Introduction Strategic Aims Village Benefits Anti-Poaching Support and Donations
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August 2003 In This Issue Anti-Poaching Film Shows Tusks found while road clearing Mapping Project Poaching in Monduli and support from villages OLD HAT!!  Thanks Trustee Visit Leopard Project Update Donations Anti-Poaching With the start of the hunting season, we have made some changes in order to try to cut back on our anti-poaching patrol costs. All CHCWP teams will now be incorporated into the Robin Hurt Safaris hunting camps which we hope will enable us to operate more effectively. This union will benefit CHCWP in that they will be able to make use of vehicles making and clearing roads to drop off and pick up the anti-poaching teams, they will also be able to hear first hand about any poaching incidents seen by the professional hunters and clients. CHCWP in return will assist RHS out of season to help safeguard the camps. In Rungwa Ngalasoni has been trying to tackle the ever increasing illegal timber industry. People are still coming into these areas from as far away as Dodoma. In the last two and a half months 1184 pcs of timber have been confiscated. Ngalasoni and his team also managed to arrest elephant poachers, found with pieces of an elephant trunk in their possession and meat poachers in a timber camp with greater kudu meat, a leopard skin and a muzzle loader. Unfortunately the ivory was not recovered.  In Niensi, Mamuya has been working with the villages in Mpanda and Urambo Districts trying to get them to stop farming illegally in the Forest reserve that borders the Ugalla River. The villagers say that they have been given permission by the village leaders and the District Commissioner. When those concerned were asked about it they denied any responsibilty. Ugalla village, where many of the illegal farmers come from, is to be considered for inclusion into the project, to try and persuade them that there is more value in preserving this area for wildlife, than for slash and burn agriculture. In these last three months Mamuya and his team have confiscated 768 pieces of timber, two muzzle loaders and 14 undersized fishing nets In Mlele, once again, we have been working with the Rukwa Lukwati Game Reserve staff. Poaching incidences seem to have declined enormously in this area probably due to the intensive number of patrols that are being done.  John Magembe is still in the field as this goes to print, so we wait to hear further news on his return. Film shows We have had some great times in the last two months using the mobile unit from Maajabu (www.maajabu.org) to show films to the schools and villages. We have done eight shows so far, some at night and some in the classrooms. Films have been shown on human/elephant conflicts, charcoal burning and the lives of various animals such as lions and wildebeest. Each has created stimulation and many questions and we hope we have shown people worlds outside their own and given them education and enjoyment. We have donated one of our video players to Maajabu to help support them and to allow us to continue to use their services. Tusks found while road clearing Amazingly, two 15 kg elephant tusks were uncovered in Makao while a road clearing crew were busy about their work. The tusks have been taken to the District Game Offices in Mwanhuzi for safekeeping. It was not determined how the elephant died. Mapping Project Finally underway, we have pin pointed the maps that we need to cover all the areas we operate in, and we are working together with Tanzania Game Trackers and Wengert Windrose to get a good quotation for digitising them. We have purchased a laptop computer so that all the information collected in the field with the GPS can be downloaded and stored. Two Geographic Information System students have volunteered from the USA to come and collect all our data and to help us to set everything up. Mary Krause and Leelah Hadza arrive at the end of September with professional visas to start their work. One of the most exciting CHCWP projects for a long time, we hope that this will help us enormously with the management of the areas we work in, and we hope that other people and projects can benefit from the work that we will be doing. Poaching in Monduli and support from villages In the last year the poaching in Monduli has increased incredibly. We have seen that there is an illegal market for zebra skins which is the cause of this increase. Reports have come in recently of 6 zebra poached for their skins in Arkatan village near Monduli Town, and also of 6 giraffe poached for meat near Lepurko village. We have asked for assistance from the officers working with the Lusaka Task Force Agreement in Nairobi, whose undercover work has uncovered many illegal wildlife operations in the past. We held a meeting with the village leaders of seven villages in the Sepeko Ward and with a representative from the Zonal Anti-poaching Unit, Northern Zone. Issues discussed were the problem of poaching, how to combat it and the choice between farming and wildlife. The leaders were all very angry about the poaching and were determined to bring it to a halt, using a variety of different means. Letters were to be written to the District Game Office, Monduli to insist that any resident hunting licences (as opposed to tourist hunting licenses) issued had to be passed through the village office for checking both on entering and on leaving the village. Somebody from the village should always accompany the resident hunter. All contacts were taken of the Zonal Anti-poaching offices, as well as those of CHCWP and the District Game Offices. If any vehicles are seen that have not obtained permission to enter the village, or poachers are spotted, a phone call can be made, using a mobile phone, for assistance. Village leaders are to hold full village meetings to inform all villagers of this problem and to ask them for assistance. It is believed that one or two people in certain villages are helping the poachers and they want to make sure that this does not continue. Three villages in Monuli District have asked to join the project this year. These are Enguiki, Mfereji and Noondoto. Previously these villages have been supported by Tanzania Game Trackers but it seems that they are also in the Robin Hurt Safaris area, so we hope to be able to work together with them starting from this year. This year may also see some changes with other villages no longer being supported by the project due to the fact that farming has replaced the wildlife and the areas are no longer used for hunting. The Project Director is to meet with the concerned villages to establish where the boundaries are in relation to the areas hunted. OLD HAT! Bill Turnbull very generously purchased Robin's old hunting hat at the Art Auction in New York in February to help support the Cullman and Hurt Project. He has even more generously given the hat back for re-auction! There is one condition attached, and that is that it must be sold again for more than he paid for it………..$4,100! All of you who failed to get this prized item in February, here is your second chance. Please send bids to chcwp@habari.co.tz before the 30th October 2003. The new owner will be announced in the next newsletter. Thanks Thanks to Mr Mannix for his generosity in helping out with a number of different projects. 65,000 Ltr Rainwater tank for Mbaash School.  Mwanhuzi Police Station under contruction. TRUSTEE VISIT Costa Mlay, who has been one of the trustees of CHCWP for many years is to make a special visit to the Makao area with the Project Director. Robin Hurt will also be in the area at the same time and we wish to extend our thanks to Stan and Rosemary Long for welcoming us to stay in their hunting camp for these few days. As a former Director of Wildlife in Tanzania, Costa is interested in seeing our progress in the field and also hopes to be able to meet with the village leaders and the District Authorities in Meatu. Leopard Project Update In July Arturo Caso accompanied by his team and by Roger Hurt set off to Rungwa Piti to collect the collars that he had left on the seven leopard for a year collecting data as to their movements. Unfortunately tragedy struck and fires had started in the areas. It seemed that the collars did not survive the fires and none were able to be retreived. We are waiting to see what information Arturo has managed to produce despite this bad luck. DONATIONS Big, Big thanks to the following for recent donations: Mr. Tom Watson Mr. and Mrs. Jamie Anderson CHCWP Chairman: Joseph F Cullman 3rd. Vice Chairman: Robin Hurt. 2nd Vice Chairman: Terry Matthews. 3rd Vice Chairman: Kay Delaney-Bring. Honorary Director: Mr. Charles Mdoe, Department of Wildlife Trustees: Adam Hill, Robert Wood Johnson IV, Hargy E. Kimei, Costa Mlay, John Jackson III Project Director: Sally Capper Field Officers: John Ngalasoni, Elly Mamuya, and John Magembe Contributions If you would like to support this project, all contributions can be sent to: Conservation Force, One Lakeway Centre, 3900 N. Causeway Blvd, Suite 1045, Metairie, LA 70002-1746, USA 501 ( c ) 3 tax exemption ID no. is 72-11364493 Hibernia National Bank, 3050 Severn Avenue, Metairie, LA 70002, USA ID No: 065000-090; Acct. Name: Conservation Force/Cullman-Hurt Project; Acct No: 8006397434 CHCWP, P.O. Box 8325, Arusha, Tanzania, Email: enquiries@cullmanandhurt.org

Introduction Strategic Aims Village Benefits Anti-Poaching Support and Donations
Video Education, Village Projects and Data Collection Newsletters Contact Details Home