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December 2005
2005 has been an exciting year in Kasanka!
The Darwin Initiative funded project has got under way on the ground, 2 new large mammal species as well as several new bats were recorded, visitor numbers continued grow and the Conservation Centre at Mulaushi is nearly complete. The Trust continued its work with the communities focussing on resource management, income generation, health and education.
Communications received a huge boost with the installation of a VSAT satellite terminal at Wasa headquarters, given on loan by Conservation Foundation (Zambia).
However with the continuing rise in local prices and the strengthening in value of the Zambian Kwacha against major currencies, operating costs are now roughly double what they were 2 years ago. This has impacted very badly on Kasanka Trust’s progress towards self sufficiency from tourism revenue and we are forced to look for more charitable support to consolidate the achievements to date and secure the future of the park. Poaching pressure remains high as do the development needs of the communities so if you can afford to contribute to this cause or have ideas for how the Trust can raise more urgent funding please contact us or look at the suggestions on the how you can help page.
As I write, the amazing fruit bat colony is starting to depart from Kasanka after dazzling all of us yet again with its sheer numbers. How do we know they are starting to leave? For the first time ever in the world, 2 male straw-coloured fruit bats are wearing satellite tracking collars fitted as part of Heidi Richter’s PhD. Research with 2 more to be collared in the coming days. Fitting these tracking devices was highly experimental as no-one knew how well they would work.
There are many potential hazard: The bats being weighed down too much (although the devices only weigh 19 grams which is about 7% of male body weight against the young that females fly with weighing up to 30%), collared bats being socially ostracised by others, collars being pulled off, transmitters of their antennas being chewed off the collar by other bats, the miniature solar panels they carry not getting enough light etc etc etc.!
However we are delighted to report that in the last 2 weeks since the collars were fitted, the bats have been successfully tracked going out to feed at night and now starting to migrate off northwest towards the great Congo rainforests.
Click here to read the article published in Lusaka Lowdown just before the bats arrived
The bats were extensively photographed again, this year by Kieran Dodds, a young professional photographer who travelled using a bursary he had won as part of the Diageo Young Photographer of the Year prize 2005. He spent 3 weeks in Kasanka and took some excellent photographs of the bats and much else besides.
In July this year another very important large mammal species was found in Kasanka for the first time ever. A single male Black Lechwe appeared in the North east of the park near the Mulembo airstrip and then a couple of weeks later moved to stay at Lake Wasa II.
Although the presence of one animal may not seem ecologically very significant, it is very symbolic. With the demise of the Isangano national park in the northeast Bangweulu, this may be the only Black Lechwe in the world living in a national park. We hope that we can capitalize on this exciting discovery by translocating some more lechwe into Kasanka next year to try to establish a viable herd in the national park.
Another new mammal species for our list was the Striped Weasel spotted in early December for the first time.
Kasanka’s only Back lechwe is usually found
AERIAL SUPPORT
In June 2005 Kasanka’s anti-poaching operations received a big boost with the donation from Conservation Foundation (Zambia) of 10 hours of helicopter time. The chopper was used to maximum effect to position
As well as the direct operational benefits, it was an excellent morale boost for the scouts and hopefully terrifying for the poachers! Whilst helicopters are amazing for wildlife work, their cost limits use to such specific generous donations. However the Trust is seeking funding to cover the cost of using the Sky Trails Cessna which is conveniently based in the park, for anti-poaching and habitat monitoring from time to time. Any suggestions or contribution for funding this costs would be much appreciated.
The Kasanka Trust’s Scout force have been working very hard during the year but are still battling against very high levels of poaching pressure in Kasanka.
During the month of September alone, over 350 wire snares set to trap animals into a terrible death were collected within the park by Kasanka scouts. These snares are indiscriminate killers which account for females and young as much or more than males, and as often as not the meat goes to vultures before the perpetrators can recover it.
The Trust believes that the only answer to this problem in the short term is to increase the number of scout patrols to make the risk of being caught even higher and lower the success rate of poachers. Meanwhile efforts will continue to re-educate the community and provide alternative livelihoods.
The scout uniforms have always been provided from UK through sponsorships of supporters. At present we are trying to assemble a consignment to replace the worn out remnants the scouts are wearing in the field!
We are looking for sponsors who can spare £100 or $200 per scout . This donation will then be matched through a generous offer from the Conservation Foundation Zambia to cover the full £200 cost per scout to buy 2 sets of uniforms, boots and equipment to keep them moving in the field for another year or 2. I can’t emphasise how critical these uniforms and equipment are to the success of anti-poaching efforts so all support will be gratefully received and acknowledged.
Kasanka Trust has continued to sponsor 17 students and 3 untrained teachers in the third quarter, and three secondary school pupils - Mukosha Nkoneke, Amos Mvula and Musonda Banda are due to complete their Grade 12 in November.
In July, volunteer Leigh Chaloner (a qualified Primary School Teacher from Cape Town, South Africa) joined Kasanka’s education project. Since her arrival, she has participated in numerous activities in and around the park, focusing specifically on education-related matters.
15 of the 17 sponsored students and the 3 sponsored untrained teachers came to stay overnight in the Park. They met Kasanka staff, filled in questionnaires and watched an educational video of the park and surrounding Game Management Area. In the afternoon, they were taken to a park camping site to set up camp and were given a booklet concerning the history, geography, wildlife, bird life and plant life of the Park. They enjoyed a guided walk in the park and for many saw animals in the wild - many for the first time.
Plans are in progress to start an adult education project here in Kasanka for staff who have not attained basic literacy.
Yately Manor – a school in Berkshire England, has shown interest in setting up correspondence with Misumba Middle Basic School (a primary school near Kasanka). Similarly Beaumaris North School in Melbourne Australia has shown a keen interest in a link up with Kafinda School. Plans are to exchange educational material such as drawings, paintings, models, sculptures, poetry, and essays as well as any other material of relevance. If you are involved with any school outside Zambia which might like to twin with a school near Kasanka, then do contact us. Now that the park is equipped with a VSAT internet terminal communications are much improved and we hope to be able to spread the benefits of this to the local schools soon.
The Trust’s education project is entirely dependent on individual sponsors to cover the cost of sending disadvantaged children to secondary school and pay salaries for much needed teachers in local schools. If you would like to join the list of sponsors then the cost of funding a student starts at just £150 ($265) a year and the school year starts in January so this is the time of year when we are selecting pupils and teachers.
Sadly the one enrolled nurse working at Chalilo Clinic passed away in July but has now been replaced so the clinic continues to provide primary care and dispense medicines.
Kasanka Trust continues to support Chalilo Clinic with salaries for an assistant health worker and a watchman.
Click here for full details
FAREWELL
VISITORS .
Click here for more information on visiting Kasanka
Ed Farmer 11 December 2005
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Kasanka Newsletter 
The devices can potentially work for over a
year, but may well encounter some problems before then. We all wish
Heidi well and good luck with the research so that more can be known
about these very ecologically important mammals.
scouts rapidly in inaccessible corners of the park, monitor illegal
activities and disturbances and also to visit some more remote
schools around the park for conservation sensitization meetings. 
Meanwhile
the Zebra translocated into Kasanka in July 04 and Feb 05 are doing
well and a sizeable group have been seen regularly near the Mulembo
river. The buffalo brought in back in 2002 have settled in well and
there is one herd of around 15 seen often as well as some smaller
groups in the park. Elephant sightings have remained at a good level
and only yesterday (10th December) we saw this group of
15 elephants at Wasa Lodge.
Since 1999
we have been carrying out annual index counting of large mammal in
Kasanka by driving fixed routes under fixed conditions and having
observers write down every animal they see. There are many factors
such as the rainfall levels the previous year which affect the data,
but after 7 years of data some clear trends can be seen emerging.
Puku, reedbuck, sable and warthog are showing steady increases in
number, elephant, hartebeest and bushbuck seem to be roughly stable
and common duiker numbers seem to be decreasing. For other species
there is not enough data or stability of results to determine any
trends.
The
Conservation Centre at the park entrance is approaching completion.
The centre is already in use as the headquarters for Trust’s
community project, base for the 
Work
continued to improve and upgrade the facilities for visitors to
Kasanka with a new 2 roomed family chalet now complete at Wasa, and
all tents and the new reed houses at Shoebill with ensuite bathrooms
and flush toilets. Those who last visited many years ago would
hardly recognize the facilities today!