Black rhino relocation launches new rhino sanctuary in Kenya

Ruma National Park 
February 2012. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has successfully completed the last phase of the black rhino translocation from Mugie Rhino sanctuary and Solio Ranch in Laikipia to Ruma National Park. 

The project saw a total of 21 black rhinos introduced into Ruma National Park in two phases. Speaking during the translocation exercise, Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Dr. Noah Wekesa, noted with great concern the magnitude of the escalating poaching and its effect on the critically endangered rhino species. "I want to send a strong message to the poachers that they shall be dealt with severely according to the law," Dr. Wekesa said. He reiterated that his ministry will ensure that the current penalties for wildlife offenders are quickly reviewed and made more punitive to discourage poaching.

Enhance tourism in western Kenya
The introduction of rhinos in the park is seen as a move to enhance tourism in the Western Kenya tourism circuit and unlocking tourism potential in the area. Dr. Wekesa encouraged all players in the tourism sector to invest heavily in the region. He appealed for aggressive marketing of the national park along with other tourism sites like the famous Thim Lich Ohinga ruins, the famous Luo legend, Gor Mahia, Lake Victoria, the rich Luo culture and the Homa Hills hot springs of Simbi Nyaima.

Rhino poaching
The translocation has come at a time when the world is witnessing an increase in the illegal killing of rhinos. A worrying note is the sophistication and the level of organization of illegal traders in the rhino horn. A total of 1,400 rhinos were killed in Africa over the last five years. Of these, seventy were in Kenya mainly to satisfy illegal demand for the horn by some Asian countries.

Ruma rhino sanctuary
Ruma National Park in Nyanza was officially launched as a rhino sanctuary at the end of last year during the first phase of the translocation exercise. This was a historic comeback of rhinos to this area. With a capacity of hosting 85 black rhinos, the last time rhinos were sighted in the Ruma general area was in mid 1950s, more than half a century ago. Black rhino numbers reduced from 20,000 in 1960s to less than 300 by mid 1980s in Kenya mainly due to hunting. 

However, renewed conservation efforts by KWS and other conservation efforts have seen the numbers begin to rise again. The current national total of black rhinos now stands at 620.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/ruma-rhino.html

Eco-toilets help save hippos and birds in Kenya

It may appear unintuitive that special toilets could benefit hippos and other wetland species, but the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE) has proven the unique benefits of new toilets in the Dunga Wetlands on Lake Victoria's Kenyan side. By building ecologically-sanitary (eco-san) toilets, CREE has managed to alleviate some of the conflict that has cropped up between hippos and humans for space.

With extreme population and land pressures in the region, people have moved into the Dunga Wetlands to exploit its rich, though quickly exhaustible, soils for agriculture. However the resulting habitat loss has hurt many native species, besides the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), which is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, the wetlands are also home to the sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) and the spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis). In addition the Dunga Wetlands are listed as an International Bird Area (IBA), including sporting populations of the papyrus gonolek (Laniarius mufumbiri), listed as Near Threatened, and the papyrus yellow warbler (Chloropeta gracilirostris), listed as Vulnerable, and a number of other key African wetland birds. Eco-san toilets are being used to stem the destruction of further habitat.

Read more:http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0104-hance_ecosan_cree.html#ixzz1isaeHp3e

Northern white rhino - Romance but no cigar

Still hoping for breeding success


December 2011: There are just seven northern white rhinos left in the world - but work at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya is underway to try to ensure that they successfully breed and Wildlife Extra has been following the fortunes of males Sudan and Suni and mum and daughter Najin and Fatu closely.

In our last update in September, Suni, Fatu and Najin were sharing an enclosure while Sudan had five southern white rhino females for company in his big enclosure. But Najin and Fatu have now been coaxed out of their boma into Sudan's 700-acre enclosure.

Najin didn't need to be persuaded for long and moved out quickly. Fatu, on the other hand, was hesitant but eventually followed her mother into the big enclosure. The girls seemed to enjoy the vast open spaces and spent a lot of time roaming their new surroundings. However, after a while it became clear that Najin was extremely protective of her daughter and was getting in the way of Sudan's advances towards Fatu.

Happy to have some company
The team decided to move Najin back to the small enclosure so Fatu and Sudan had a chance to get closer.

Two weeks later, Najin was reunited with Suni in her old enclosure. Suni seems happy to have some company and is showing great interest in Najin. He makes loud grunting noises whenever she is nearby and keepers are hopeful they will mate soon.

So far Fatu and Sudan have not yet shown any interest in each other. Fatu is shy and tends to stay away from the group especially the southern white females.

It is hoped the Fatu-Sudan and Najin-Suni pairs will have some proper chemistry. And that chemistry will lead to successful mating, increasing the breeding changes for these few remaining northern white rhinos.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-romance.html#cr

It's tough at the top for alpha males

If you're feeling envious of your boss's paycheck, a new study confirms that success comes with high stress, possibly as much as faced by those who have to struggle to find a bite to eat.


The results of nine years of research on wild baboons, published in the journal Science, suggest that despite perks like easy access to mates and food, top-ranking males experience similar stress levels as their lowest-rung counterparts.

Those in the middle showed lower stress than either the top or bottom ranking males, according to measurements of testosterone and a stress hormone known as glucocorticoid.

"Alpha males exhibited much higher stress hormone levels than second-ranking (beta) males, suggesting that being at the top may be more costly than previously thought," according to the study led by researchers at Princeton University.

Samples were taken from the faeces of a wild male baboon population in Ambelosi, Kenya.

While the stress levels at the top and bottom were similar, they were likely caused by different problems.

Alpha baboons spent lots of energy fighting to stay on top and trying to mate with as many females as possible, while the low-ranking males expended lots of effort searching for food.

Meanwhile, there may be perks for not reaching quite so high.

The second-rate beta males received about the same amount of attention, in the form of grooming, from females, but did "slightly better than predicted" at reaching their "full reproductive potential," the study's authors write.

Kenya's fisheries management promotes species that grow larger and live longer

A comparative study of Kenya’s coastal reef fisheries
by the Wildlife Conservation Society and James Cook
University found that sites with fishing regulations
and effective enforcement had a greater diversity
of predatory fish species than unregulated sites. Photo: J. Cinner

Public release date: 10-Feb-2011

Study finds seine net elimination an important step to the recovery of robust fish communities

Marine conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society working in Kenya have found that better fisheries management that includes restricting fishing gear is producing more predatory and longer-lived species and is improving fishing even in adjacent areas where no management is taking place.

During a 10-year study, conservationists recording fish catches found that the implementation of fishing regulations—and particularly the banning of small-mesh seine nets that indiscriminately capture all fish—allowed practically all fish species to recover, especially those species that took longer to reproduce. Fish communities in regulated sites also had a greater diversity of predatory fish species and those with longer life spans. Even in unregulated areas there were small improvements to the fish community.

The study appears in the February print version of Fisheries Management and Ecology. The authors of the study include Dr. Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Christina Hicks of James Cook University in Australia.

The study examined the effects of increasing fisheries management and fishing gear restrictions in 11 coral reef sites along the 75-kilometer stretch of Kenyan coast around the city of Mombasa for a 10-year period.

The wholesale removal of fine-mesh seine nets was implemented in six sites to the south of Mombasa, all of which were more than 30 kilometers away from areas closed to fishing. Kenyatta Beach—a landing site and popular tourist destination near Mombasa Marine National Park—served as the study's most intensively regulated site. The northernmost sites, where fishermen continued to use seine nets in spite of restrictions, were within five kilometers of the fisheries closure zones. In addition to seine nets, other types of gear examined in the study were traps, lines, regular nets, and spears.

"The study shows that regulating coastal fisheries allows fish populations to recover in a number of predictable ways that correspond with knowledge of the biology and ecological characteristics of individual species, but also that the recovery was faster then predicted for some species," said Dr. Tim McClanahan, WCS Senior Conservationist and head of the society's coral reef research and conservation program.

From February 1998 to August 2007, researchers identified and measured individual fish from 152 species caught at each of the 11 sites—with 15 species representing approximately 90 percent of the data pool—as well as recording the gear used. On average, all fish species from regulated sites over the course of the study increased in body length over time, with two species—the rabbitfish (averaging a short lifespan of 5.9 years) and seagrass parrotfish (averaging a intermediate lifespan of 7.7 years)—exhibiting the most significant size increases following fishing regulations. The unregulated northern sites were dominated by short-lived herbivorous species and the very few species that were able to escape the gaps of small-meshed nets.

Predictably, the largest and longest lived fish were landed at the most regulated site (Kenyatta), and the smallest in the least regulated. Further, spears and gill nets caught the largest fish in the study, whereas the smallest were caught in seines and lines. Also, fish body lengths in the sites where seine net bans were implemented and enforced during the study were growing to the same lengths as fish from the most regulated site by the end of the study.

Dr. McClanahan said the improvements even in the unregulated areas suggest that strong management can improve conditions in adjacent areas where management is weak.

"This can lead to either free loading on the nearby stronger management or increased interests in participating in the improved management, depending on the interests, incentives, and organization of the fishing and management community," McClanahan said.

The study builds on a previous WCS study from the same sites on the costs and revenues of local fisheries along the coast of Kenya, which was published last year in Conservation Biology and demonstrated that effective fisheries management actually yields more profits for fishermen. In terms of income, fishermen working in Kenyatta experienced a 60 percent increase in revenue (from 224 up to 374 Kenya shillings, or $3 up to $5) following the beach seine ban in 2001. By contrast, daily income in the northern sites averaged $2 per person between 2002-2007. Overall, fishing revenue in the southern landing sites (all of which banned beach seines during the study period) was 41 percent higher than northern coast sites with the beach seines; Kenyatta's fishing revenue climbed to 135 percent higher than northern sites after seine elimination.

Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Marine Program, said: "This important comparison of various fisheries management systems over time demonstrates the critical need to move past unregulated open-access fishing in resource poor countries around the world. This empirical evidence demonstrates how both fishers and their supporting ecosystems can and do benefit from restrictions and improved management."

###

 

Critical support for McClanahan's work was provided by the Tiffany & Co. Foundation.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/wcs-kfm021011.php

Mountain species at risk in climate change

by Staff Writers
Nairobi, Kenya (UPI) Jan 21, 2011

Changes both man-made and natural have sent populations of birds in Kenya's highlands plummeting, and many conservations say they fear some may not recover.

An increasing number of settlers who have moved to the country's highlands to farm in the last two decades have affected bird habitats and reduced bird populations by cutting down forests and turning grasslands into fields, The New York Times reported.

Climate change is adding to the problem, sending some populations into steep decline, researchers say.

Some scientists predict a 20 percent to 30 percent species loss if temperatures rise by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and if some of the more extreme warming predictions come to pass the loss rate could approach 50 percent, a United Nations climate change panel says.

Tens of thousands of species living on or near mountains are vulnerable, scientists say. These species, living in habitats from the high plateaus of Africa to the jungles of Australia to the Sierra Nevada in the United States, are already experiencing climate pressures, they say.

In response to warming, animals classically move to cooler ground, but mountain species face drastic limitations.

As they move upward they must compete for less and less space on the mountaintops, where they run into uninhabitable rocky terrain or a lack of their usual foods and have nowhere farther to go.

"It's a really simple story that at some point you can't go further north or higher up, so there's no doubt that species will go extinct," Walter Jetz, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale, said.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mountain_species_at_risk_in_climate_change_999.html

Mountain species at risk in climate change

by Staff Writers
Nairobi, Kenya (UPI) Jan 21, 2011

Changes both man-made and natural have sent populations of birds in Kenya's highlands plummeting, and many conservations say they fear some may not recover.

An increasing number of settlers who have moved to the country's highlands to farm in the last two decades have affected bird habitats and reduced bird populations by cutting down forests and turning grasslands into fields, The New York Times reported.

Climate change is adding to the problem, sending some populations into steep decline, researchers say.

Some scientists predict a 20 percent to 30 percent species loss if temperatures rise by 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and if some of the more extreme warming predictions come to pass the loss rate could approach 50 percent, a United Nations climate change panel says.

Tens of thousands of species living on or near mountains are vulnerable, scientists say. These species, living in habitats from the high plateaus of Africa to the jungles of Australia to the Sierra Nevada in the United States, are already experiencing climate pressures, they say.

In response to warming, animals classically move to cooler ground, but mountain species face drastic limitations.

As they move upward they must compete for less and less space on the mountaintops, where they run into uninhabitable rocky terrain or a lack of their usual foods and have nowhere farther to go.

"It's a really simple story that at some point you can't go further north or higher up, so there's no doubt that species will go extinct," Walter Jetz, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale, said.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mountain_species_at_risk_in_climate_change_999.html

Kenyan high court reinstates national park status to Amboseli

High court overturns President's order

Courtesy of BirdLife International

November 2010. The High Court of Kenya has reversed an order by President Mwai Kibaki to downgrade the Amboseli National Park to a game reserve. The High Court found the move to ‘de-gazette' Amboseli was illegal.

Serah Munguti, the Advocacy manager of Nature Kenya (BirdLife Partner), immediately welcomed the decision. "Nature Kenya firmly believes that the future of Kenya's wildlife lies with citizens and the local populations who share land with wildlife".

The downgrading of Amboseli was ordered by the President ahead of Kenya's first Constitutional Referendum in 2005, and was largely seen as an attempt to gain support from the Masai Community to support the new constitution.

Serah said the new High Court decision was a firm reminder that: "policies and leadership decisions likely to affect the integrity of ecosystems must be made in consultation with experts and not for political benefits."

Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is actually just over the border in Tanzania. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area, and has a rich avian fauna with over 400 bird species recorded, including over 40 birds of prey including Vulnerable Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni which uses the site during its migration period.

Amboseli National Park is surrounded by six communally-owned group ranches that are wet-season dispersal areas for wildlife, and whose management has direct influence on the ecological stability of the park.

$3.3 million per year generated by Amboseli
Wildlife tourism is one of Kenya's main sources of foreign revenue, and Amboseli brings in about $3.3m a year from park fees and related tourist activities. This money helps administer Amboseli and other National Parks in Kenya.

"Local people must benefit not only from environmental services but also from concrete financial revenues derived from conservation", concluded Serah Munguti.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/amboseli-national-park.html

Kenyan high court reinstates national park status to Amboseli

High court overturns President's order

Courtesy of BirdLife International

November 2010. The High Court of Kenya has reversed an order by President Mwai Kibaki to downgrade the Amboseli National Park to a game reserve. The High Court found the move to ‘de-gazette' Amboseli was illegal.

Serah Munguti, the Advocacy manager of Nature Kenya (BirdLife Partner), immediately welcomed the decision. "Nature Kenya firmly believes that the future of Kenya's wildlife lies with citizens and the local populations who share land with wildlife".

The downgrading of Amboseli was ordered by the President ahead of Kenya's first Constitutional Referendum in 2005, and was largely seen as an attempt to gain support from the Masai Community to support the new constitution.

Serah said the new High Court decision was a firm reminder that: "policies and leadership decisions likely to affect the integrity of ecosystems must be made in consultation with experts and not for political benefits."

Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is actually just over the border in Tanzania. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area, and has a rich avian fauna with over 400 bird species recorded, including over 40 birds of prey including Vulnerable Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni which uses the site during its migration period.

Amboseli National Park is surrounded by six communally-owned group ranches that are wet-season dispersal areas for wildlife, and whose management has direct influence on the ecological stability of the park.

$3.3 million per year generated by Amboseli
Wildlife tourism is one of Kenya's main sources of foreign revenue, and Amboseli brings in about $3.3m a year from park fees and related tourist activities. This money helps administer Amboseli and other National Parks in Kenya.

"Local people must benefit not only from environmental services but also from concrete financial revenues derived from conservation", concluded Serah Munguti.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/amboseli-national-park.html

Three suspected poachers killed in Kenya

Elephant poaching in Kenya

November 2010. Three suspected poachers have been shot dead in Kenya in two separate incidents after the killing of five elephants, the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) has revealed. Kenya Wildlife Service rangers shot two poachers and arrested another in the southeast of Kenya, as well as recovering two assault rifles and seven elephant tusks.

Meru National Park
KWS rangers in Meru National Park shot dead one poacher. "The suspects had shot dead an elephant and were hacking off the tusks with axes when the KWS rangers ambushed them," KWS said. "A major operation is underway to arrest other suspects who escaped. They are believed to have sustained gunshot injuries."

One ranger was wounded in the firefight and is now recovering in hospital.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-poachers018.html

Three suspected poachers killed in Kenya

Elephant poaching in Kenya

November 2010. Three suspected poachers have been shot dead in Kenya in two separate incidents after the killing of five elephants, the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) has revealed. Kenya Wildlife Service rangers shot two poachers and arrested another in the southeast of Kenya, as well as recovering two assault rifles and seven elephant tusks.

Meru National Park
KWS rangers in Meru National Park shot dead one poacher. "The suspects had shot dead an elephant and were hacking off the tusks with axes when the KWS rangers ambushed them," KWS said. "A major operation is underway to arrest other suspects who escaped. They are believed to have sustained gunshot injuries."

One ranger was wounded in the firefight and is now recovering in hospital.


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-poachers018.html

Scientists trumpet new elephant shrew species

The elephant shrew is more closely related to elephants than shrews. Photograph: Zoological Society of London

Elephant shrew weighing 600g caught in remote north-east Kenyan rainforest

Shanta Barley
Thursday 16 September 2010
16.05 BST

A team of scientists working in a Kenyan rainforest has discovered what is thought to be a new species of elephant shrew. Weighing in at a hefty 600g, the two-foot long creature is unusually large compared to other species.

The mammal, which is more closely related to elephants than to shrews, was caught on motion sensor cameras set up by the Zoological Society of London's Edge of Existence programme in the threatened Boni-Dodori rainforest, which sits on Kenya's north-eastern coast next to Somalia.

"It's really rare to discover a new species of mammal, and it's particularly remarkable that we've found a new species of elephant shrew just five years after the last one was discovered in Tanzania's Udzungwa mountains," says Raj Amin, who led the team. This brings the total number of elephant shrew (Macroscelidea) known to science to 18 species - all found in Africa.

The crew are yet to see one of the species alive, having caught one on camera and found a dead elephant shrew in one of their nets. Members of the Boni tribe also brought them two more dead specimens of the new species.

DNA from the samples is currently being analysed to confirm that the animal is a new species, but Amin remains confident: "You can distinguish elephant shrews based on their colour, and this one looks completely different from all the others."

"It doesn't have a golden rump, or a rufous-coloured face, or spots, but it does have grizzled yellow-brown sides and shoulders, a black rump and thighs and what appears to be a dark mane," says Amin. Because the animal was captured on camera during the day, it is also likely to be diurnal.

Until 2005, security was too tight for scientists to enter the Boni-Dodori forest but in 2008, Amin's team got permission to survey the area. They were amazed at how intact it was, as neighbouring regions have largely been logged and converted into biofuel farms.

"As it turns out, the Boni-Dodori forest is infested with sleeping sickness, a parasite transmitted by the tsetse fly, so herders and other people have left it well alone for the most part," says Amin.

After the inevitable buzz around finding a new species dies down, Amin hopes that the discovery will draw attention to the plight of the roughly 2,216 sq km patch of forest, which may not be protected by sleeping sickness for much longer.

"China wants to rebuild a nearby port in order to ship out minerals, and there are also plans for an oil pipeline," says Amin. "In addition, biofuel companies are growing crops on freshly deforested land that's less degraded, just to make a quick profit."

In January, WWF set up the first conservation project in the forest. The project will last for three years and produce an inventory of the forest's biodiversity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/16/new-elephant-shrew-species

Scientists trumpet new elephant shrew species

The elephant shrew is more closely related to elephants than shrews. Photograph: Zoological Society of London

Elephant shrew weighing 600g caught in remote north-east Kenyan rainforest

Shanta Barley
Thursday 16 September 2010
16.05 BST

A team of scientists working in a Kenyan rainforest has discovered what is thought to be a new species of elephant shrew. Weighing in at a hefty 600g, the two-foot long creature is unusually large compared to other species.

The mammal, which is more closely related to elephants than to shrews, was caught on motion sensor cameras set up by the Zoological Society of London's Edge of Existence programme in the threatened Boni-Dodori rainforest, which sits on Kenya's north-eastern coast next to Somalia.

"It's really rare to discover a new species of mammal, and it's particularly remarkable that we've found a new species of elephant shrew just five years after the last one was discovered in Tanzania's Udzungwa mountains," says Raj Amin, who led the team. This brings the total number of elephant shrew (Macroscelidea) known to science to 18 species - all found in Africa.

The crew are yet to see one of the species alive, having caught one on camera and found a dead elephant shrew in one of their nets. Members of the Boni tribe also brought them two more dead specimens of the new species.

DNA from the samples is currently being analysed to confirm that the animal is a new species, but Amin remains confident: "You can distinguish elephant shrews based on their colour, and this one looks completely different from all the others."

"It doesn't have a golden rump, or a rufous-coloured face, or spots, but it does have grizzled yellow-brown sides and shoulders, a black rump and thighs and what appears to be a dark mane," says Amin. Because the animal was captured on camera during the day, it is also likely to be diurnal.

Until 2005, security was too tight for scientists to enter the Boni-Dodori forest but in 2008, Amin's team got permission to survey the area. They were amazed at how intact it was, as neighbouring regions have largely been logged and converted into biofuel farms.

"As it turns out, the Boni-Dodori forest is infested with sleeping sickness, a parasite transmitted by the tsetse fly, so herders and other people have left it well alone for the most part," says Amin.

After the inevitable buzz around finding a new species dies down, Amin hopes that the discovery will draw attention to the plight of the roughly 2,216 sq km patch of forest, which may not be protected by sleeping sickness for much longer.

"China wants to rebuild a nearby port in order to ship out minerals, and there are also plans for an oil pipeline," says Amin. "In addition, biofuel companies are growing crops on freshly deforested land that's less degraded, just to make a quick profit."

In January, WWF set up the first conservation project in the forest. The project will last for three years and produce an inventory of the forest's biodiversity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/16/new-elephant-shrew-species

Elephant research in Kenya 'washed away' by flash flood

Thursday, 4 March 2010
By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

Flash floods have washed away a major scientific research centre used to study Africa's wild elephants.

This morning, flooding of the Ewaso Ng'iro River destroyed the research facility and associated camp located in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.

The centre has unveiled pioneering insights into elephant behaviour, including how fences made from beehives can deter elephants from raiding farms.

No-one is reported hurt but valuable research and data has been lost.

As well as the Save the Elephants (STE) research facility and Elephant Watch Safari Camp located in Samburu National Reserve, seven other neighbouring lodges were completely destroyed.

Beds, tents, computers and vital research documentation were submerged in mud and strung up in the treetops.

Over 200 people watched from a hill above the camps as the waters wrecked havoc, say STE organisers.

The flash floods appear to have been triggered by the start of Kenya's rainy season.

Although it is too early to asses the cost of the damage, STE operations manager Ms Lucy King, who is also studying at the University of Oxford, UK expects it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the facility.

Last year, a pilot study conducted by Ms King and colleagues showed how a simple fence made from wood, wire and beehives can deter elephants from raiding farmers' crops.

Such fences reduce the number of raids by elephants by almost half, the researchers found.

The work was the culmination of previous research which showed elephants are naturally scared of African honey bees.

Other research conducted at the facility includes a pioneering animal tracking project that uses using mobile phone technology to follow the movements of African elephants.

The camp was also used a base for filming the BBC natural history documentary The Secret Life of Elephants, first broadcast last year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8549000/8549878.stm