Meet CCF's newest Kangal puppy! Aleya was born in Germany on the 5th July and is scheduled to arrive this Saturday. She will be part of CCF's Kangal breeding program, and everyone is eager to meet her!
And remember, the Chewbaaka Challenge ends tomorrow. Please consider making a donation here, or accept our thanks if you have already done so!
Patricia
(thanks Anne for the photo and the great news!!!)
Sad news I'm afraid. Remember the Wild Boys, HiFi and Sam, that hang out near the Elands pen? Sam was found dead a couple of days ago. (He's the cat in the background on the photo).
We had not sighted him for a while but picked up his radio collar transmission. Staff found no evident signs of injuries or struggle, so a full necropsy was performed. No apparent cause of dead was found. Tissue has been sent out for analysis, but we won't know the results for a while.
I'm sure the female cheetahs in the Elands pen will miss him.
His brother HiFi is still around.
Patricia
I've heard that not everyone got last week's update. I have therefore included both sets of data on this week's map. Data for both weeks has been a little sparse, and despite today being the download day, no new data is available past Sunday.
Our lady started last week on Witkam and spent several days there. At some point between the 15th and 18th however, she moved north onto Hammerstein, and then kept going. By the morning of the 20th (Friday), she had moved onto Neuhof Noord. She then spent the rest of that day, and much of the weekend there. The last data point this week places her 100m onto Omkyk (and 11 km ENE of NRNR) at 15:17 on Sunday afternoon.
Rob
Here are a couple of photos of CCF’s first AI puppies born from Uschi in early August!
Patricia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: 12 August 2010
CONTACT: Dr. Laurie Marker (ph: 067- 306225, cell: 081-1247887 - International country code: 264)
First AI litter of Anatolian Shepherd Livestock Guarding Dogs Born
and Farmer's Puppy Day at CCF
(Otjiwarongo, Namibia) The first litter of Anatolian Shepherd Livestock Guarding Dog puppies in Namibia conceived through artificial insemination (AI) was born on the 6 August at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) field research station. Four puppies were born to Uschi, a five-year-old Anatolian Shepherd female inseminated with sperm imported from a breeder in the United States. CCF is extremely pleased with the birth of this litter, as it brings new bloodlines into the country. The Anatolian Shepherd is a rare breed of dog from Turkey which has been used for over 5,000 years to protect farmer's goats and sheep from predators. CCF regularly breeds Anatolians to give to Namibian farmers and has been working towards expanding their bloodlines. The AI was conducted at the Otjiwarongo Veterinary Clinic by Dr. Axel Hartman two months earlier. Unfortunately, one of the puppies did not survive, leaving three healthy female puppies.
A previous litter of nine puppies whose mother survived a puff adder bite while in uterus were the focus of attention on Saturday, 7 August, when CCF held a Farmers' Puppy Day. Farmers from throughout Namibia came to CCF to pick up the puppies that will spend their lives closely guarding livestock against predators such as the cheetah. Two of the puppies went to two of southern Africa's independence movement leaders, former Secretary General of the South West Africa People's Organisation Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and Deputy Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Libertina Amathila, both of whom have farms in Namibia. The remaining seven went to communal farms in the Khorixas area, according to Gail Potgieter, CCF's Livestock Guarding Dog coordinator. Prior to taking the puppies to their new homes, the farmers received a full day of training by Potgieter, who explained how to train and look after the dogs and what to expect when they grow up.
CCF developed the Livestock Guarding Dog Programme in 1994, breeding livestock guarding dogs specifically for the protection of sheep and goat flocks. Small stock are particularly vulnerable to predation by cheetahs and other carnivores. "The puppies live in the kraal with the goat kids and sheep lambs shortly after birth and through the duration of their time at CCF," stated CCF Education Officer Gebhardt Nikanor. "This helps to facilitate the bonding between them from a very early age." The puppies are weaned from their mother and placed with their new herds at 8 to 10 weeks old, the critical age when the puppy successfully bonds with the livestock.
The dogs escort the livestock into the veldt. When the dogs sense the presence of a predator, they bark loudly, alerting the herder. A cheetah will usually back away from a barking dog; however, if necessary, a dog will fight with a predator who tries to attack the herd. CCF Executive Director Dr. Laurie Marker said, "Having a dog with a herd means that predator losses are greatly minimised and helps to reduce the amount of predator killings that occur in retaliation to the stock losses. This, in addition to CCF's farmers' training courses which some of today's new dog owners already took, are exceptional tools to prevent livestock losses." To date, more than 350 CCF dogs have been placed with commercial and communal farmers.
The programme is open to any Namibian farmer interested in a dog. From the initial application, CCF conducts farm visits and assesses the conditions that the dog will be living under. Once approved, the farmers are invited to Puppy Day. CCF follows up with the farmers several times during the course of the first year and then every year after that, to make sure that the dog is in good health and behaving correctly and that the farmer is happy with the dog. In addition, during the visits CCF provides any necessary advice to the farmers, as well as basic medical care such as de-worming and vaccinations, free of charge.
To apply for one of CCF's Livestock Guarding Dog, please contact CCF at (067) 306 225 (Namibia only).
Photos (click on images to download higher resolution pictures):
|
|
|
| Mr. Toivo ya Toivo, second-time livestock guarding dog owner, and his daughter Nashikoto receiving the puppy. Nashikoto did a one-week internship at CCF and hopes to become a veterinarian. | Dr. Axel Hartman performs artificial insemination on CCF's Livestock Guarding Dog Uschi. |
EDITOR'S NOTES:
For more information on CCF's research, conservation and education programmes, please contact CCF at:
We just received a new donation from Borås Djurparks in Sweden. CCF has been the zoo’s main in-situ support project for several years. In addition to donations from zoo visitors, Borås raises funds in many other creative ways, one of which involves donating a portion of their bottled water sales to CCF, and it really adds up!
Along with the news of the donation, Bo Kjellson, our long-time friend and General Curator, sent us some pictures of the eight cheetah cubs (six males, two females) born at the zoo in the middle of the Swedish winter. This is the second litter for six-year-old female Luanga, born in Munster. According to Bo, “Historically we have not found any occasion in Europe where a cheetah got eight cubs and where all survived, so this is a record.”
With this birth, the cheetah population at Borås doubled!
The cubs are gorgeous. Thanks Bo for sharing these images, and for your continued support!
Patricia
The female seems to be zig-zagging up and down this past week. On 7th August she was on Nubib. On the 8th she had moved 3km north onto Witkam, the following day she was back where she'd started. We have no data for the 10th, but on the 11th, she had again gone north to almost the same spot on Witkam.
As of midnight this morning, she was 8.5 km east of the NRNR border, at roughly the same latitude as Keerweder.
Rob
Read our press release here: http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=swakop_cheetah_pr
Patricia
I've included two front views of rhino 4 for July. The first shows an extreme close-up just an instant before he scraped the camera that took the picture off the tree it was tied to. The following day the camera was picked up by a baboon and carried 74m down a nearby game trail before being discarded face up. It continued to take photos for several more days before being kicked hard enough to dislodge the batteries. I finally tracked it down two weeks later after watching baboon movements in the area to see which direction they usually left in. The camera has since been redeployed in the reserve and is working well.
The second image is a lot clearer, but if you look at the rhino's right ear in each picture you will see a distinctive band of skin hanging down from it that uniquely identifies this male.
Rob
Here is an image of rhinos 1 and 3, the younger males. They meet on the shore of one of the dams, briefly spar, then the younger one lies down in submission. Subsequently, both rhinos exited to the right of the shot.
The other image is rhino 5, taken by one of our new Reconyx trail cameras. These cameras are much more robust than the older cameras we have, can photograph animals at a much greater range, and also record additional information with each picture, such as the current moon phase, and ambient temperature. Unfortunately, they are also a lot more expensive, and we have only two in the reserve.
Rob
Posts
All Comments
