Tag: african wildlife foundation

African Lion

African Lions Are in Trouble

A male lion moves therough the grasslands of the Serengeti, (Jim Coda)

I saw a lot of lions in Serengeti National Park.  When  I say “a lot” I mean that in relative terms.  According to the African Wildlife Foundation, the lion population has decreased by 43% in the past 21 years (as of 2015).  https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion

Basically, all African wildlife is in trouble.  The causes are many.  One thing my trip caused me to do was focus more on wildlife problems outside the United States.  The African Wildlife Foundation is dedicated to saving African wildlife.  I’m now a member.  If you’re concerned about African wildlife, please consider joining this organization at the link above.

elephant

Elephants, Serengeti National Park

Elephants in an endless sea of grass.

Of the Big 5, the two species we had the most sightings of on my recent safari in Tanzania were elephants and lions.  I’m especially interested in predators, but my interest in elephants was heightened in the last year or so by reading “Beyond Words” by Carl Safina.  It’s a book about what animals think and feel and focuses on elephants, wolves and orcas.   So, I paid a lot of attention to elephant actions and interactions on the safari.  It’s so unfortunate that the people in some countries lust after the tusks of elephants.  One of the sponsors of the safari was the African Wildlife Foundation.  It is doing a monumental job trying to stop the ivory trade.  One thing it does is train dogs to sniff out ivory (and rhino horn and pangolin scales) at all ports of exit from countries like Tanzania.  Our safari began with a visit to its dog training school in Tanzania.