Tracking Rhinos and Pythons

Anytime someone visits Africa they always have a favorite animal they want to see.  Many prefer the felines, which tend to be a challenge as there are few cheetahs and leopards anywhere on the continent, and lions can very elusive.  Others, such as my friends, really like the elephants.  But rhinos are one of the most endangered species in Africa.  In fact, it is impossible to find up to date statistics on rhinos because most countries keep those figures a secret due to poaching.

Most people only think of elephants when they hear the word: poaching.  But the truth is that rhino poaching is as much, if not more, of a problem.  In 1900 there were more than half a million black rhinos in Africa.  By 1970 that number had fallen to 70,000 and in 1993 there were only 5,000.  No one is confident of rhino numbers today, but the numbers are likely even lower due to poaching.  Rhino horn can grow up to 8kg and each kilo sells for $50,000.  If someone is suspected of poaching in Africa they can be shot on site, no questions asked.  And this does happen from time to time.  But the poachers are willing to take the risk since the payoff is so high (up to $400,000 in profit from one rhino).  Unfortunately, while technology does allow some parks to keep track of rhinos with microchips, technology can also work against conservation efforts.  Poachers are now using the Internet to track rhinos as GPS information is often available when someone posts a picture online.  In other words, “Look at the rhino I saw today!” translates into a map providing poachers with directions to find that rhino later that same night.

In Botswana we have fewer than 100 rhino and more than half of these are located in one place: the Khama Rhino Sanctuary (KRS).  The Khama Rhino was established in 1992 to protect and breed rhinos.  Since I haven’t had the chance to visit the Rhino Sanctuary previously, I decided to use Ashleigh and Amanda’s visit as an excuse to do so.  The trip proved to be a huge success.  We got to see about a dozen rhino during a game drive, along with plenty of other animals.  There are 47 white rhino and 5 black rhino at KRS:

Thankfully, we also saw zebra at KRS because for whatever reason we did not see them anywhere else during Amanda and Ashleigh’s visit.  I would have felt terrible if they hadn’t seen zebra, especially since it is Botswana’s national animal.  The zebra were right in the middle of the road, so we had a fantastic view:

We also had an up close and personal encounter with a python.  Our guide told us that a python had eaten a goat two days prior to our visit and therefore, “He isn’t hungry, so it is safe for you to get very close to him.  We are going to track him today!”  And track him we did.  Normally, the rule is hard and fast: NEVER get out of your vehicle in a national park with wild animals.  But our guide told us to, so we did.  He saw the marks which indicated the python had been on the move, so we got out of the vehicle and tracked it.  In case you are curious how far away the safari truck was, here is a point of comparison (the game drive vehicle is the little white dot in the distance):

And here is the python, peacefully sleeping after his meal.  Sorry, this is a tough picture, you have to look through the grass and you will see it curled up:

This Is Your Life

In the 1950s there was a show on television called This Is Your Life.  The premise of the show was to bring a surprise guest on stage with a live studio audience where the host would narrate various parts of the person’s life while bringing influential people related to different stories in to reunite with the guest of honor.

Today I was reminded of this show when I said to myself, “I can’t believe this is my life.”  At the time I was sitting in the dark, in my house, with a headlamp on my forehead trying to read a book.  Sometime last night Gaborone lost power throughout the entire city.  Who knows?  It could have been the entire country without power.  By this morning we still didn’t have electricity.  I went to campus thinking they had some generators running and I could at the very least charge my laptop so I could get some work done offline.  Since the entire city was without power the university decided not to run the generators because it would simply take up too much energy.  As of 9pm tonight we still didn’t have any power, hence why I was sitting in my dark house, with a headlamp reading a book.

As I sat there thinking to myself that I never imagined this becoming my normal way of life I was reminded of what happened the previous day.  Yesterday I was on campus and went to use the bathroom.  As I opened the stall door and took a step in I looked down and realized THERE WAS A COBRA ON THE FLOOR!  The think the cobra incident was the pinnacle of the “I can’t believe this is my life” realization.  I backed out of the stall and went to report the cobra to security.

The best part about the cobra situation is that there is actually a procedure in place for how to handle it.  I’ve said before that I consider safety a major low point here in Botswana.  Back in the U.S. we have annual active shooter trainings we must attend.  And you would never dream of exceeding the maximum number of students permitted in a classroom because it would be a fire code violation.  None of those things are a concern here.  BUT!  If there is a snake everyone knows how to handle it.  It turns out you call the army.

Since Botswana is considered the most peaceful country in Africa it is almost pointless that we have an army.  And in the unlikely event that we actually went to war we would be doomed.  There have been countless newspaper articles over the past year about how the army uses their weapons so infrequently that in recent training exercises only one in three soldiers can hit a target. (A 5’x5’ stationary target by the way.)  Turns out the army can’t hit targets because they are busy catching snakes.  No, really!  One of the primary roles of the army is wild animal control and extraction.  So if you have a lion in your backyard you call the army and they come catch it.  I haven’t witnessed the lion extraction, but I must say, they did a standout job getting rid of the cobra.