June
24 June – Zoo Lion Dies… Dennis Kelly, President and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, announced Tuesday that Masai, a 18-year-old female African lion, passed away.Zoo Atlanta’s animal management team had been treating the lioness’s declining health since January 2008…Masai was one of three lions born on June 3, 1990, at the Chipangali Wildlife Trust, a wildlife orphanage in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. From: CBS 46 News
21 June – May God Forgive Us… This story is one of true sadness. On Wednesday 18 June 2008, I received an urgent call from The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, saying that yet another white rhino mother had been poached and had left a young orphan calf behind. Instantly Dr Astrid Huelin and I collected all the drugs and necessary equipment to address the possible situation we would encounter once we were on site. From: Zimbabwe Seven
19 June – The Environmental Consequences of Sanctions… Despite the recent discovery of vast new coal fields beneath Hwange, Zimbabwe’s largest and single coal producer, Wankie Colliery Company Ltd, is today failing to meet the high demand for its local market citing the constant breakdown of heavy-duty equipment and machinery, together with shortages of railway wagons as the major impediments, and the black gold that is the rightful inheritance of each and every Zimbabwean, instead remains suffocating beneath the surface where it will undoubtedly remain until sanctions are lifted. Thereby providing a bonus for those who will inherit the earth. From: The Zimbabwe Guardian
19 June – Midlands conservancy shelved in favour of farming… The establishment of a multi-trillion Conservancy Education Centre in Kwekwe (located in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe) is clouded in uncertainty following the government’s acquisition of several farms making up the Midlands Black Rhino Conservancy. From: The Zimbabwe Guardian
17 June – Black Rhino Population Rises in Africa… The International Union for Conservation of Nature (I UCN) has said that African countries tops the global list of countries with the highest population of the black rhinoceros but warned that poaching in DR Congo and Zimbabwe could drastically reduce the population of one of the world’s rare mammals. IUCN said Tuesday that African rhinos had reached record numbers for the first time in decades. From: Afrique en ligne
17 June – Endangered Species Fall Prey to Poachers… The Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce (ZCT) reported Monday that there had been a worrying increase in the slaughter of wildlife in national parks since the controversial presidential and parliamentary elections in March. From: Afrik.com
16 June – Serval x Kitty = Savanna Cat… This world is a crazy place. Would you buy a Serval cross kitty for $5,000? Someone thinks this is a great money making idea and Australians are getting mad. I bet the media attention will drive up the price. What a shame that none of this money will contribute to the conservation of servals in Africa where Lisa Hywood is working under extreme conditions in Zimbabwe to protect the species. From: Baraza
16 June – View from the Village… Gwelutshena, a village in Nkayi district, south west Zimbabwe, derives its name from the famous Gwelutshena River that ran through the villages and homesteads. The river flows no more—its bed is as dry and sandy as parts of the Sahara. The children of Gwelutshena will grow up with little sense of where their community got its name from and wonder why their identity is pegged to a dried-up river. From: IUCN CEC
14 June – Helipad Endangers Tourism… The Victoria Falls rainforest along the Zambezi River could lose its place on the World Heritage Sites list, owing to business activities in the area. Ethel Mlalazi, director of the Victoria Falls Department of Physical Planning, said something needed to be done urgently to save the rainforest. From: The Zimbabwean
12 June – Update on the Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area… The meeting in Zimbabwe to discuss the predator management plan for the new transfrontier conservation area, covering the corners of Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa where they meet, was highly productive. It seems that March next year is the date that we will see the fences beginning to come down, which is a huge triumph for the conservation of this region. From: Limpopo Valley Carnivores
11 June – World Must Move Towards Low Carbon Economies… DH Lawrencs’s Sons and Lovers is one narrative that offers a very sad image of the consequences of indust-rialisation. The pictures of sooty Walter Morrel emerging from the coal pits heading for home without enough money and his son Paul having to work to augment the father’s earnings remain pathetic. From: AllAfrica.com
9 June – Going Once, Going Twice: Remnants of 10,000+ Elephants May Be On the Auction Block… For the first time in nearly a decade, the international sale of ivory from endangered African elephants has been authorized by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat. An estimated 119 tons (108 tonnes) of ivory, put up for sale from four southern African nations, which was in part conditionally approved in 2002, has been audited and verified by the CITES Secretariat. This sum represents the deaths of over 10,000 African elephants. From: The Earth Times / International Fund for Animal Welfare
9 June – Vandalism and Fires Threaten Zim Tourism Industry… Vandalism of security fences around safari farms and uncontrolled veld fires are posing a threat to the development of the safari industry in Zimbabwe. Safari operations have come under strain from vandalism of security fences around farms. From: The Zimbabwe Guardian
9 June – Conservation Agric… Government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation have launched the Conservation Agriculture Promotion Network that seeks to improve yields, water supply and soil conservation for increased agricultural production. From: AllAfrica.com
5 June – Environment, Development Inseparable… Zimbabwe on Monday launched the Green Ribbon Week in Harare, an annual awareness campaign for the environment. Zimbabweans were urged to play an active role in sustainable management and conservation of the environment which is in danger of pollution and destruction. From: AllAfrica.com
3 June – ‘Be Active in Environmental Conservation’… Zimbabweans have been urged to take an active role in sustainable management and conservation of the country’s environment that is in danger of pollution and destruction. Officially launching the Green Ribbon Week at Polywaste Plastics factory in Harare yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Cde Andrew Langa, said the involvement of communities was critical in changing attitudes towards environmental issues. From: AllAfrica.com
