This weeks Big Picture: Lions Lounging in Lodge by Sebastian Kennerknecht

In the north of Busanga plains in Kafue National Park lies Shumba Wilderness camp. Due to covid, they decided to keep camp closed for the 2020 season. Still, they graciously allowed Sebastian and his research associates at Panthera to stay at their wonderful camp during their monitoring time. Shumba means lion, and Wilderness chose the camp's name wisely since accommodations got a little tighter after day two.

Two lionesses (the Machine and Princess) brought their seven cubs to camp and they had the times of their lives lounging around the luxury lodge. The cubs checked out the souvenir shop, played with a mop and rope, kept watch by the lodge bathroom, and entered the sleeping tents on occasion. The pride stuck around for a couple of days which made getting into the tents a lot more adventurous for Sebastian and the rest of the team. Nonetheless, everyone was quite excited and happy to share the lodge with the remarkable group of lions.

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Big Picture: New Guinea Birds

 

On Papua New Guinea's Mount Hagen we track beautiful birds through the rainforest with Martin Willis. A Ribbon-tailed Astrapia mother feeds her young, a Lesser Bird-of Paradise male calls during a courtship display at his lek and we catch the attention of a Brehm's Tiger Parrot in this gallery of newly-uploaded images.

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Woman Working with Wildlife by Suzi Eszterhas

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Good news this week for marine protection and conservation in the Galapagos Islands.

This week Ecuador announced a debt-for-nature swap with Credit Suisse, which will see the bank convert $1.6 billion in debt into a 656 million dollar 'Galapagos Bond,' which will run until 2041. This bond will generate an estimated $323 million over 18 years for marine protection and conservation in the Galápagos Islands.

The deal is a sign of the growing recognition of the value of nature. There has been a growing movement to invest in nature-based solutions to address climate change and other environmental challenges in recent years. Belize, Barbados, and Seychelles have similar swaps, but Ecuador's is the largest to date.

This is seen as a win-win for both Ecuador and the environment. For Ecuador, the deal will reduce its debt burden and free up resources to invest in conservation. For the environment, the deal will help protect the Galápagos Islands, which are home to a unique and diverse array of wildlife. The Galápagos Islands face several threats, including climate change, overfishing, and pollution. The debt-for-nature swap will help Ecuador to address these threats and protect the islands for future generations.

Click on any image to see some of our favorite Galapagos marine photos.

 

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Fishing Cats by Sebastian Kennerknecht

 

Fishing Cats by Sebastian Kennerknecht One of the rarest cats in South and Southeast Asia, the unique fishing cat lives in the wetlands within and surrounding Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in Thailand. These felines are specialized in hunting slippery prey like fish and frogs, with their partially webbed feet and non-retractable claws. As both traditional and industrial shrimp farms are encroaching on the habitat surrounding the national park, the question becomes if the cats can live within these modified landscapes. Researchers from the conservation organization Panthera are finding out by fitting fishing cats with satellite collars. - SK

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During a fishing cat collaring, all hands are on deck. These situations always highlight the extreme care the biologists have for their study animal. Everyone speaks in a whisper, is as efficient at taking measurements as possible, and cares about the well being of the cat more than anything else. This work provides much needed insight into how the fishing cats use the landscape, and how shrimp and fish farms affect these cats.

The biologists temporarily collar the cats to collect data on their home range size, how they use their habitat that is fragmented by the shrimp farms and fish ponds and what are the threats to their survival.  On the right Panthera biologist, Laurel Serieys teaching local team members about tracking cats.

Fishing cats live along the edges of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park in Thailand. This landscape is a mosaic of native wetland habitat, and shrimp or fish farms. The water ways, with lots of cover, allow the cats to hide, while hunting for their prey of fish, frogs, rodents and birds.

With high profits in industrial shrimp farms, understandably, comes the desire for more riches. Industrial shrimp farms are sprouting up everywhere around the Park. This only reduces fishing cat habitat even more.

Traditional shrimp farms are natural ponds that provide cover along their borders as well as in the water, and plenty of prey for fishing cats. They also don't use harmful chemicals. This is all in strong contrast to industrial shrimp farms. Most importantly to the majority of farmers they can make about six times the profit as a traditionally farmed shrimp.

This fishing cat shows us that coexistence with shrimp farmers is possible. He was using their hut as a scent-marking station and the farmers didn't mind. You as an individual can help ensure their coexistence with your money (especially in Thailand) if you choose to buy traditionally farmed shrimp (rather than industrially farmed shrimp). The fishing cat will continue to survive and thrive in the areas around Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park if the traditional shrimp farms are maintained and not taken over by industrial shrimp farming.

Ecotourism focused on fishing cats (left) and steps to protect local livestock with Panthera-sponsored fencing (right) helps raise education and support in the community about their local wild felines.

These cats face more threats than loss of habitat and hunting territory. Conservationist and park ranger holds confiscated snares for birds that can also trap the cats (left). Cat conservationist teaches park rangers how to set up Panthera's cameras to catch poachers who hunt the cats for food or their pelts. (right)

Big Picture: Polar Bear Emergence

Photography and copy by Suzi Eszterhas

"When you watch polar bear cubs emerge from the den, it's easy to think that their life has just begun.We think of bears sleeping while hibernating, but for about four months the cubs have been busy with their mother in the den. The mother nurses and grooms the cubs as well as maintaining the den, which involves scratching the ceiling and walls with her claws to allow airflow (otherwise, the den would get completely iced over, and no oxygen would be able to get in).When the family emerges from the den the mother will have spent a total of 6-8 months not eating or drinking. The family now faces their greatest challenge: to build up fat stores before the sea ice begins to melt in the summer.But with the sea ice is melting sooner, that's less time for the mothers to hunt -- and to teach her children to do so -- and less time to regain the fat stores they lost while fasting and lactating in the den."Click here for more Polar Bear photos by Suzi Eszterhas

Big Picture: Nesting Season

Springtime is the season for birds to begin building nests in anticipation for the eggs to come.  Nests made of grasses and sticks are typical but have you seen a cormorant using seastars, blue tits collecting horsehair from a barbed wire fence or penguins on nests made completely of stones?  From bald eagles on their nests the size of a queen bed to albatrosses continuing to work on their sand nest while incubating eggs - click on any image to see more birds at work.

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