Congratulations to Jan Goss, winner of our launch contest! We just know you are going to love each and every issue of Travel Africa magazine from its stunning photography to the vast variety of thought provoking articles highlighting every part of the African continent!
Tsavo National Park 1982
Disneynature did it again! An extraordinary look into Africa’s wildlife. But this time I was disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
Disney’s cinema-photography, especially aerial footage over the Rift Valley, is spectacular and captivating.
The Mara Lions
The movie’s release coincided with Earth Day, but since the story line portrays two feline mothers and their families, not conservation, perhaps it would have been more appropriate to release the film over Mothers Day weekend.
Disney filmed over a two year period in the Mara Triangle, documenting the lives of lioness Layla, her daughter, Mara and their extended family – the River Pride; and a cheetah called Sita, single mother of five cubs.
Interwoven throughout the saga, a rival develops between the father of the River Pride and Kali and his sons from another pride from across the river.
If this is supposed to be a factual documentary then why did Disney change the names of the prides involved? Most certainly not to protect the innocent, so here’s the scoop: the River Pride is really the Serena Pride; Kali and company are really Notch and his sons, famous from BBC’s “Big Cat Diaries.”
Disney also left out the most important information of all – Africa’s big cats live in precarious circumstances.
Lion numbers are declining at a rapid rate from continued human/wildlife conflict, and at this pace, they will be on the endangered species list in a few years.
Cheetahs fare even worse. As depicted in the movie – they live a solitary existence,
Three brothers on the hunt. circa 1993
consequently their young are vulnerable to other predators. Their kills often become dinner for hyenas, jackals or other opportunistic species.
They also have issues hunting when tourists come too close, which is becoming more frequent due to tourist overcrowding. A few months ago, a cheetah cub was hit and killed when an overzealous driver attempted to provide the perfect photo op for his clients.
As always with a Disney movie, it ends with the big cats living happily-ever-after.
Unfortunately, the happy ending didn’t last long for the lions. After Disney finished filming, Notch and his sons suddenly abandoned their pride for some mysterious reason. Researchers believe it could be due to the Maasai grazing their cattle in the vicinity. After the abandonment, two new males moved in, killing cubs and systematically destroying most of the pride.
Such is life in the savannah. But just like life anywhere – it’s filled with family, love, joy and sorrow, and Disney illustrates that perfectly.
No word can adequately describe the hideous life that Bamboo, Watoto and Chai endure in Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo.
Imagine a prisoner who ends up in solitary confinement. A tiny cell barely big enough to turn around. No social interaction. These elephants try to tolerate the same conditions, yet they are innocent. What did they do to deserve such horrific treatment?
They were born in captivity. Spaceless in Seattle video from YouTube
The attached video “Spaceless in Seattle” poignantly shows what Bamboo, Watoto and Chai are enduring.
The facts: Elephants mirror humans in emotion and development. Their memories are much better than ours. Their family units, close-knit from birth, last until death. They create friendships and grieve over the loss of loved ones. They love to walk – elephant migration routes in Africa stretch for hundreds of miles.
The Woodland Park elephants are a mess:
Two of them stand in agony from chronic foot infections, which are the leading cause of death in zoo elephants. All three ache from arthritis and suffer bouts of colic.
Since the zoo has only allotted one acre for their walks, which in elephant terms is zero space, they may develop heart disease just like us.
If an elephant psychiatrist existed, then these three would be treated for chronic anxiety and depression from being cooped up seven months out of the year due to cold weather.
I’m obviously not a veterinarian, but if Bamboo, Watoto and Chai’s health continues to decline as a direct result of their confinement, then wouldn’t it make sense to release them to a sanctuary where they will thrive and live out their lives in peace?
Dame Daphne Sheldrick, matriarch of the celebrated elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya and also a strong opponent for keeping elephants in zoos, says that elephants are huge moneymakers for zoos.
Most people will never see an elephant in the wild, so they visit a zoo. Zoos entice crowds of visitors with effective marketing campaigns, as well as establishing breeding programs, which assist in generating revenue. Some breeding programs are vital to conservation.
In the 1960s, the Phoenix Zoo brought back the Arabian Oryx from near extinction with its successful breeding program. In this case, the program was carefully executed in an environment appropriate for the animal.
But how can Bamboo, Watoto or Chai, when already stressed, and with herpes running rampant within their prison, possibly give birth to a viable infant?
Alyne Fortgang, co-founder of the Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, says releasing the elephants to the 2,700 acre elephant sanctuary in Tennessee is a win-win situation:
The zoo would save $400,000 per year, which is the annual cost of keeping elephants; the city will get out of a law suit; children will learn a valuable lesson in compassion from the zoo; and most importantly, grateful elephants.
Woodland Park Zoo officials need to do what’s right as other zoos have realized, and release Bamboo, Watoto and Chai to the elephant sanctuary.
Dame Daphne Sheldrick has said, “I have come to look upon elephants, not as four-legged machines put here for the benefit of mankind, but as creatures with as much right to enjoy the world God gave them as we have.”
Please visit http://www.freewpzelephants.com for further information and how you can help.
Exquisite photography, provocative articles, in-depth travel guides and a myriad of other features make Travel Africa magazine an invaluable resource.
For those of us who live and breathe Africa this magazine is true treasure, but it’s published in the UK and can be very difficult to find here in the USA.
So to celebrate my new blog and improved web site, one fortunate person will receive a Travel Africa subscription.
To enter: On the right hand side of my home page under “email subscription” type your email address and click on subscribe. You will automatically be entered in the contest and any future giveaways, as well as subscribing to my blog.
Or if you prefer, click on “contact us” located under the giraffe photo, and type in your name and email address. Under “subject” type launch contest. Under “message” answer the following questions:
1. What Nairobi hotel offers the Thorn Tree cafe?
Roadside market circa 1982
2. Why is the cafe so special?
3. What mammal, found in Africa, is a cousin to the elephant?
The winner will be randomly chosen from everyone who subscribes or who correctly answers the questions.
Deadline: All subscriptions or answers must be received by 5 p.m. PST April 30, 2011.
The winner will be contacted then announced on this blog on May 1st.
A friend of mine sent me this video, which I just have to share. A poignant reminder that it’s not just humans who know what family means. We are so blessed to share this world with such magnificent creatures.
