For this personal investigation, I have decided to expand my knowledge on how wildlife is  protected in Africa. I grew up often going to Africa and climbed the continent’s highest  mountain when I was 15 years old, so this topic is something that is close to my heart. My  initial thought on this project was to investigate the ivory trade and the effect this has had on  today’s population of elephants. I had recently watched a film called Holiday in the Wild and  was captivated learning about elephant sanctuaries and the work that they do. However, an  interesting conversation with a gentleman from Sudan sparked a change of direction in my  approach to this project. He said that the key to change was the education of poachers and  civilians in African countries. Many people in these countries are living in poverty and their  only source of income often means harming African wildlife. He believes that people need to  be taught the importance of these creatures and that keeping them alive would create more  money within their communities.  

My first source is a book called An African Love Story. The author of this book is Daphne  Sheldrick who is part of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which featured on a 2007 BBC  programme, Elephant Diaries. I started this book with the intention to learn about elephants,  their behaviours and how orphaned elephants are saved and released back into the wild to  conserve their population. However, as well as these insights, the book revealed much more  to me. The book takes you through Sheldrick’s life, from her great grandparents migrating  from South Africa to Kenya during the colonisation of Africa, to herself being born in Kenya  and growing up with regular adventures amongst Kenyan wildlife, to her and David  Sheldrick’s amazing work protecting wildlife and fighting poachers. As this source is a  narrative, there is a risk of unreliability as stories may be exaggerated to give greater effect.  Even so, it has given me a profound understanding of life in Kenya during the 20^th Century,  the perspective of the people living there and how the poaching and hunting of Africa’s  wildlife developed. A passage of the book that sums this up perfectly is when Sheldrick  (2013, p.7) is talking of “how lightly my ancestors shot at animals” and explains, “Everywhere  there was wildlife … At the time no one ever imagined that any amount of shooting could  devastate the stocks of wild game, let alone all but eliminate it”.  

The historical context offered in the book sparked an interest into the effect that the  development of African countries has had on its wildlife. This led me to watch a range of  TED Talks on the conservation of African wildlife. Talks by Lucy King, Jane Goodall and  Moreangels Mbizah focused on community-led projects that endeavoured to keep peace  between wildlife and surrounding communities. These videos re-iterate my Sudanese  friend’s message, about the importance of education and working with people within  surrounding communities in order to conserve African wildlife. This source has given me  insight into the different projects that have ran or are still in place, for example: Okango  Wilderness Project, awareness and education projects in local communities, Elephants and  Bees, TACARE and Roots and Shoots. It is hard to tell from the videos how effective these  projects are, however, Goodall (2007, 14:33) seems adamant that once projects like  TACARE have helped towards “improving the lives of the people living around” animal  conservation parks, “they began to understand evermore the need for conservation”. After  watching these videos, I researched the speakers and the projects they talked about.  

This brings me to my next source, a comprehensive Beehive Fence Construction Manual, developed by Dr Lucy King in accordance with her Elephants and Bees project. The manual  gives detailed information on elephants and their relationship with people; the construction  and maintenance of beehives and fences; and beekeeping, including pests and parasites to  look out for. This source revealed to me a new perspective to this investigation. While we  often focus on the idea that poachers are the reason for the decrease in elephant  population, King’s manual (2019, p.5) talks of the conflicts between people in local  communities and elephants in surrounding areas, it tells us that “unfortunately both people  and elephants are sometimes killed due to conflict over resources.” The manual’s main aim  is to combat the conflicts between Kenyan farmers and elephants in a natural and humane way that will help to conserve the elephant population. I was drawn to this source as it has  such a wide range of information and is set out in a clear and coherent way that is easy to  understand and follow.  

Tanzania is renowned for its conservation of wildlife. To acquire a greater knowledge of how  the country protects its animals, I have spoken to an Expedition and Safari Co-Ordinator and  some of the safari guides from a Tanzanian tourism company, Team Kilimanjaro. I was  worried that their feedback may be biased, but they gave me lots of useful information and  even spoke about challenges the country still faces. Tanzania is made up of many National  Parks, and fees paid by tourists to access these places go towards looking after wildlife,  including in surrounding areas. Edgar (2020) highlighted the importance of “education on  people living near National Parks” – a recurring theme throughout this investigation. New  aspects have also been highlighted. Firstly, the Tanzanian government are involved in the  protection of the country’s wildlife and Edgar (2020) shared with me that they have put in  place “tough punishment to those who disagree” with the rules. Secondly, Edgar (2020) also  called to attention the issue that many “people living near animals environment used to do  poaching” as a living. National Parks have been instrumental in offering education, projects  and, most importantly, employment to students in surrounding communities. Maasa (2020)  claimed that offering these people employment minimises the number of poachers and these  same workers are also teaching villagers “the benefits of sustainable wildlife”. Screenshots  of these Whatsapp conversations can be found at the end of this report.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed investigating this issue. The sources I have used have given a  variety of different aspects and perspectives of the topic. I feel I started this project with quite  a narrow-minded view of African wildlife conservation and only thought of things from a  poaching aspect. However, I think I now have a broad view on the topic and have learnt  about the many aspects that come into play when discussing the complex conversation of  protecting African wildlife.

Bibliography

Anwer. (2020) Conversation with Poppy Evans, 8th March. 

Dr Lucy King [TED Talks] (2019) How bees can keep the peace between elephants and  humans. December. Available here (Accessed: 25/04/2020). 

Edgar, I. (2020) WhatsApp to Poppy Evans, 9th April. 

Evans, A. (2020) Telephone conversation with Poppy Evans, 5th April. 

Holiday in the Wild (2019) Directed by E. Barbarash. [Feature film]. United States: Netflix.

Jane Godall [TED Talks] (2007) How humans and animals can live together. June.  Available here (Accessed: 25/04/2020). 

King, Dr L. (2019) Beehive Fence Construction Manual. Nairobi, Kenya: The Elephants  and Bees Project. Fourth Edition. Available here (Accessed: 25/04/2020).  

Maasa, G. (2020) WhatsApp with Poppy Evans, 9th April. 

Moreangels Mbizah [TED Talks] (2019) How community-led conservation can save  wildlife. April. Available here (Accessed: 25/04/2020).

Sheldrick, D. (2013) An African Love Story. Great Britain: Penguin.  

Steve Boyes [TED Talks] (2018) How we’re saving one of Earth’s last wild places. April.  Available here (Accessed: 25/04/2020).