Botswana – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Ngonye Falls National Park

“The opening of Ngonye Falls Park in Zambia is a crucial wildlife corridor between national parks of five Africans countries. It lies a few hundred kilometres upstream from Victoria Falls. Its one of the main wildlife corridors between Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.

The Zambian Minister of Tourism, Masebo paid tribute to the development partners who have been supporting the Ngonye Falls Park, notably the Federal Republic of Germany for funding the operations of the park for the last two years, the training of staff and the acquisition of equipment.

The Minister said that the five partner countries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe want to mutually conserve their natural resources in a sustainable way that will benefit the local communities and will eventually reduce rural poverty. The opening of Ngonye Falls is a step in the further development of the area.

“The partnership between communities and their natural resources is the key element to the sustainable management of national parks and, if established correctly, also the key element in combatting rural poverty.” Masebo also said that the KAZA TFCA combines economic, ecological and social development and could become the shining example for sustainable development in the region.

In Kabula Village in the Ngonye Falls Park is an elephant restraining line erected around Kabula Village. An elephant restraining line consists of electrified wires that run two metres above ground, thereby allowing communities free movement while protecting crops from elephants. T

The elephant restraining line has proven tremendously successful and there has not been a single breach by elephants since its erection. Dr Victor Siamudaala, executive director of KAZA TFCA, welcomed this development, saying that all five partner countries’ concerted efforts were needed to achieve their commitment to regional economic integration through the sustainable management of transboundary natural resources and tourism development.

Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta said that the Conservancy would be an important area in KAZA TFCA to re-establish wildlife populations and their migration routes to the benefit of the local communities. He also reminded all of the Conservancy’s significance to the KAZA TFCA, as it will ultimately link Chobe National Park in Botswana to Kafue National Park in Zambia. The Senior Chief thanked the development partners of the Simalaha Community Conservancy, notably the Mava Foundation for Nature and the Swedish Postcode Lottery for their support.

18
DEC

activities, Africa, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, wildlife, zambezi, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Bridge At Kazungula, Zambia

The Kazangula Bridge saga rumbles on. Here’s the latest from the Zambia Daily Mail.
Kazungula is the border crossing (above) between Zambia, Botswana and Zambia and is situated 75 kms from Livingstone.

THE design review of the US$259 million Kazungula Bridge will commence in February next year, the Road Development Agency (RDA) has said. RDA Kazungula Bridge Zambia project engineer Lazaros Nyawali said the 923-metre long bridge has a complex design and that it is important to ensure that a workable one is put in place. Mr Nyawali said this in Livingstone on Tuesday after RDA officials inspected rehabilitated roads in the tourist capital. (Which cannot have taken them very long! ed)

He said a consultant to review the design has already been identified and that the process will take six months after which the tendering process for the contractor to build the bridge will start. And Mr Nyawali said compensation and resettlement mechanisms for people who will be affected by the construction of the bridge are being taken care of. He said most people who bought land in the surrounding area where the bridge will be built have already been compensated and that 38 families in Lumbo village will be relocated.

“Prior to construction of the bridge, there are environmental issues which should be looked into. There is need to resettle and compensate people. This exercise should be completed before works on the bridge start,” he said. Mr Nyawali said the Kazungula Bridge is of strategic economic importance as it will facilitate the integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He said the bridge will also enhance transport operations along the North South corridor which links mineral rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The Kazungula Bridge project is a joint project involving the governments of Zambia and Botswana which have sourced financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA).

JICA is financing 57 percent of the project while AfDB is contributing 31.5 percent. The European Union has provided a 1.8 percent grant to the two governments which are funding the rest of the project.

27
NOV

Africa, Botswana, infrastructure, tourism, transport, travel, zambezi, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Justin Brinkhoff on ‘The Experience’

Meet Justin Brinkhoff (above) from Denver, Colorado. Colorado was a ‘swing state’ in the recent US election and also one of the states that legalized the social smoking of marijuana in a vote at the same time. “What did you think of the election?” we asked Justin when he appeared as a Guest on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. (That’s our regular Sunday night radio show on local radio in Livingstone). “We were happy Obama won” replied Justin “and the vote on marijuana was somehow a natural progression, as the drug was already allowed in Colorado for medical purposes, we’re not yet sure how the law will be implemented.”

Justin told listeners that he worked for Visa, the credit card company, but revealed that the company did not give him an unlimited free credit card with which to go on holiday (surprise, surprise!) He’s a computer programmer and he revealed that he was in Zambia with his wife Rebekah who was resting back at Chanters Lodge where they were staying. Before coming to Livingstone they had spent a fantastic week in the South Luangwa National Park, staying at Flatdogs. During their safaris they had seen four of the ‘big five’. They had not seen rhino but had made up for this by taking the rhino walk with Bwaato Adventures in Livingstone the previous day, they had seen all nine rhino in the Mosi-o-Tunya NP and had been thrilled! The day of the show, Justin and Rebekah had taken the one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana and had seen an amazing number of elephant and crocodile – as you usually do in Chobe.

Milli Jam wanted to know Justin’s musical tastes and he revealed that he’s still very much into 80’s rock, loving bands like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses and AC/DC. On this show we featured tracks by Bruno Mars, Example, Exile and Nalu, Mr Vezzy, Rihanna ft Chris Brown and Alicia Keys. Our oldie of the week was by Zambian artists Amayange and the prize for guessing the artists on the track – ‘Dyress’ was quickly snapped up by text, and once again we had a great response. My pick of the week was Tulisa’s ‘Live Your Life’ and we closed with Carrie Underwood’s ‘Two Black Cadillacs’ – after a little presenter confusion!

Justin revealed that when he and Rebekah, a project engineer in a construction company back in America, had been in the Luangwa Valley they had spent one day volunteering in one of the local schools in Mfue and they had loved the experience, relating well to the children who had sung and danced for them! It was their first time to come to Africa. They hoped to spend some time in Zimbabwe and South Africa after leaving Zambia. Justin revealed that they had first met on a blind date organized by his brother in law and that he and Rebekah had been married for two years.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Justin replied that he and Rebekah would like to be travelling full time with their children! “Get in” we said!

23
NOV

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, children, entertainment, guests, livingstone, rsa, South Luangwa, tourism, usa, wildlife, Zambia

Norwegian Students On ‘The Experience’

Meet the three delightful students we have staying at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia for a few weeks, undertaking their practicals at Libala Basic School in Livingstone. All three are in their final year at University of Tromso in Norway, studying for a degree in teaching. From left to right in the picture above, Ellen Marie Steen, Bjorn Danielsen and Lillian Ballo as they appeared last Sunday on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient. That’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show airs from 20.30 to 21.30 live, and sort of streams on the internet too!

These young, intelligent and energetic Norwegians told listeners that Tromso, where they are at University, is a very cold place in the winter situated as it is in the furthest north of Norway near the Arctic Circle. “How are you coping with this Livingstone heat?” Milli Jam, our programme host, wondered. “We are happy to have air-conditioning and a swimming pool at Chanters Lodge” they replied with feeling! “Are you enjoying the interaction with the Zambian children at your school?” Milli Jam wondered. “Very much” they said, adding that they found the Zambian children very well disciplined even though the school classes were much larger than those in Norway.

The music on the show was right up to date as usual, featuring at the top of the show the current UK number one ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ from Labrinth and Emeli Sande, back to back with Tyler James – Single Tear. Tracks from Judy, B-Flow, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber and Bastille followed. We kept a promise to make our oldie of the week very easy on this show – we give away a dinner for two every week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing on the track – and we dropped Lionel Richie and Diana Ross with ‘Endless Love’. The prize was won in a matter of seconds! We closed the show with Bruno Mars and Young Wild Girls.

Milli Jam wanted to know if the students had had any time for tourist activities and they replied that so far they had been working very hard, although they had been to see Victoria Falls and had taken a sunset cruise on the Zambezi. Later during their stay they intended to go white water rafting, on safari to Chobe in Botswana and to swim in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island. Bjorn was toying with the idea of bungee jumping, the girls were not! “Are you married?” Milli Jam wondered. Giggles. “No replied Ellen but I’m dating a music student in Norway”. “My boyfriend’s a builder” said Lillian. Bjorn told listeners that he was young, single and free! “Get in girls!” Milli Jam told our audience.

“What do you think of Zambian food” Milli Jam wondered, and to our surprise these Norwegian youngsters replied “we love eating crocodile meat!” “Eish!” said I. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time Lillian replied that she would like to be married with three children and a pop star! (Not so outlandish seeing she already has three singles released in Norway). Bjorn wanted to be happy, taking life one day at a time and enjoying an adventurous life. Ellen Marie said she was very bad at planning her life and felt that Bjorn’s ideas were excellent!

1
NOV

Africa, Botswana, Chanters, education, entertainment, food, guests, livingstone, Norway, radioshow, recording, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

Bridge At Kazungula

Seeing is believing after all these years but this is potentially good news for Livingstone – interesting that Japan is helping with the money. We hope that if they are also doing the bridge building it’s done better than the main road from the water tower on the outskirts of Livingstone to the Falls which is hopeless and gets worse day by hot day even though the work was only completed by the Japanese two years ago! Picture is the existing form of river crossing!!!

Zambia Daily Mail

Zambia and Botswana have finally signed a loan agreement with the Japanese government to finance the construction project of Kazungula Bridge at a cost of US$124.22 million. The bridge project will be jointly financed by the Japanese government through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The signing ceremony which took place at the JICA headquarters in Tokyo on Friday was witnessed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Given Lubinda and Bank of Zambia Governor Michael Gondwe.

Under the agreement, JICA will provide US$41.77 million, AfDB US$78.41 million while Zambia will contribute US$1.57 million. The project comprises the construction of a new toll road, railway bridge with one stop-border post facilities and access roads at Kazungula border. Zambia’s Ambassador to Japan Mwelwa Chibesakunda signed on behalf of Zambia while Botswana’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning Ontefetse Matambo signed for the neighbouring country.

Mr Chibesakunda said the signing of the loan agreement marks another milestone in the history of the warm bilateral relations that exist between Zambia and Japan, describing the development as a significant step in regional integration.He said the bridge project which seeks to replace the current Zambezi river pontoon, will improve the efficiency of transit traffic through the Kazungula border thereby leading to increased trade activities and improvement of regional connectivity of the north-south corridor.

Mr Domichi said JICA is considering going beyond construction of the bridge to streamlining administrative processes at border posts for trade facilitation. And Mr Matambo, the Botswana Minister of Finance and Development planning, said the construction of the bridge at Kazungula will improve people’s movement between Botswana and Zambia.

16
OCT

Africa, Botswana, infrastructure, Japan, zambezi, Zambia

Greg and Melinda Homan

Meet Greg and Melinda Homan, all the way from Santa Fe in New Mexico, USA but passionate about Africa! Greg and Melinda were staying at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone for a few days, so we seized the chance to invite them on to our Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, airing every Sunday night from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Passionate about Africa? Well yes, this is their third trip to the continent and on previous visits they climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and went to view the mountain gorillas in Rwanda – gotta be passionate to do those things. On this trip they were visiting Victoria Falls at the start of their holiday and the day after the show they were due to leave for a week in Botswana and then a two week stay in Namibia. While in Livingstone they’d seen the Falls from both sides and had swum in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island – “not bad for someone who doesn’t like heights or water!” Commented Melinda.

Greg told listeners that he was a carpenter by trade, making furniture and kitchen cabinets, as well as Spanish guitars (as a hobby). “Send us a guitar!” Demanded George and Milli Jam. “I’ll do that!” Said Greg. “Do you play the guitar yourself?” Asked Milli Jam, and Greg replied that he did and that when he was younger he had played in various rock bands. These days music wise he and Melinda like the Who, Steely Dan and Pink Floyd as well as country, jazz and classical music. On the sports front Greg told listeners that he’s a fan of the Washington Redskins. Melinda revealed that she and Greg had been married for 33 years although when Milli Jam originally asked her how long they’d been married, her reply was “forever”! Greg winced!

We featured tracks from Olly Murs, Brandy and Nicki Minaj at the top of the show. George came up with two latest, hot Zambian tracks ‘Chipangano’ by Batu featuring Tok Cido and Jemah, back to back with Mr Vezzy’s latest smash ‘Wemutima’ (my heart has a lot of desires but it leads me into trouble). Milli Jam chose Flo Rida’s ‘Whistle’ and Ne-Yo ft Wiz Khalifa with ‘Make ‘Em Like You’. George did not make the listeners like him when he dropped Madonna’s ‘Take A Bow’ as our oldie of the week – no-one guessed the performing artist and to me the choice was rather obscure. “We’ll make it easier next week!” I promised the listeners.

Melinda told our audience that she worked full time as a nanny for a family with three children which she enjoyed, and explained that she and Greg had two children of their own, both grown up and in college at the University of New Mexico, their son studying anthropology, their daughter nursing. “How did you two meet?” Milli Jam asked “and was it love at first sight?” “It was beer at first sight” quipped Melinda, we met in a bar and he got more attractive as the night progressed and more beer was consumed! We laughed.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now this engaging, charming American couple they said they hoped to be retired grandparents, still travelling, and running their own shop selling Homan guitars!

We wished them the best of luck!

12
OCT

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, entertainment, guests, livingstone, music, Namibia, radioshow, travel, usa, wildlife, Zambia

Lucas and Liz Messick

“What a happy loving couple!” I hear you say about the picture (above) of Lucas and Liz Messick, and you’d be right! This young duo from Pennsylvania, USA appeared on the latest edition of our Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. The show airs every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s firmly established local radio station and streams live on the internet too! Lucas and Liz were hoping their families back in the States would be tuned in! “How long have you been married?” Milli Jam wanted to know at the top of the show, “just eight months” they replied. “Awwwww”! We said!

Lucas and Liz told listeners that they’d been in Zambia for the past five weeks volunteering at Macha Mission Hospital – Macha Mission is a mission station in the Choma District of the Southern Province of Zambia. The hospital has 200 beds and is a vital service in this rural area. Liz is training to be a physician’s assistant and is doing a two year Masters course at Lock Haven University for her qualification – this stint at Macha formed part of her course. Lucas is an accountant in the family business back home, the family has five stores selling ‘farming implements’ – he admitted that Bruce Springsteen, who has a ranch in Pennsylvania, buys tractors from his company – farming implements indeed! Nothing like hoes and rakes! Whilst in Macha Lucas had been helping with the books at the Mission.

The music on the show was the usual great mix. Tracks from The Wanted and Amelia Lily started us off, then George played Ozzy’s ‘You’re The Reason’ and Ty2’s ‘Spotlight’ as his local Zambian choices. The latter was the oldie of the week, and the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie, was quickly snapped up! Great! Milli Jam dropped Chris Brown’s smash ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ and we followed with latest tracks from Carly Rae Jepsen as well as Psy’s Gangnam Style – over 200 million hits on YouTube for Korean Psy!

Liz and Lucas told listeners they’d loved their trip to Chobe in Botswana that day and had been lucky to see lions, as well as hundreds and hundreds of elephant. They had enjoyed Victoria Falls and had been to see them from the Zimbabwe side as well. Liz was rather disappointed that there was not more water going over, due to it being the dry season, but thought it a good reason to come back to Zambia again after the rainy season. She had learned some Tonga while in Zambia and she and Milli Jam started chatting away in his language. He loved it!

Lucas expressed a great love of TV show Top Gear and sport – especially American Football – he had even been following a game between Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens that day on the internet at Chanters! He also revealed that he plays the french horn in an orchestra back in America and is into classical music. Liz is more into Christian music and was happy when I told her that Lecrae’s new album ‘Gravity’ was high in the US album charts as we went on air. We give listeners chart and social media news every week on our show.

Saying that they were flying back to America the following day, and asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they said they hoped to have two children, to be following the Lord and to have great jobs! We wished them well.

21
SEP

Africa, Botswana, entertainment, radioshow, religion, sport, tourism, travel, usa, victoriafalls, volunteers, Zambia

The Alpha Experience!

Abi Kajumba (above left) and Erin Winfield were the latest Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia, to get roped into appearing on our Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is called The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, and airs between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night – it streams live on the internet too!

Why ‘The Alpha Experience’, well Abi and Erin both work for Alpha. Erin told listeners that the Alpha course is a course which seeks to explore the basics of the Christian faith, described as “an opportunity to explore the meaning of life”. Alpha courses are currently being run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities and a wide variety of other locations. The course is being run around the world by all major Christian denominations. The girls were spending a few days in Livingstone before moving on to Lusaka to attend an Alpha training workshop at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, being attended by delegates from more than nine other African countries. They were much looking forward to the experience.

Erin originally hails from Arkansas, USA but has lived in England for the past seven years, she’s married and her husband is training for the priesthood in the Anglican church in UK. Abi is still single, has a Ugandan dad and an English mum and has spent years of her life in both countries – she described her mum as ‘brave and adventurous’ – we got the impression on the show that these girls are too, as they described the activities they’d undertaken while they were in Livingstone! They’d walked out to Livingstone Island and jumped into the Devil’s Pool, right on the edge of Victoria Falls. They’d enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, as well as undertaking a one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana. They’d also taken the flight of angels in a microlight over Victoria Falls! Brave and adventurous indeed!

The music on the show was right up to date as usual – we opened with Little Mix and ‘Wings’, back to back with Fazer’s ‘Killer’. George chose hot Zambian tracks from Roberto and JK, while Milli Jam chose songs from Taio Cruz, and up and coming R&B star Jeremy Greene. Our oldie of the week was from Beyonce and Jay Z, and the prize we give every week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie was quickly snapped up by a certain Felistus. She won a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge! We closed with Cover Drive’s latest UK hit, ‘Explode’.

Erin told listeners that her musical taste leans towards acoustic jazz as well as more popular artists such as Jason Mraz and Mumford and Sons – in terms of sport she loves to swim. Abi favours pop and gospel music and loves to play tennis. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now. Erin said she hoped to be living and working in an Anglican parish with her husband the priest, travelling and changing lives. Abi would like to be married with children, still involved with Alpha, as well as having become a successful author of novels for children – travelling on the royalties earned! We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on the show.

7
SEP

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, Chobe, education, entertainment, Lusaka, music, radioshow, religion, zambezi, Zambia

Aussie Rules!

Meet Jeremy Ng and Jo Peti, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Jeremy and Jo are from Melbourne in South Australia although Jo is originally from New Zealand – “from Matamata” she told listeners proudly, “where Lord Of The Rings was filmed.” This engaging couple explained that they’d been married for 8 years. “Was it love at first sight”? Milli Jam wondered. They both exploded with laughter as Jo declared that the second time they’d met, Jeremy couldn’t even remember her from the first time!

Jeremy told listeners that he owns and operates his own drilling company in Australia, mostly drilling environmental boreholes, explaining that these were done in order to take core samples for inspectors to check for contamination. Jo is a project manager for an IT company and spends a lot of time away from home, as her job takes her all over Australia. Before Jeremy and Jo arrived in Livingstone they’d spent two weeks in South Africa as volunteers on a wild life farm, mostly taking care of lion cubs and they had loved it. So much so that Jo said she would love to work full time with animals in the future. They told listeners it was their first trip to Africa.

The music on the show was international, we opened with Sam And The Womp’s UK smash ‘Bom Bom’ – quite why this is such a hit I, for one, am not sure! We coupled Bom Bom with Devlin featuring Ed Sheeran and ‘Watchtower’ which samples Jimi Hendrix’s 70’s hit. George chose his own track ‘Good Times’ with Roberto at the request of our Guests, back to back with B1’s ‘Secret Ku Bed’ – “what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom”, he explained. “Not in Prince Harry’s case” I opined, which raised a laugh. Milli Jam dropped two Nigerian tracks before our oldie of the week – Exile’s ‘Oxygen’ – the prize we give every week to the first listener to text us telling us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up! We closed with new tracks from Ciara and Simple Plan.

Our Aussie couple told listeners that they’d had a great time since they’d been in Livingstone, the highlight of which had been a jump into the Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island. They’d taken a one day safari to Chobe in Botswana, which they’d thoroughly enjoyed especially seeing so many elephants of different ages. Jeremy had taken a microlight flight over the Falls and they’d both loved the Zambezi sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone. Asked why they’d chosen Chanters Lodge they replied that it suited their budget, seemed secure and that they’d got a fast and thorough reply to their first enquiry by e mail. Were they happy with their choice? They were and said the staff were great.

Sports wise Jo and Jeremy are into rugby – one supports Australia, the other New Zealand. Just imagine the scene! Jo said her musical tastes were mostly hip hop and r & b though she loves Lady Gaga and Nikki Minaj. Jeremy favoured old school rock including Midnight Oil. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Jeremy said he hoped by that time he would have increased the number of drilling rigs in his company, whilst Jo said she would love to be working 100% of her time with animals and still travelling.

We wished them the best of luck!

30
AUG

activities, Africa, Australia, Botswana, Chanters, Chobe, entertainment, livingstone, music, radioshow, tourism, travel, wildlife

Do Giraffe Mourn Their Dead?

This piece by Nick Collins in the Daily Telegraph caught my eye, following a report that a giraffe in Luangwa Valley had been mourning its dead calf. This fine creature was photographed in the Chobe National Park, Botswana.

“According to zoologist Prof Fred Bercovitch, the mother spent two hours with her calf after it died, splaying her legs to bend down next to it and lick it in an extremely unusual display of behaviour. The incident, witnessed by Prof Bercovitch at the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, is only the third case on record of a giraffe mother stoically remaining with their dead calf.

It raises the question of whether giraffes, along with animals such as chimpanzees and elephants which are well known for investigating the bodies of dead relatives, may have a deeper understanding of death than previously thought. Writing in the African Journal of Ecology, Prof Bercovitch, a researcher with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in Surrey, described how the mother had splayed her legs apart in order to bend down over her dead newborn.

She then licked the calf for several minutes before standing upright, and repeated the entire act a number of times over a period of more than two hours, during which she was alone. The behaviour was unusual because giraffes rarely bend so low other than to feed or drink, and females spend very little time away from their herd, BBC Nature reported.

The mother’s reaction to the calf’s death was less prolonged than that seen in African elephants and less overt than chimpanzees, which have even been seen carrying their dead young with them.

But it is one of three examples of apparent “mourning” by giraffe mothers, with the mother in one case remaining beside her calf for four days after its death.

Although it is not clear from such behaviour that animals understand death, the latest evidence at least shows that female giraffes have a more complex bond with their young than previously thought, Prof Bercovitch said.

By examining whether a wider range of species show a similar reaction when members of their family or kind die, it could be possible in future to answer the question of whether animals really do mourn, he added.

26
AUG

Africa, Botswana, Chobe, wildlife

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