Conservation

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Elvis Munis, riding from Chile to Kili, is in the U.S.

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Click image to enlarge

28,000 Miles • 2 Years • 47 Countries

Meet Elvis Munis—he’s cycling around the world, unsupported, for two years to raise funds for education for fellow Tanzanian students in wildlife conservation.

In July, Elvis crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, and he's in Tucson, Arizona, right now giving presentations and talking to organizations about support for his cause. He'll be heading to the west coast in August, before heading north to Alaska and west to Russia and beyond.

Chile to Kili was conceived by the 25-year old Tanzanian student and naturalist after he identified one of the major conservation problems in his country: the lack of opportunity for Tanzanians to obtain the education necessary to manage their own natural resources.

The goal is to raise $100,000 as Elvis rides around thewold over the next two years – enough money for ten one-year conservation scholarships, and to support education at the Conservation Resource Centre (CRC).

Change must come from the inside.

Elvis left from Chile on January 1, 2012. He is riding, completely unsupported, around the world for 2 years in an effort to create opportunities for his fellow Tanzanians.

Chile to Kili: Driving change from the seat of a bicycle from ConserVentures on Vimeo.

 

Elvis is being the change he wants to see in the world.

What are you doing?

Support Change

Follow his progress

 

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Cows, chocolate, & cats

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Mt. lion at Rincón de Guadalupe; click to enlargeCow . . . cow . . . cow . . . two cows . . . cow nose . . . cow tail . . . mountain lion . . . cow . . .

What? Go back.

Six of us were crowded around our little Canon G10, using its LCD screen to review the images from the trail camera fixed securely to a nearby oak tree. Out of several hundred photos, the majority showed either cows, the single squirrel that—unbeknownst to us when we placed the camera—lived in the tree on the left side of the frame and indulged itself in repeated self-portraits, or just apparently empty creekside landscape, the result of wind, an overenthusiastic camera sensor, or invisible extraterrestrials—one is never sure. 

But between the cows and aliens the Bushnell Trophy Cam had recorded a fascinating cross-section of the life in this remote canyon in Mexico’s Sierra Madre. 

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Game Rangers from two continents and two cultures find a lot in common

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Despite a language and culture gap many would consider formidable, two law enforcement rangers from the U.S. Park Service bonded instantly with a group of 28 Maasai game scouts from the South Rift in Kenya.

During an intensive, ConserVentures-sponsored three-day workshop held at the Lale’enok Resource Center, about 90 miles south of Nairobi, Gary Haynes and Michael Hardin shared their training and experience in tactics for tracking poachers who might be armed and capable of laying an ambush to surprise their pursuers. In return, Gary and Michael were embraced as brethren by the Maasai rangers, who quickly recognized and valued their shared professionalism and similar challenges, and who gave as good as they received in explaining fieldcraft relevant to the African bush. Michael Lenaimado, head of the scouts and fluent in Maa and English, translated throughout the training, but after the first day or two much of the one-on-one interaction seemed to take place more by telepathy than talking. 

[For photos and video, see our Gallery and Videos pages]

A special place indeed: Return to Rincón de Guadalupe

Seven species of moth unknown to science. New range extensions—by 100 miles—for two species of amphibian. Nine reptile records in the first herpetology survey of the Bacadéhuachi Mountains. The interim official report on the MABA expedition to El Rincón de Guadalupe (available as a PDF download) confirmed our initial high expectations for this beautiful and biologically unexplored region (to read the story of the first expedition, click here: Treasures of the Sierra Madre )

Despite our brief time there, it was clear that the area holds all the potential as an important biological sanctuary that the organizers of the trip expected. That potential prompted Tom van Devender, the director of the MABA program, to break with the usual MABA protocol and organize a return trip to the same spot. We jumped at the chance to be included, since we wanted to donate and install a couple of long-term motion-triggered trail cameras to expand our records of the large mammals in the area.

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WTH is a WMC?

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Image from SummitCountyVoice.comJust as humans need roads and highways to move between home and work, animals, especially large mammals, need protected corridors for migration, breeding, and finding food and water. These Wildlife Movement Corridors have become a vital tool for ensuring the survival of many species.

For decades, the standard approach to wildlife conservation around the world was to set aside large blocks of land that were then safeguarded from development and over-hunting. While these areas—from Yellowstone in the U.S. to the Serengeti in Africa—are vital as core habitat for thousands of species, biologists slowly realized they could not exist in isolation. In the U.S., for example, we learned that such animals as mountain lions, bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears, elk, and many other large herbivores and carnivores regularly move between mountain ranges and other designated protected landscapes. This movement prevents inbreeding, allows escape from drought or fire-stressed environments, and lets animals follow seasonal changes in grazing or hunting. However, these corridors often cross unprotected land that is developed or in danger of being developed. By identifying where animals move, potential conflict can be mitigated or eliminated altogether.