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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