New Blog

I will no longer be blogging on this site. My new blog is at http://www.thewilderworld.com/

Elephants and their Ivory

Prior to 1970, Eastern Africa was home to the largest elephant populations on the African continent, but their numbers declined rapidly from 1970 through 1989 from poaching. CITES (The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) reported a loss of 300,000 African elephants – almost one third of Africa’s total population – to poaching between 1986 and 1989 alone, and other sources say 700,000 to 1 million were killed during the 1980’s.

Then in 1989 an International Ban on Ivory went into effect, protecting elephants and causing their numbers to grow dramatically in Southern and Eastern Africa since that time (until the recent crisis). The 1989 ban on ivory (and the subsequent rebound in the African elephant population) was so effective it is considered one of conservation’s great success stories

During that ban we learned some things. First, we saw how effective the ban on ivory was in stopping the illegal trade. And secondly, we learned that when protected, elephants can recover quickly. Despite their long gestation period (22-months) female elephants remain reproductive into their 50’s, allowing populations to grow by as much as 7% per year

A new poaching crisis began in 2007 but the methods used now are very different than in the past. While much of the previous poaching in Africa may have been opportunistic, this new wave of poaching is the work of dedicated poaching ‘cartels’. These groups cross borders and involve non-state armed groups, particularly Somali gangs using expatriate Chinese residents in East Africa as the most important middlemen.

East Africa is home to most of the remaining African Elephants and based on rough estimates, there are currently around 140,000 elephants in Eastern Africa. And that is exactly where these ‘cartels’ are focusing their poaching efforts.

The UN report estimates between 5,600 and 15,400 elephants are now poached in Eastern Africa annually, producing between 56 and 154 metric tons of illicit ivory, about two-thirds (37 tons) of which is headed for Asia. At US$850 per kilogram, this flow was worth around US$30 million in 2011. This is a new, much more sophisticated blood ivory war, with high stakes.

Very large shipments, involving the ivory of hundreds of elephants, are regularly encountered. Recently, authorities in Malaysia made one of the largest ivory seizures ever – six tons in a single shipment, representing the ivory of about 600 elephants, equivalent to one-quarter of the known elephant population of Uganda.

Evidence suggests current poaching rates in Eastern Africa have exceeded natural population growth rates. (Most countries in Africa can claim fewer than 1000 elephants, so this demand will quickly destroy some countries populations of elephants altogether)

Global breakdown of ivory confiscated in very large seizures (>800 kg) by country or region of export, 2009-2011

–Central Africa 2%

–Uganda 3%

–West Africa 4%

–Southern Africa 10%

–Unknown 17%

–Kenya 27%

–Tanzania 37%

(Source: Elephant Trade Information System)

Both as source and transit areas, Kenya and Tanzania are key players. Since ivory comes from many places and is distributed to buyers across Asia, these ports represent vital chokepoints in the flow of blood ivory.

In 2012 one Elephant was killed every 15 minutes in Africa

http://africainside.org/

Pied Kingfisher

This Pied Kingfisher was pictured hovering over a dam, patiently waiting for an opportunity to arise.

Commentluv for Blogger

I recently decided to use Commentluv for my comment system on my blog. Commentluv is a program that you can sign up to. Once you have created an account, when you comment on other blogs that use Commentluv the program will automatically create a back-link to your blog. This means that your blog will receive more traffic and more comments.

http://www.smtutorial.com/

To install Commentluv, you need to create an account with Intense Debate and then install the Intense Debate system on your blog.

Take a look at this video which shows you how to install actual Commentluv itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZI61bfpGBdg

Once you have followed those easy steps Commentluv will work on your blog

Elephant

A few pictures of some Elephants enjoying themselves at a waterhole

Tawny Eagle

A solid picture of a Tawny eagle

Buffalo

A great picture of one of the finest buffalo I have seen in a long time. Massive horns that are almost perfectly symmetrical. I like to call him THE TAX MAN. Can you see the bright red beak of an Ox-pecker in the top left-hand side of the picture?

5 SEO tips for your blog

The following are tips which will increase your ranking on Google. This will help your site feature higher up on Google's search results.

1. You need your own domain and Hosting

Blogspot and Wordpress hosting wont do well on Google's rankings because as you can imagine, there are allot of useless blogs on Blogspot and Wordpress, it is where the beginners start their blogs. (no offence to beginners, we have all been there) Get your own domain.

2. Install a Sitemap

Probably one of the easiest things that you can do is install a Google Sitemap plugin. To install one click here A sitemap gives Google and other search engine companies such as Bing and Yahoo a map of your site so that they can index it better.

3. Solve People's problems

The most important thing that you can do to increase your SEO is to create original content that solves problems. You can put videos, podcasts and photos on your site that help solve people's problems.

4. Comment on other blogs

Not only does this increase the traffic on your site but it will also create useful back-links to your site. I would recommend that you install Commentluv, this is a program that make commenting on blogs a whole lot easier and also automatically provides back-links when you comment. To install Commentluv on your blog click here

5. Not too many advertisements

Having ads on your website is not a problem but if you have too many adverts or inappropriate advert placement can cause penalization. Make sure that your ads are relevant to your site and that they don't interfere with people who want to read your post and don't want to look at the ads.

Remember that Google updates it's algorithms about 500 times every year. Make sure that you look for ways to optimize your search engine rating oftern.
Hope that this helps

Search Engine Optimization basics

I came across the SEO (search engine optimization) a few times when I was trying to find out how to get more people to view my blog. The IT gurus call it increasing traffic.

Since I didn't know what SEO meant I thought that many of you readers also wouldn't know and that I would write a post about it and how it works.

courtesy of: http://www.raidenhttpd.com/manual/img-tw/seo.png

Google has developed automatic algorithms that rank your site. They send out what are called “spiders” to “crawl” your site and check it for over 100 indicators that determine whether your site is valuable or useless. Some of the indicators include how recent you updated your site, back-links, domain age and the list goes on.
Google wants to provide their customers with relevant and useful search results that will help the customer. the most important thing you can do for your SEO is to create useful content that solves other people’s problems. If you are solving problems that people are searching for then it is likely that you are going to get ranked higher on Google.

Sunrise

Sunrise on a misty morning in Kruger National Park

Jackal

Caught in action, this Jackal has just caught a mole

The latest on Malaysia Air Flight 370

The latest that has been released is the following

Courtesy of: http://www.nytimes.com/

The red line shows roughly where the plane could have been when it pinged a satellite over the Indian ocean. Experts determined the distance that the plane was from the satellite when the 'ping' happened. the line stops over Kazakhstan because the plane would have run out of fuel by this point, the same for when the line stops over the Indian ocean.

The line shows that the plane could be in China but China didn't pick up anything in their airspace. Is this the truth?

I cant help but get the feeling that the truth is being hidden from us. If a website like this is available to the public http://www.radarvirtuel.com/# then there are more sophisticated technological systems available to the governments all around the world. Even if the flight transponder was turned of , I am sure that they can track planes using other methods.
I am not accusing anyone but my brain can't come to terms with the possibility that an object as big as an airplane can just go missing.

Cheetah

This is one of my favorites. This picture was taken at a rehabilitation center which is part of a game reserve called Nambithi in which is in South Africa

Kudu

A picture of a male Kudu. The mud on its horns is there because it was digging in the soil near a dam. I presume it was looking for bulbs, I have never seen anything like it before though.
If any of you readers have a theory then please comment below

Save The Rhino

With only about 24 800 Rhino left in our world and considering that over 1000 Rhino were poached in South Africa alone last year (2013) it becomes evident that help is needed.

The South African defense force has recently been called in to help the fight. It has deployed forces in the Kruger National Park and a few other national parks around the country.
Drones are being deployed in Kruger National Park, it is unclear whether these are military drones or if they have no fire-power. Drones can fly for much longer tan planes that have pilots. The drones take constant pictures. In tests that the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) have conducted the drones have been very successful in preventing poaching.

I am going to look at two further possible options  that will help in the fight for the Rhinos' survival. These theories both have their problems but also have massive rewards if they work

Stockpile Release 
SANParks has a stockpile of rhino horn from Rhinos that have died naturally. The estimated worth of the stockpile is 7 billion Rand. Some argue that if they release these horns, flooding the market, then the poaching will stop because the price of rhino horn will drop. This will make poaching rhinos unfeasible and not worth it.

Make Trading Legal
The other way that many people think will stop poaching is believe it or not- legalize rhino horn trade. The latest additions to the call are internationally-respected provincial conservation agency Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association. The theory behind the legalization of the horn is that if we sell the horns in a controlled manner, SANparks will have a generous amount of money to upgrade current anti-poaching facilities. It will also flood the market, just like the Stockpile release theory. this in turn will decrease the value of Rhino horn. Poachers don't want to risk going to prison if the rewards aren't worth it.

So what will be the next move in the fight to save rhinos. If you are feeling generous, search the internet for places to donate money towards the fight. It is a worthy cause.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

It seems like an ongoing mystery. Will we ever know what happened to flight MH370. The sudden disappearance of flight MH370 – with no distress call or other signs of trouble has ignited intense speculation over what happened to the jet and its 239 passengers.

The latest news suggests that they have narrowed down the search areas, they have also confirmed that the communication devices were deliberately disabled. 

Some articles believe that the plane was hijacked.

My condolences go to all the families and relatives of loved ones who were on the plane.

To find out more visit 

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26591056