Mafunyane out from hiding by Mphoeng
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 17 2009 | By: elephantsofbotswana
Mafunyane is being elusive. The problem is that is collar stopped giving GPS downloads and so we have not been able to find him. Also the plane we use to track the elephants has been out of action, after it was badly damaged in a hail storm so we have not been able to track from him from the air. We have been tracking him from the ground but to no avail. On the 18th of May 2009 it was a good day as he was spotted again and looked healthy and well, but the bad news is that we could not pick him up on his VHF which means that this has now stopped working too.
Tricky thing is that now we have to rely on visual sightings to re-collar him which is a daunting task. I have been on a mission to locate him, telling everyone to inform the research team if they find Mafunyane. It is a challenge as we are not certain whether he is still in the area or not however ethologically elephants will spend sometime in an area before they transverse to another area therefore my hope is that he is still around camp. Maybe Mafunyane will prove this theory wrong as animal behaviour is a complicated field and its difficult to predict the behaviour of an animal.
The re-collaring of Mafunyane will be a mission accomplished I will keep our readers informed about this mission.
-
Hi, I am Kate Evans, or more commonly known as Elephant Kate. I am a zoologist whose great love is elephants. Since 2002 I have been living my dream by researching elephants in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I decided I was going to be an elephant researcher when I was seven. I was living in Asia at the time and visited the elephant orphanage in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It was there that I made up my mind I was going to work for these majestic and intelligent animals. I made a promise to an elephant and we all know an elephant never forgets!!!! It took me 20 years to finally realise my dream and start my life as an elephant researcher. It was 20 years well spent and now I have to pinch myself most days to make sure it is true and I am living my dream.
I now head up a team who are researching the elephants and trying to work out the social and ecological needs of the largest remaining population of the African elephant. From time to time, other team members will add their thoughts and experiences. I love sharing my experiences - so I hope that this blog is a medium through which you will be able to join the elephants and I on our adventures in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. -
100% of your donation, minus a small bank fee, will go to your intended purpose.
Donations made here are safe.
2 Responses to “Mafunyane out from hiding by Mphoeng”
Rebecca, on 17 Aug 2009
Kate I have just spent the morning reading your entire blog from the beginning until now - fascinating stuff!
Good luck tracking down Mafunyane and please keep us updated
Su Lees, on 20 Aug 2009
Whey hey! Mafunyane sighted alive and well… brought a big smile to my face. Great news, I’m particularly pleased as I have adopted this guy and tis so good to know he’s ok after his spell of hiding…. Hope he’s not gonna prove elusive again and you can re-collar him or something soon. Best of luck with tracking him.
All the best
Su
Trackback URI | Comments RSS
Leave a Reply