New IFAW Blog Entry Now Online

Sat, 2011-03-05 13:29 by Vicki

Anwyn's 2010 calf has nobody to play with in her family at the moment but we hope she will have playmates at the end of the year

Fleur and calf; she has a beautifully distinctive left ear

The aptly named, and rather impressive Butch

It's not always all about the elephants...

...this beautiful impala group came into camp one evening and I had to crawl out of my tent to take this picture.I've never seen so many together.

I have been spending the last month finding my feet and starting the painstaking process of learning to identify the Amboseli elephants, with a lot of help from Norah, Katito and the rest of the ATE team. It's great fun, and I love feeling I'm starting to make progress, especially with the families I'm studying.

Here are some images to accompany the latest instalment of my blog (full story here) on the IFAW website

I hope you enjoy the images and the stories, and thanks for all your comments on the last blog!

all the best,

Vicki

Enjoying your delightful blog ~

Wed, 2011-03-23 05:01 by Donna Reynolds

Forgive my lateness in saying that you are just a pleasure to read and get to know, Vicki !
Your excitement and enthusiasm are crystal clear. You write with warmth and joy.... as well as huge personal experience studying elephants in a totally different scene.
Coming into Amboseli on the plane, you generously included us all as you spied your first Amboseli eles on the ground below. Vicarious joy for us all out here ~ big time.
The recent picture of you after the rains on the puddly road is such fun: showing your exuberant happiness at being on the ground there. And your PhD says you have worked very hard to earn a place on the AERP team. No slouch, You !~.
From New York, USA, I want to say I'm so happy to be able to enjoy whatever postings you will share with us. Both joy and heartbreak are included in your job description. We'll share them with you, promise.. May your years in Amboseli fill your life as you wish they would, and then some.
BEST to you ~~
Donna

More thanks!

Thu, 2011-03-24 16:21 by Vicki

hi Donna,

I was so touched to read your message, thank you for your kind words and good wishes. I'm really happy that people are enjoying reading the blog, and I hope I convey the sense of privilege I feel working in such a remarkable place, and with such remarkable people. You are very right - joy and heartbreak lie in this job description and I will be sharing both in these stories. But we have high hopes here and a wonderful team and collaborators working very hard to secure a future for Amboseli's ecosystem for both people and wildlife.

All the best,

Vicki

amazing opportunity

Wed, 2011-03-16 00:40 by rhondaamor

thanks Vicki, its very inspiring. I would love to be involved in elephant research and monitoring, writing etc. How does one get involved in this?

re; amazing opportunity

Wed, 2011-03-16 16:20 by Vicki

hi Rhonda,

indeed it is amazing! It does take time - it's taken me about ten years of studying and volunteering to get to this point. There are lots of people who want to get involved, and there are also different ways to do it; for instance, Cynthia was a journalist before she came to Amboseli.

I did a more normal route: I studied Zoology at University, and came to Africa every chance I got, on any project, as a field assistant/volunteer. It was while volunteering in Congo that I developed the ideas for my PhD research, and then got in touch with Phyllis when I returned and convinced her to take me on as a student. Once I finished my PhD, I was qualified to do this kind of research, and I just got lucky in the timing of when I finished my thesis, and the need Amboseli had for someone to do the study.

Bottom line is - get experience wherever you can, and don't give up! And good luck!!!

Vicky,

Sat, 2011-03-05 21:52 by Donna

another great report. Sounds as if you are having fun. Imagine you have a leg up on the Amboseli Eles since you studied with Phillis Lee. You probably know more about them than you realize. After you get to know them, all those things you've picked up along the way will start to kick in. As Cynthia already noted, the pix are great. It's always wonderful to see good closeups of the elephants and all the animals.

Latest photos

Sat, 2011-03-05 14:17 by cmoss

These are great photos, Vicki. Sitting here at my desk in Nairobi, they made me homesick.

Cool!

Mon, 2011-03-07 00:54 by Espresso

Cool photos Vicky! I am not familiar with Fleur. Which family is she from, who is her mother and when was she born??

Thanks anyways!

P.S: Try to take a lot of photos of the ZA, and ZB Family for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, I'm glad you like

Mon, 2011-03-07 12:09 by Vicki

Thanks, I'm glad you like them! Although I'm no photographer, eles are so photogenic, it's not hard to take some nice shots.

Afraid I won't be spending time with any of the Z families as they're not part of my study at the moment. But Fleur is from the FAs - again, not one of my study families, but I just happened to see her and had time to grab a photo :0)

ATE

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