Malawi

New Job!

My blog's back up and running for my new job in Malawi! Just about a month after completing my MSc in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University in England in September, I am one of the first people from my program to find a job. Next week I'll be undertaking the role of Primate Release Project Manager at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. You can check them out here:

http://www.lilongwewildlife.org/

This job is perfect for me and a dream job. I'll be in charge of releasing a troop of yellow baboons back into their natural habitat. After so many years of taking care of and rehabilitating baboons in captivity, being a part of the release process is a dream come true for me. This is the whole goal! The wildlife centre is just outside the capitol, Lilongwe, but the release site is in Kasungu National Park. The place looks absolutely beautiful. I'll be living at a research camp inside the national park, which suits me just fine. Sounds rustic, but nothing I'm not used to. My responsibilities will be to do some pre-release monitoring, release the baboons, then do extensive post-release monitoring. There isn't much information or literature out there on the release of captive primates, and almost none for baboons, so this is an exciting and vital project. Basically, I'll be following the released baboons all day in the bush collecting some data. I'll also be working and supervising other young students or research who come to the research camp, which is also home to the Wild Dog Conservation Malawi research team. They do tons of really cool research and tracking with carnivores in the area, which hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see as well.

Where is heck is Malawi? 

Even I had to consult a map at first. It's a small country below Tanzania, and bordered by Mozambique and Zambia. Its biggest claim to fame, at least in Los Angeles, is that this is where Madonna adopted a kid from years ago. About one in every three people here remind me of this fact. It's remarkable.

I definitely recommend at least Wikipedia-ing the country because it's very cool. There's a big beautiful lake that I would most definitely like to see. Kasungu NP is a couple hours from the capitol on the country's western border. I've never been to Malawi, and am certainly excited to see what it's all about!

Ebola

I've gotten around 683,428,492 comments and questions about the Ebola epidemic in Africa and if it's anywhere near Malawi. While I do welcome the concern, I have learned that people need to bone up on their geography. For starters, Africa is far larger than regular maps depict.

Secondly, Ebola is only in three (or four sometimes) countries all the way on the west coast of Africa, and I'll be approximately 4,500 miles and 10 countries away. It's as if someone said they weren't going to come to Los Angeles because it was snowing in New York. So don't worry, I'll be safe from Ebola.

As of now, I'm all packed and ready to go!!!! Check back here for more updates once I get to my new home!

Baboon Conservation Cartoon

Here's a little cartoon that I actually made myself that is part of our larger CrowdFunding video. It is a simplistic representation of the problems baboons face. As their natural habitat is destroyed, due to the building of farms, lodges, and homes, their natural resources diminish. They are forced to search for food in these human-modified environments. People dislike this disturbance by baboons and often use lethal methods to get rid of them, especially since baboons are not protected by any laws.

This is the kind of thing Joselyn and I are working to mitigate! Please donate to and spread the word about our upcoming MSc projects! We're currently at the half-way mark to our goal, and just need a but more support to reach our full goal!


www.RocketHub.com/39898

Donate to my Master's thesis research!

Hi everyone,

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I haven't been doing too much fun monkey stuff (other than studying about them!). I'm soon off to Botswana to conduct my Master's thesis research looking at human-baboon interactions at an eco-tourism lodge in the Okavango Delta. I'm incredibly excited to get back to Africa and start this project which I am very passionate about. Once again, I'll be embarking on an adventure to try and help some baboons. I need your help though to get some funding so I can do this successfully. I need some support for flights, equipment (voice recorder, notebooks, external hard drive for data, etc), and accommodation (I'll be living in a tent on the property). I am partnering with my good friend Joselyn for this project because she is studying similar aspects of humna-baboon interactions in a town in South Africa. Trust me, she's just as dedicated and passionate about baboons as I am!

I know you've all supported my primate goals throughout the years, and I'm calling on that once again! Please go to the link below to watch a video, read a description of my project, and donate to my goal of getting my MSc degree. In exchange for your generous donations, various gifts will be awarded in return depending on the amount donated. Please check those out on the side of the page as an added incentive!

Click below to support my project or copy and paste the link below!

Support my project!

www.RocketHub.com/39898

Things to Miss

THINGS I WILL MISS (FROM INDO, SA, TRAVELING, ETC)

1.     Being able to see tons of stars at night, especially the Southern Cross.

2.     Being surrounded by monkeys and apes all day.

3.     Working with weirdo primate people.

4.     Riding in the back of trucks.

5.     Meat Pies and Kebabs.

6.     Working outside all day.

7.     Being fairly disconnected from the rest of the world.

8.     Learning new and funny sayings from foreigners.

9.     The fact that it’s okay to wear flip flops while doing hazardous work.

10. Driving on the other side of the car and road.

11. Living somewhere where the threat of injury or death from wild animals (i.e. elephants, lions, scorpions, snakes, etc) is a real concern.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO BACK IN THE REAL WORLD

1.     All the comforts of home: Air Conditioning, a couch, tv, fast wifi, a dryer, etc.

2.     Not being hot and sweaty 24/7

3.     No mosquitoes

4.     Any kind of food any time I want it.

5.     Movie theaters

6.     Pepper

7.     Clothing options (I’ve been wearing the same few pairs of pants, shorts, and t-shirts for 10 months now)

8.     A hot shower

9.     My car

10.  Family and friends

11. The ocean

June Pics

Release!

 

I was very, very fortunate that in my last few weeks in Kalimantan I got to witness the release of orangutans back into the wild. This particular release was a little different from their usual releases as the Minster of the Forestry was going to be there. We drove out to a secluded camp on the edge of the national park and right adjacent to a humongous palm oil plantation. The last part of the drive was a solid hour through the palm oil plantation. Ruth and I were standing up in the back of the truck as our driver just flew down these dirt roads at what had to be 60 miles an hour. It was great. All the palm oil was a dark reminder of why the orangutans are in such peril; a stark display of their natural forest that has been destroyed.

There were about one hundred people at the camp to see Dr. Galdikas and the release. There were heaps of press people there for Dr. G and the Forestry Minister. Most of the guys from care centre were there for the release so we spent most of the time hanging out with them. After all the official people gave speeches and took pictures, the whole audience walked to the forest for the release. These orangutans are released in an area of forest that have a few already released orangutans as well. These orangutans come to the feeding platform to see the new orangutans and to see what’s happening. All in all OFI was releasing 10 orangutans, all adults, a mix of males and females. It happened much quicker than I had thought. The other volunteers and I had to jockey for photo positions with the Indonesian press people, Dr. G and a few other officials crowded around the base of the feeding platform as one by one the cages were opened. Hapi, a good friend of ours, actually did the opening of the cages, which was very exciting to see. The cages were opened almost immediately one after another. It was all much faster than I thought it would be. Two by two orangutans raced out of their cages, some straight up into the trees, some first stopping by to eat fruit on the feeding platform. It all happened quickly, and it was just amazing to see the orangutans climbing and eating and enjoying their freedom and space in the forest once again. Orangutans are different from most other primates in that they do rape. Sadly one of the newly released males spent a long while forcing a female to have sex with him. It was an interesting, and a little uncomfortable, thing to watch, but hey, it’s all part of their nature. We spent the next few hours just hanging out in the forest watching the orangutans enjoy their new forest home, taking photographs, and just hanging out with the local assistants.

The assistants follow these orangutans constantly for two weeks to make sure they are doing all right. This whole process was so interesting and a delight to be a part of. It’s a lovely reward after working all day for many months with orangutans that are stuck in cages to see some get release back into the wild.

After the release, we went with Dr. G to another release camp nearby. This camp had many previously released orangutans. They were gorgeous and free and just hanging around. We leisurely took pictures and fed the orangutans and walked around the forest. They had this massive tree there that I thought was one of the coolest trees I had ever seen! It was a great day to spend with friends, Dr. G, and free orangutans.