Hive Maintenance 101 Photos and Text by Ester Eriksson *** I just landed as an intern in Sagalla last week, thoroughly read up on the fascinating research and community engagement of the Elephants & Bees Project, but a complete novice in literally anything to do with beekeeping. Quick background: The early origins of this project date back to Professor Fritz Vollrath and his research into the interactions between African elephants…
By Meha Kumar *** There is a saying that goes; “for the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” which in this context highlights that dogs are loyal and would fiercely defend those whom they love. Almost 98% of the bomas in Lower Sagalla have a dog, mainly for security purposes. During the dead of the night, elephants raid farms when…
By Ursulla Wandili *** There is no need for an alarm at Elephant and Bees center, Sagalla in Voi. We have our natural alarms-the beautiful birds. Imagine how satisfying it is to be woken up every morning by rhythmical acoustic voices of birds. Birds are often up before dawn singing their hearts out and adding their voices to the dawn chorus. It is so fascinating to listen to different songs,…
By Sarah Weiner Feeling very fulfilled after my most recent elephant sighting in Tsavo, I’m back for Part II of The Small Mammals of Sagalla. Sadly, I had no luck capturing any critters in my homemade trap. That’s okay, though, because I’ve found new small mammals to obsess over. There’s no time to waste, so let’s start with the only flying mammals: bats. The same four or five bats visit us…
By Sarah Weiner I was only lucky enough to see her speckled coat once. She was frozen, crouched low to the ground beneath the tangled bush, with the light of my head torch reflecting off of her chestnut eyes. I knew I would spook her into fleeing, but I inched forward, desperate to get a closer look. As my shoes crunched through the rusty sand, she whipped around and the last…
Cover photo: If you want to get to grips with fieldwork, a hands on approach is always best. By Josh Clay *** I don’t know about you, but I love the smell of elephant poo. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of this most satisfactory olfactory sensation, I would describe it as being a thick, musky scent that is utterly wild and unmistakeably elephantine. I am fortunate to have…
Understanding the magnificent, intelligent, and highly endangered forest elephant By Josh Clay Cover photo by Frank af Petersons, 2017 Whenever African elephants are mentioned, it is understandably the savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) that receives all the headlines. Ask any child in the world and they would probably be able to identify one from a line-up. I doubt many of these children, let alone most adults, are aware that there are…
Field Report by Esther Gathiru, Elephants and Bees Project 10th June 2021 Stitching Academy is a school managed by Soko Community Trust under Soko Kenya. This was their seventh graduation which comprised of stitching and computer studies students as this are the main courses offered. *** Tour to Soko Factory On arrival we first visited Soko factory as according to plan where we had an introductory session from madam Mwaka, a…
Field Report by Intern Josh Clay, Elephants and Bees Project This is Harry. He is mad in general and mad about snakes in particular. *** He has all the makings of a brilliant naturalist. His uniform at E&B is a strict regime of ill-fitting Hawaiian shirts and just-that-little-bit-too-short-shorts. Harry can be found spending most of his spare time catching snakes, often shirtless, and regularly presenting his findings to an often-reluctant…
Field Report by Intern Heliabel Bomstein, Elephants and Bees Project Manolo is 40 years old, marked wrinkles all over his face, a pierced right ear and peaceful dark eyes. He’s one of the veterans of the area. When asked, people will tell you that his community always lived there and that he has been around for many long years. Manolo lives with his peers, a small group of about 15…