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  • Orangutans Dying as Demand for Palm Oil Soars

    During the 1950s, the Sarawak house of Barbara Harrisson and her late husband Tom became a home for orphaned baby orangu-tan who had been found helpless in the jungle. Here, she describes her experiences rearing orangutan in a half-wild state and her attempt to re-educate them to jungle life.

    The Harrissons decided eventually that their partially domesticated animals would have great difficulty surviving in the wild– yet keeping full-sized orang-utans in the home was no more practical. This personal account of the joys and trials of raising orang-utan is both informative and delightful reading.

  • Can the elephants survive the coup in Central African Republic

    Last month saw the government of the Central African Republic overthrown by rebels and the state has now become lawless. Rebels groups have reportedly joined up with Sudanese poachers and elephants are facing a crisis. Conservation groups World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and World Conservation Society (WCS) have today released a joint statement calling for immediate action to tackle the problem.

    Elephant meat is openly on sale in the markets and villages around the World Heritage Site of Dzanga-Sangha protected area.  Many of the park rangers have fled the area because of the dangers as rebel groups take control.  The WWF have pulled many of their staff out of the park after a series of armed raids on their offices. Some rangers and WWF staff have stayed behind to try and protect key areas despite the dangers to their lives.

    Bas Huijbregts, head of policy for WWF’s campaign against poaching in Central Africa, said it’s impossible to know for sure how many elephants have been killed because patrols have been suspended in the area.

    “Given the total absence of any type of law enforcement and rule of law in the  area, there is elephant meat all over the place,” he said. Heroic rangers are standing firm in the face of immense danger, but they alone cannot safeguard the special species and places the world treasures.

    Despite patrols being severely restricted since the coup on 24th March it’s known that at least 40 elephants have been killed in or around the World Heritage Site. The rebel group behind the overthrow of the country are the Seleka and they are known to have joined forces with the Sudanese poachers who regularly target central African elephants.

    Next week sees a regional meeting of African countries to discuss ways of tackling elephant poaching the is rife across the region.

    Jim Leape, WWF Director General said, “The elephant poaching crisis – driven by insatiable ivory demand – is so severe that no area is safe, not even the World Heritage Site Dzanga-Sangha where both WWF and WCS have now worked for the conservation of elephants for decades. Heroic rangers are standing firm in the face of immense danger, but they alone cannot safeguard the special species and places the world treasures. When meeting next week, Central African governments must urgently join forces against this criminal activity that is also threatening the stability and economic development of their countries. I encourage them in the strongest terms to take a stand against wildlife crime and together declare that poaching and illicit trafficking will not be tolerated.”

    Cristian Samper, WCS President and CEO said,  “Together, WCS and WWF, are calling on the Central African Republic government to immediately increase security in the region to protect these elephants from poachers and is asking other regional governments to provide assistance to stop the killing. Our staffs have been forced to evacuate in the chaos. I recently visited CAR and saw first-hand that without a full-time conservation presence in the region, these elephants are in jeopardy from poachers. WCS and our partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect elephants across their range.”

  • Gorillas Visit Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp in Uganda

    Check out this amaz­ing pho­to­graph cour­tesy of Sanc­tu­ary Gorilla For­est Camp.

    Tucked away in Bwindi Impen­e­tra­ble For­est in Uganda, Sanc­tu­ary Gorilla For­est Camp was recently host to some unex­pected vis­i­tors. One of our guests at camp fell sick and had to for­sake his long awaited dream of gorilla track­ing. For­tu­nately, the goril­las decided to visit the camp while the guest was recov­er­ing and he was priv­i­leged to view the goril­las for much longer and with a much clearer view than those who went track­ing. This once in a life­time expe­ri­ence high­lights why Sanc­tu­ary Retreats place such impor­tance in hav­ing the right loca­tions for our safari camps and lodges in Africa.

  • Sanctuary Lodges and Camps Expands into Zambia

    Sanctuary Lodges and Camps Expands into Zambia

    Sanc­tu­ary Lodges & Camps—founded by Aber­crom­bie & Kent as envi­ron­men­tally sus­tain­able lodgings—has expanded into Zam­bia with five new properties:

    Sussi & Chuma is built among huge ebony trees, just upstream from Vic­to­ria Falls in the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. The 10 lux­ury tree houses have pri­vate views of the Zam­bezi River. Chuma House is an exclu­sive two-bedroom villa located near the lodge.

    Lechwe Plains Tented Camp in the Lochin­var National Park, north of Lusaka, is a photographer’s par­adise. Located on the Chunga Lagoon, this World Her­itage Wet­land offers incred­i­ble birdlife and tens of thou­sands of Kafue Lechwe (ante­lope), an aquatic ante­lope of excep­tional grace.

    Kulefu Tented Camp in the Lower Zam­bezi National Park is on the wildest stretch of the Zam­bezi. Eight spa­cious tents are set on plat­forms at the river’s edge.

    Puku Ridge Tented Camp in the South Luangwa National Park is a real wilder­ness expe­ri­ence under can­vas with excit­ing wildlife oppor­tu­ni­ties. This superb prop­erty is located on a ridge over­look­ing game rich floodplains.

    Chichele Pres­i­den­tial Lodge was orig­i­nally built by Pres­i­dent Kaunda and refur­bished as an early colo­nial “Gentleman’s Lodge”. The hill­top set­ting in South Luangwa National Park over­looks plains teem­ing with wildlife.

    “Though rel­a­tively unknown out­side Africa, Zam­bia offers a diverse range of envi­ron­ments with pro­lific wildlife,” said Aber­crom­bie & Kent Group Chair­man and CEO Geof­frey Kent. “Walk­ing safaris were pio­neered in Zambia’s Luangwa Val­ley; if you have only seen ani­mals from inside a vehi­cle, you will find walk­ing with big game a thrilling expe­ri­ence. Night dri­ves are also a spe­cialty and the best means of see­ing some of the more elu­sive noc­tur­nal species, includ­ing leopard.”

    The com­pany also oper­ates Olo­nana in Kenya’s Masai Mara; Swala in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park and Kusini in the Serengeti; Gorilla For­est Camp in Uganda’s Bwindi Impen­e­tra­ble For­est; and four prop­er­ties in Botswana (Sanc­tu­ary Chief’s Camp, Sanc­tu­ary Chobe Chilwero, Sanc­tu­ary Stanley’s Camp, and Sanc­tu­ary Baines’ Camp).