IFAW's Animal Rescue Blog

Last Elephant Bulls Captured in Malawi

This post was filed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Neil Greenwood, who has just returned from Malawi.

With all the family groups caught and safely relocated the team have been focusing on the few remaining bulls. Unlike the family groups which can be loaded together the bulls due to their size and temperaments can only be loaded one per crate. This means that only two can be moved down to Majete at a time. These behemoths of the African savannah virtually fill the wake up box when they stand.

Looking back over the past month or so this relocation has been an extraordinary achievement, from our first initial days of surveying the area and meeting with the communities affected by the human – elephant conflict. Both sides had their stories to tell, the villagers in conversation and the elephants in the scare they bore from the conflict.

Through the frustration of the court injunction placed on us preventing the moving of the elephants to Majete to the joy of hearing it had been lifted and the voice of the people being heard by the courts, it’s been a real rollercoster.

I will never forget the sound of the singing and ululating villagers that came to capture team HQ the same evening the injunction had been lifted. The relief on their faces, and their thanks to us for relocating the elephants was humbling.

Then the real work started; the work we had all come to Malawi to do, to capture and relocate the Phirilongwe elephant from Mangochi’s agricultural landscape and its subsistence “gardens” to Majete Wildlife Reserve. With every capture - from the tiny calves staying close to their moms, to the old matriarchs and massive bulls there has a real sense of achievement that what we were doing was making a real different for not only the people of Malawi but their elephants too.

I would like to thank all our supporters who donated to this worthwhile project and have followed the Phirilongwe elephant’s journey. Without your support and commitment to the International Fund for Animal Welfare this would not have been possible, Thank you.

First African Penguin spotted back in Namibia!

This exciting development comes just a few weeks after the successful rehabilitation of one of the most endangered species of Penguin in the world. In April, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) - supported group SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) received a call from the Namibian government to assist in the rescue of 130 oiled African Penguins off the coast of Luderitz, Namibia. After a long road trip to Cape Town, South Africa, the birds received quality care and rehabilitation that saved their lives. On May 21st, the first group of 84 penguins were returned to their ocean home and started their journey back to Namibia. Just 18 days after the release, we heard back from our colleagues in SANCCOB:

It was a pink spot day on Mercury Island when a Namibian conservationist spotted the first African penguin back home after a recent 4-week stint of rehabilitation.

On June 8, just 18 days after their release from Derdesteen Beach in Cape Town the first of a group of 129 penguins, which have been successfully rehabilitated at SANCCOB, was seen back at its original breeding colony of Mercury Island.

After his release from Derdesteen Beach, he was spotted on Robben Island on 25 May (4 days after being released from Derdesteen Beach). With this confirmed sighting on 25 May, this would mean that his actual swimming time was a fantastic 14 days!

At a total distance of 1019km, he averaged 72.7km per day!

So, if you play the lotto, you may want to remember the lucky numbers A10885 because that’s the tenacious little tike that won the race to get back home.

As with all collectives of animals one immediately stood out as the feistiest and was immediately dubbed ‘Black Angus’ as it fought its way through rehab, pecking the handlers randomly and generally taking charge.

Weighing in at 2,8kg on admittance, which is a respectable weight for a penguin and put him ahead in the weight-class of his fellow refugees, he pretty much doubled his weight as he ate his way through prime Sardine a la SANCCOB, to finally weigh in at 4.1kg on his release.

Of course it was he who strode out ahead of the group at the beach release, and first to take to the waters. And follows that he had to be the one to win the long swim home, to strike familiar soil shore and to announce triumphantly to his fellow Mercurians “Black Angus is back!’

44 elephants now safely moved in Malawi

This post was filed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Neil Greenwood, who is on the ground in Malawi.

We’re back in action and the capture team is in high spirits and working hard to make up for lost time in capturing and translocating the elephants. Since Saturday we have captured a further 26 elephants, making a total of 44 elephants safely moved to their new home at Majete Wildlife Reserve.

While the conditions have been challenging the team has had great success in finding and capturing family groups of elephants – a group of 10 on Saturday, nine on Sunday and seven yesterday. Every capture and translocation has attracted a huge amount of attention from the local community and several hundred people turn out every day to cheer and sing as the elephant pass by on the recovery vehicles.

On Sunday we loaded a cow elephant of about 50 plus years old into the wake-up crate for her move down to the reserve, her sunken temples telling of a grand old lady who has seen it all. I felt a great sense of satisfaction and achievement in knowing that she will be able to spend her golden years in the safety of a protected area.                                                                                  

There’s no doubt in my mind that the relocation of the Phirilongwe elephants is the only realistic option for protecting the Phirilongwe elephants. The project will not only benefit the lives of the elephants but also those of the greater community.

For more information and to donate please visit: www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

Crowds cheer as IFAW resumes elephant move in Malawi

This material was relayed back from our communications team on the ground in Malawi.

After a brief suspension, the International Fund for Animal Welfare resumed its elephant capture operation today in Malawi.

The helicopter reconnaissance flight looking for elephants started at 7am and just 30 minutes later, the team had identified a group of about 30 elephants which separated into family groups.

A group of nine elephants – five males and four females (comprising three adults, five adolescents and one very young calf) – were herded towards the recovery vehicles and successfully darted.

The recovery went without a hitch and the elephants were transported on the flatbed vehicles to the transport vehicles A crowd of 800 to 1000 people gathered along the road to celebrate the elephant’s departure.

The nine elephants arrived at Majete Wildlife Reserve at 6 this evening and have been released into the boma where they will be held for approximately 24 hours. Once the door is opened, the elephants are able to depart at their own free will into their new and secure home.

The next capture is scheduled for Saturday 20th June. Stay tuned!

VIDEO: IFAW's N. Greenwood on a Postive Start for the African Ele Move

In this video, the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Neil Greenwood discusses the successful beginning of African elephant translocation operations in Malawi, Africa. For more information and to support IFAW's efforts, please visit: http://www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

IFAW elephant capture in Malawi starts with resounding success.

This post was filed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Michael Booth, who is on the ground in Malawi documenting this translocation. For more information and to donate please visit: http://www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

LEFT: Crowds filled the streets in Mangochi, Malawi to cheer the capture of the first nine African elephants that were moved to a protected reserve in the south.

It was a long-time coming, but villagers in Mangochi were thrilled to see the problem elephants trucked off to Majete Game Reserve. Shrinking habitat and constant distress caused by human-elephant conflict in the area had made the situation unsustainable.

Riding on the back of a flatbed trailer accompanied by four of the elephants, all of us involved in the capture had no choice but to join the jubilant crowd in cheer. Soon after, we embarked on a seven-hour journey to the elephant’s new home.

We had an early start, beginning with a security brief at 05h45am. The trucks were ready, the helicopter had a full-tank of gas and so we took off in search of the infamous Phirilongwe elephants.

Building The Road Out for the Phirilongwe Elephants - Malawi, Africa

This post was filed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Michael Booth via satellite from Africa.

The main focus of today’s operation was to cut roads from the main Mangochi highway to allow the access of specialized transport vehicles and crates that will carry the elephants. This operation involved a massive bulldozer which was used to grade an even surface for the trucks to work on during the capture stage. These roads are vital for the elephant’s well-being during the move as the current paths were such that the animals would have been thrashing around dangerously risking injury. The process took the best part of 7 hours under the unforgiving African sun.

So what’s needed to make this challenging move possible? In short, a very qualified and professional team of passionate individuals. For this move, IFAW drew from the expertise of Conservation Solutions, a group that has extensive experience in the capture and relocation of Africa’s wildlife.

The core capture team is comprised of Kester Vickery (operations manager), Dr. Andre Uys (veterinarian), Lucille Labuschagne (vet nurse and logistics coordinator) and Barney O’Hare (helicopter pilot), and Charles Denison (coordinator). IFAW’s Neil Greenwood completes the team that has ambitiously taken the task of capturing and moving 60 elephants on a 7-hour road trip to their final destination in Majete.

Today’s work was the final stage in preparation for this exciting elephant move that is just moments away.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

VIDEO: IFAW's Neil Greenwood Discusses Malawi Ele Move Preparations

Watch as IFAW’s Neil Greenwood talks about the upcoming Phirilongwe elephant move from the banks of Lake Malawi. This very complex mission is focused on the capture, move and release of 60 wild African elephants from a densely-populated area that has suffered human-animal conflict for many years, to a fenced game reserve. IFAW is on the ground finalizing pre-capture work that includes aerial surveys, cutting access roads into the African bush and visiting local communities as part of a sensitization campaign to ensure both animal and human safety throughout the move.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

IFAW on the ground in Malawi ahead of the elephant move

IFAW’s Neil Greenwood reports from the Mangochi area in Southern Malawi - for more information on this translocation, please visit http://www.ifaw.org/helpelephants

After our arrival into Blantyre, we traveled by road in a Northeast direction towards Lake Malawi and the Phirilongwe area, home to approximately 60 of the last remaining free-ranging African elephants in Malawi. But tragically, this home is no longer able to support the elephants.

One of the first signs of trouble is the expanse of human settlement, most of which are subsistence farmers who drive their sole income from farming and charcoal collection. The mountains surrounding us as we drove in where the last visible areas of natural vegetation but even in these isolated pockets, human activity could be seen by the plumes of smoke rising from the charcoal production.

After meeting with the government officials, the capture team did an aerial survey aboard the Hughes 500 helicopter used for this mission. The survey was useful to determine access routes into the capture area and to spot any elephants moving through Phirilongwe. After the survey, 2 routes were identified which we examined by ground this morning. Some of these routes were virtually impassible with 4x4 vehicles and yet among the path we found several villages that provided an opportunity to talk to locals and get a sense of the recent elephant activity as well as informing them of the imminent capture operation.

In talking to locals, one realized the extent of this conflict when one of the community members confided that 3 of his neighbors had fatal encounters with the elephants.

Tomorrow, the real work begins as we push access roads with the use of bulldozers. We are expecting to initiate the elephant capture as soon as Sunday. Please stay tuned for more on this epic and unique elephant rescue.

Taking a compassionate approach to human-elephant conflict

This is an op-ed Written by Jason Bell-Leask, Director - Southern Africa, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

For more information about this translocation please visit www.ifaw.org/helpelephants.

This month will see the end of 10 years of strife between the Phirilongwe elephants and the villagers of Mangochi district, when the elephants are moved to Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa.

Over the years at least 10 people have been killed by the elephants. But the elephants have also suffered, with some having been killed and many maimed by locals trying to protect themselves and their livelihoods.

The question of what to do with the Phirilongwe elephants has been swirling in political and conservation circles for some years. Mangochi District offers what is described as the best complete package of tourism in Malawi – Lake Malawi National Park, Phirilongwe Forest Reserve and the most beautiful spot on the lake, Cape Maclear – and elephants are part of that mix.