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The rainy season is upon us and the bats
are back in their millions. If you are not among the lucky visitors to have
witnessed this spectacle, then you will have to make do with some photos below!
This spectacle is rated as one of the
worlds greatest by authors Chris and Tilde Stuart who have again been visiting
to study them. Having studied wildlife the world over and written 14 books
including best selling fieldguides to African wildlife, their opinion should be
respected! Even those of us who have been seeing this incredible bat migration
for several years, are freshly amazed each year by the shear number. Chris and
Tilde tell us that being between 5 and 10 million, this is by far the largest
gathering of straw-coloured fruitbats known of, and probably the largest of any
bats.
 Whilst wild fruits are in abundance at this time, that is the case over a
wide stretch of central Africa so does not explain the huge concentration in Kasanka. They think the reason may lie in some social pattern probably related
to reproduction. It is clear that the Kasanka bats come from many different home
colonies because they arrive and depart in sub-groups and the females are in
many different reproductive stages whereas in home colonies breeding is known to
be strictly synchronised. Chris and Tilde hope to return next year to find out
more about the reasons for the gathering and where the bats come from and return
to, but in the meantime will post some of their initial findings on the website
when available.
As well as the bats they are working to produce species lists
for mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. List of
birds and
mammals
recorded to date in Kasanka are available here.
Anyone planning a visit to Kasanka would
be well to make it coincide with the bat spectacular. The bats start arriving
around late October and are in full strength by about 10th November.
They can still be seen at Christmas, but around then they start thinning out and
will all have left by about 10th January.
It’s not all batty here, and there’s
been plenty of other work continuing in Kasanka. The new chalets at Wasa, built
with financial assistance from the Beit Trust, were completed at the beginning
of October and have proved very popular with our more discerning visitors! As
with the new chalets at Luwombwa, each has its own bathroom and verandah looking
onto the lake. Work is well underway on the construction of the new main
building at Wasa. When complete this will incorporate a bar, dining room,
reception area and verandah. Completion date is sometime early next year!
The Kasanka Trust’s scout force has
continued to patrol throughout the park and has arrested quite a few poachers in
recent months. Along with the arrests they have confiscated several shotguns and
home made muzzle-loaders, and continue to collect about 150 wire snares every
month. These are a popular but particularly cruel and indiscriminate method of
hunting, often killing inedible species, or leaving meat to be eaten by vultures
if the hunters do not return in time.
 This poacher’s idea of a tasty meal was 5 baboons, 3 bushbabies
and a slender mongoose! Only intensive patrolling by scouts can control such
indiscriminate predation.
As well as operating in Kasanka, the
Trust’s scouts assisted ZAWA officers to mount some patrols in the Bangweulu
area near Shoebill Island and these sorties invariably led to as many suspects
being arrested as the scouts could handle. Poaching in area is prevalent, but
the huge herds of Tsessebe and Black Lechwe seem to be holding their own with
the little assistance scouts can give.
 There
have been fewer visitors at Shoebill Island although this year the area was well
worth visiting right up to November due to the unusually high rainfall last
season.
Even with only average rain this
year, next season should also be good right through to October and November
because of the amount of water still remaining from the last rains.
Birdlife has been as good as ever both
in Kasanka and at Shoebill Island, although the Shoebills are much harder to
find after September until they return near the camp in February or March.
The
birdlist
on this website for Kasanka
has been updated and now stands at 412 species. We are working with the
 Zambian
Ornithological society to produce a complete list for the Shoebill Island area
and will post it when available.
Meanwhile outside the park work has
continued on the two main community projects we are sponsoring this year. At
Mpelembe School, 5 teachers’ houses have been refurbished and 2 classroom blocks
have been renovated and re-roofed with steel framework and galvanised iron
sheets.
This school was about to be closed down due to the unsafe structures
although it is educates about 400 children and is designated as the zone
headquarters for 8 surrounding schools. Using a grant from a Dutch charity
(FIDES), and voluntary labour from the teachers and parents, we have been able
to secure it’s future.
the last classroom still in use
before renovations
 Chalilo Clinic construction, which
Kasanka Trust is financing with grants from the German Embassy in Lusaka and The
States of Guernsey, has been slow to progress due to problems with the self-help
workforce and community leaders. However work is now underway in earnest to
construct the walls of the clinic building and it should be completed within one
month form now. We will then need to raise funds to construct houses for the
medical staff before the new clinic can function properly.
Members
of the community pouring the
concrete ring lintel
on Chalilo Clinic 21/12/01
None of this conservation or community
work could be done without the invaluable support of our donors. Apart from a
grant from the German embassy for Chalilo Clinic, all our income was from
private charities and individuals. We are especially grateful to the Holly Hill
Trust (vital core cost support), FIDES (Mpelembe school), The Beit Trust
(Tourism structures), Rainforest Concern , Luawata Conservation and three
private donors (Wildlife Restocking), Zebra Trust and several individuals
(education sponsorship), Deutche Bank and 2 of their employees.
 The hardest
things to pay for are the everyday running costs of 30 scouts protecting
wildlife and keeping the roads passable. A growing number of supporters have
been contributing small monthly amounts and these add together to make a very
helpful contribution. We are specifically looking for sponsors to pay for some
new uniforms for our scouts. If anyone else feels they could help in this or any
other way please contact the Secretary of the UK Trust
elephant
like to push trees across the roads adding to our workload!
As we have just completed the annual
accounts for the Zambian Trust (October 2000 to September 2001) I can give you
some figures:
-
Total income from Tourism £ 96,507
-
Total expenditure for tourism £ 67,163
-
Thus Tourism generated a surplus of £
29,344
Against
this we spent:
-
£54,666 on anti-poaching ,
infrastructure and general management activities
-
£ 9,885 on community projects
-
£ 15,178 on the new tourist structures
(specifically funded by the Beit Trust)
 This shows that whilst tourism is
contributing a growing share of our conservation and community programs, we are
still very dependent on charitable donors!
Best wishes for Christmas and the New
Year !
Oscar and Wasa on safari
Edmund Farmer,
Park Manager
15 December,
2001
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