tunisia’s aridland bio- vulnerable populations in bal- Young birds were imported diversity. ance with available habitat and from Souss Massa National Tim Woodfine exacerbated by the erratic Park in Morocco in 2008 and Marie Petretto nature of desert environments. from the National Wildlife

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Mali’s elephants on the move (above); poached elephant, elephants at Lake Banzena, community meeting (sidebar) (Photos: Carlton Ward, Susan Canney) Mali’s elephants under threat again

In Sandscript 13 (Spring 2013), plices in killing elephants. derail the peace process. The Susan Canney wrote about efforts to patrols ceased and sorties of Some elephants changed their save Mali’s last remaining desert poachers from north of the behaviour, clumping together elephants. Here, she picks the story. river meant 35 have been into larger herds and fleeing the Follow the story on Susan’s blog. poached since December com- area. One large group with pared to 25 in the previous 3 From September – December many babies tried to find water years). 2014 the security situation im- in areas they used to frequent proved in the centre and south decades ago before they were 50 newly recruited Malian for- of the Gourma. The local peo- displaced by increasing human esters are currently being ple have a great deal of infor- settlement. These areas now trained to man the 10 new for- mation but are frightened of contain little surface water and ester posts, and a radio- retribution killings. Supporting the project sent brigade mem- communications system is local leaders in convening meet- bers to help communities avoid about to be deployed. The Pres- ings to unite the community conflict with elephants. The ident of the Parliamentary against the insecurity enabled project was able to mobilize a Committee on Wildlife ad- them to give information anon- rapid response through co- dressed the entire Parliament ymously and resulted in arrests, ordinating work with the com- asking what measures the gov- the discovery of large caches of munity, government foresters ernment will take, and the arms and the reintegration of and the military, who took re- Council of Ministers will dis- former fighters. This encour- sponsibility for anti-poaching cuss this at their next meeting. aged the army to strategically patrols, and the killings stopped We are currently investigating deploy additional forces, and for a period. Anti-poaching how to urgently scale-up the the security situation improved activities are good for people anti-poaching capability. There in the centre and south of the too and the project’s field man- is support from top levels of Gourma with fewer attacks and ager received many calls from the Malian army; MINUSMA thefts. People travelled more local people saying how pleased and UNPOL are keen to help, freely and the markets reo- they were to see army presence. as are the US Embassy, those pened. Then the end of the dry season associated with the Great However 19 elephants were (with the elephants in the vicin- Elephant Census (which has killed at the end of December ity of Lake Banzena) coincided just completed its mission in 2014/beginning of 2015 while with an escalation in attacks, Mali), USFWS African frequenting the small lakes that that commentators have linked Elephant Fund and the still contained water in the re- to the signature of the Peace Elephant Crisis Fund. mote north of their range. This Accord between the coalition marked a sudden escalation as of the main separatist rebel local people were contacted by groups, pro-government mili- Susan Canney mobile phone from outside the tias and the government, as The WILD Foundation elephant range to act as accom- hardliners on all sides tried to

Sandscript is the regular newsletter of SCF, the SCF’s mission is to conserve the wildlife of the Sahara Conservation Fund. Sahara and bordering Sahelian grasslands.

SCF is grateful to Susan Canney, Thomas Rabeil, Tim To implement our mission, we forge partnerships Woodfine, Marie Petretto, Maimounatou Ibrahim, between people, governments, the world zoo and Mouna Adam Newby and Tim Wacher for their scientific communities, international conventions, contributions to this issue. non-governmental organizations and donor

Sandscript is edited by John Newby, who can be agencies. A powerful network with a common goal reached here with any comments and feedback. – the conservation of deserts and their unique nat- ural and cultural heritage.

If you would like to know more about our work and how to contribute to our projects, please contact us at [email protected] We would love to hear from you!

To donate to SCF just scan the QR code be- low or visit our website by clicking here.

Planning for the future

SCF is at a crossroads. After a decade other large birds and mammals, like of intense activity, and with a number the ostrich and the scimitar-horned of significant conservation achieve- oryx. Success with these target spe- ments under our belt, we have cies should also ensure sound protec- reached full capacity under our initial tion for many others sharing the operational and human resources same habitats, including bustards, configuration. With a view to chart- dorcas gazelles and the many Sahelo- ing out institutional and program Saharan carnivores, like the cheetah, development for the next 3-5 years, fennec and sand cat. SCF and its the Board of SCF has drafted and partners can be truly proud of what approved a new Business Plan & has been achieved to date. In a nut- Strategy. The document, available on shell, we have firmly put the Sahara’s line from our website by clicking wildlife on to the conservation agen- here, emphasizes our commitment to da, something confirmed by recent build on the achievements of the past and major wildlife policy and status few years and to remain loyal to our documents of organisations such as goal and niche of conserving endan- IUCN and the European Commis- gered desert wildlife and the habitats sion. With the threats to desert wild- and protected areas required for their life greater today than ever before we survival. This “species and spaces” are going to need all the help we can approach will ensure we maintain our get and the Business Plan is there to focus on critically endangered ani- help guide that process. mals like the addax and dama gazelle, and to maintain our efforts to restore