Born Free

EWCP recently celebrated the first Wolf Day in North Ethiopia. The event was held in Muja, North Wollo, a village only a few kilometres from wolf range. The purpose of EWCP Wolf Day is to bring people together for a celebration of the Ethiopian wolves and their Afroalpine habitat, through games, sporting events, art competitions, and drama productions. More than 300 school children, villagers and administrators took part in the festivities, with Muja Primary School receiving the football trophy, and Wondach School winning the volleyball. The audience was also treated to a number of poems and a wildlife quiz, aimed at highlighting the conservation issues affecting the wolves and their habitat. The EWCP education officers, Zegeye and Fekadu, also took the opportunity to hand out information brochures to the audience that explained the concept of sustainable resource use in the highlands. The day was a real success, and we are hoping to make next year’s event even bigger and better.

As one participant remarked, “Conservation is very important, but it can also be fun!”

There are four wolf populations in North Ethiopia and EWCP has been monitoring all of them since 2000. These populations are very small and vulnerable to extinction, however due to a limited budget, EWCP only has one wolf monitor to cover all four populations.  In order to improve our monitoring presence in the North, and to gather more information on these wolves and the threats they face, EWCP approached the local community in the Wollo highlands for help. We have now recruited three ‘Wolf Ambassadors’ in these core wolf areas, who are our eyes and ears when our monitor is elsewhere. One of these ambassadors is Tesfaye Milashu from Aboi Gara, a friend of EWCP’s since we first visited the Afroalpine range in 1999. Our Wolf Ambassadors, who have been trained and equipped with binoculars and GPS’s, represent EWCP in their local areas and monitor the wolf packs there. They are also alert to problems such as disease outbreaks or persecution. We are working on a similar concept in the southern Arsi Mountains, home to the third largest wolf population in Ethiopia, and hope to extend the ambassador programme into more wolf areas in the future.

Work at EWCP certainly didn’t slow down as they neared the end of the year.

It was business as usual, with our wolf monitors, vaccination team and education team continuing with their programmes towards securing a future for the endangered Ethiopian wolves.

Over the last few months of 2011 we’ve seen pups born in both the Web Valley and Sanetti, we’ve celebrated Rabies Day 2011, and with Born Free’s help we’ve equipped the local Dinsho School with new desks, books and a solid fence around their tree nursery.

Rabies Day 2011

Rabies Day 2011 © EWCP

Rabies Day was a huge success in 2011, with the celebrations moving from their usual location in Dinsho to another town alongside wolf habitat, Goba. The Sanetti Primary School were the hosts for the celebrations, and they took to their assignment admirably, with the children making great posters and signs to wave during the big anti-rabies march through town, and a variety of plays and songs being performed afterwards.

Marching against rabies in Goba © EWCP

We even had a re-enactment of an EWCP dog vaccination by the pupils, but thankfully the chosen ‘puppy’ didn’t have to face the vet team’s needle! The celebrations were timed to coincide with market day in Goba, and the children and teachers took the opportunity to hand out stickers and rabies information booklets to market goers and farmers. The day was a huge success in helping to raise awareness about this deadly disease that remains as one of the largest threats to the Ethiopian wolves.

A freshly painted fence and acting out a vaccination of a wolf pup © EWCP

2011’s Wolf Pups make their first appearance

After the canine distemper outbreak that swept through Bale’s wolf population last year, we were anxious that the surviving wolf packs would have a good breeding season this year, helping to boost numbers in the population. Our monitors have spent many weeks in the field visiting our focal packs, eagerly looking for signs of mating, pregnancy, and birth, and were rewarded in November with the first sightings of a new batch of wolf puppies from four packs in the Web Valley. These pups are starting to wean now, with the adults all helping to bring them rodent food, so they can learn to eat solids. The Sanetti wolves always breed a little later than the Web packs, and we are happy to report the emergence of the first set of tiny pups from the BBC pack – four little black bundles, not all that steady on their feet yet, that we hope will grow into strong healthy adults, contributing to the Sanetti population.

Ethiopian wolf pups © Will Burrard Lucas

Dinsho School says a big, traditional Thank You!

EWCP has a long-standing and very positive relationship with the Dinsho School, where we carry out regular education activities, which include supporting the school’s long-running nature club. And through Born Free’s Global Friends Initiative, EWCP has helped the school in the past to build new classrooms and buy textbooks and stationery.

Recently, Born Free’s founder and trustee, Virginia McKenna, travelled to the Bale Mountains and amongst her many activities took the time to pay a visit the Dinsho School, where the children welcomed her with songs and dances. Born Free then pledged funds to help the school with their tree nursery, as well as buying much-needed desks and books. Over the past few months EWCP has helped the school to buy the textbooks and fencing material for the nursery, and also ordered over 60 desks to be made by a local carpenters’ group, thereby benefitting both the carpenters and the school!

New books for Dinsho School © EWCP

To thank Born Free and EWCP for their generosity, the school held a fantastic celebration of traditional Oromo dancing, singing and dramatic productions, all dealing with conservation issues and saving the Ethiopian wolf.  EWCP will continue to work closely with the school pupils, to foster an appreciation of their natural environment and a desire to make a positive change.

Traditional Oromo dancing © EWCP

The annual Wolf Day celebration which celebrates the rare Ethiopian wolf and its afroalpine habitat took place on Sunday 7th March in Dinsho, Ethiopia, a key area of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Programme’s efforts.

Anne-Marie Stewart, Field Director of EWCP reports on the day:

Fun and games (and no rain) at the 12th annual Wolf Day in Dinsho.

On Sunday the 7th of March, we held our 12th Wolf Day in Dinsho, and all anyone could think about was, “Please let the rain hold off!”

For the past two weeks it hasn’t stopped raining here – the normally tranquil streams have turned into raging rivers that are in danger of breaking their banks, while the roads and dirt tracks in town are slippery mud slides that threaten to send you sliding headlong into a puddle. So understandably we were all concerned that Wolf Day could turn into a mud bath!

However, the weather, for once, was on our side, and although the rain clouds gathered ominously over the mountains, in Dinsho we were treated to patches of blue sky and sunshine.

A very soggy field © EWCP

The day opened with a blessing from the village elders, and then the Bale Beauty Nature Club presented us with a cake they had baked, marking the 12th Wolf Day for EWCP (the cake didn’t last very long, as the invited guests and dignitaries were keen to sample the best of Bale baking!).

Receiving the cake from Bale Beauty Nature Club © EWCP

Numerous sports matches were held during the day, with the EWCP Wolf team facing the Dinsho Club in the football finals. Unfortunately EWCP went down one-nil, but all the players did very well while having to deal with a horribly sodden pitch.

Penalty shootout © EWCP

Two volleyball matches, the final of the primary school football league, and the 5000m race concluded the sporting part of the day. We were also treated to various plays and singing competitions, as well as an art display from the Dinsho Primary School. A pot-smashing game and a raffle brought the proceedings for the day to a close, and all the EWCP staff breathed a sigh of relief.

Smashing the pot © EWCP

Drama on Wolf Day © EWCP

Another successful Wolf Day, the rain stayed away, and the community came together once again to celebrate the Ethiopian wolf and the afroalpine. A big thank you to all the EWCP staff who ensured that the day ran smoothly.

The Ethiopian wolf is the most endangered canid in the world, and Africa’s most endangered carnivore. Less than 450 Ethiopian wolves survive today, in seven isolated populations in the Highlands of Ethiopia. There are no captive wolves anywhere in the world.

The aim of Wolf Day is to celebrate the Ethiopian wolf and its afroalpine habitat through games, sports matches and entertainment. One of the area’s largest public events in the area, Wolf Day brings communities and conservationists together to highlight the importance of biodiversity in Bale and the importance of rabies vaccinations to conserve Ethiopian wolves.

Born Free is entering its 15th year of support for the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP) which has worked to protect this amazing, rare animal since 1995.

You can help ensure the survival of the Ethiopian wolf!

Every contribution made to EWCP through Born Free goes towards running the programme in Ethiopia. You can help EWCP continue their domestic dog vaccinations to stop the spread of diseases to the wolves – these vaccinations have also shown positive results in preventing rabies in the human population too. Your donation will also allow expansion of the education programme, visiting more schools and villages to increase their understanding about wolf conservation and the need for Afroalpine protection.

If you would like to make a contribution to the EWCP and help protect the Ethiopia wolf, please click here.

Or you can adopt the Sodata Ethiopian wolf pack here!

Click here for further information on the Ethiopian wolf and the work of the EWCP.

On the 6th of December we celebrated our 2nd annual Arsi Wolf Day at the Huruta School in Arsi. The aim of Wolf Day is to celebrate the afroalpine and the Ethiopian wolf through games, sports matches, environmental debates and art competitions. And celebrate we certainly did!

It was a glorious day, and more than 500 students from the Environmental Clubs of eight different schools turned out to take part in the festivities. With over 800 spectators of all ages supporting the event, it could have turned slightly chaotic, but our Arsi Education Officer, Dejene Deme, and the principal and teachers from the host school made sure the day went off without a hitch. Before we settled down into the sports stands for the main events, we were shown around the school by the principal, where various displays and exhibits in the environmental science, physics, geography and sports departments had been organised for us. The principal was justifiably proud of his school, which has certainly come very far since its inception in the 1980’s. The number of pupils has increased from 200 to over 2000, and the teaching staff has grown from 8 to 60!

The elders from the local community officially opened the event for us, and we started the day with the judging of an art competition, where the students presented their posters of the threats and solutions to Ethiopian wolf conservation.

We then witnessed a debate between students from different schools, with the two teams arguing either for or against afroalpine conservation as a priority concern for Ethiopians. This was certainly very interesting and both sides had convincing arguments as to why their issue should take precedence. Even experienced conservationists sometimes have a hard time convincing others that environmental issues are as important as poverty, war or disease!

Throughout the day various football matches and volleyball games were taking place, with the finals held at the end of the end. There were sack races, 200m sprints, traditional dancing, and a poetry reading too.

Chris and I were presented with a gift of traditional Oromia clothing which we had to wear throughout the proceedings. I dare say we made rather convincing ferenji Oromo!

Huruta School dominated in the awards ceremony, taking first prize for the football, debating and sprints. Their environmental club was also presented with the award for best EE club of 2009, which is a wonderful achievement.

I think a highlight of the day for us was when one of the members of the debating team which had opposed wolf conservation came to us afterwards and said “Please Miss, we may have been on the opposing team but that was just for the competition. We really do believe that the Ethiopian Wolf is very important and must be saved!”

And really, that is what it’s all about.

Anne-Marie Stewart

“We are against rabies! Dhukkuba saree ni balaaleffanna!” A small band of demonstrators is marching towards us, placards waving, fists raised. It’s not quite a G8 protest, but this group is equally fervent about their cause. Rabies must be eradicated in their town!

It’s September 28th, Rabies Day 2009, and the Dinsho Primary School, situated on the boundary of the Bale Mountains National Park, has organised a demonstration to show their commitment to stamping out rabies in the area in order to protect the endangered Ethiopian wolf. The children, ranging in age from eight to 15 years old, made their own posters and banners highlighting the cause, and after marching through the town chanting their slogans, ended up in the grounds of the school where a presentation had been organised by some of the other pupils.

This included a poetry reading by one of the students, as well as a play written and acted out by three pupils to highlight the dangers of rabies within the community and the threat the disease poses to the Ethiopian wolves.

Rabies is transmitted by domestic dogs from the villages surrounding and within the National Park, and is fatal to the wolves. Outbreaks have occurred in 2003, 2008 and most recently in May 2009, and have caused significant losses to the wolf population in the Bale Mountains. The Rabies Day event, coordinated by the EWCP education officer, was attended by local community administrators and elders, as well as other EWCP staff and school pupils. Not even a sudden downpour could dampen the enthusiasm of the children, and they made sure that everyone understood their message: “Save the Ethiopian wolf! Jeedala fardaa haa kunuunsinu!”

You can also help save the Ethiopian wolf by donating in the box to on the right of this page!

We’ve recently started a Saturday morning soccer club in Dinsho, making use of the sports grounds that the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme donated to the local community with the help of a generous donor.

Every Saturday morning we have around 30 local kids, all under the age of 12, turn up for the match (although the number seems to grow each week!), who then get divided into two opposing teams – EWCP and FZS (the Frankfurt Zoological Society, who also work within the National Park). It’s all terrific fun and rather chaotic, with the all the members of both teams charging after the ball – as you can imagine, the off-side rule does not apply!

Unfortunately EWCP is two games down at the moment, but we’re optimistic of making a comeback soon! While it’s great to get the kids together, keeping them busy on a Saturday and have them playing as a team, the matches also serve to increase EWCP’s presence within the community and encourage the kids to get involved in our activities in and around the National Park. 

In early August, EWCP had one of our students from Mekelle University in Ethiopia write up his findings on a study he did looking at rabies in villages surrounding the Bale Mountains National Park, where EWCP is based. The student, Abera Yilma, has been conducting research into the effectiveness of EWCP dog vaccinations and was comparing the incidence of rabies in vaccinated and unvaccinated villages.

Abera went from village to village, interviewing community members and farmers about the incidence of rabies in these areas over the past 5 years. Interviewees were asked how many cases of rabies there had been in humans, livestock and dogs. The answers from people in kebeles (villages) where vaccinations had not taken place were then compared to those people living in kebeles where EWCP vaccinations had occurred.

The results clearly showed that the number of rabies cases in unvaccinated villages was much higher, often with five times as many rabies cases occurring in these villages! In vaccinated villages, there were no reported cases of rabies in humans, while in unvaccinated villages there were a total of 55 cases in the past 5 years! The number of dogs with rabies was also drastically reduced when they were vaccinated. In the unvaccinated areas there were 150 cases of rabies reported in dogs over the past 5 years, compared to a total of only 20 cases in the vaccinated villages.

Rabies is the major threat to the survival of the endangered Ethiopian Wolf, and has the potential to wipe out the last remaining populations of this very special species. For the past ten years, the EWCP vet team has worked throughout the Bale area to vaccinate domestic dogs, helping to control and prevent the spread of the disease to humans and animals. Abera’s rabies study has proved that vaccinations of domestic dogs are successful in preventing rabies in these villages.

But it isn’t always easy to get villagers to bring their dogs for these voluntary vaccinations. Hopefully the results from Abera’s study can be used in our education campaign to help them realize how important these vaccinations are, not only for the survival of the wolves, but also for their own health and that of their livestock!

Your donations can help the EWCP vet team reach their annual target of vaccinating 7000 dogs in and around the Bale Mountains National Park!

Following on from the recent Ethiopian wolf rabies vaccinations during May and June, life has settled down somewhat in the Bale Mountains. The EWCP monitoring team has been deployed to Sanetti (the vaccination site) and back to Morebawa (the rabies outbreak site). We also have a constant presence in the Web Valley (the October outbreak site). The good news is that no wolf carcasses have been found since the end of vaccinations in June. The two carcasses found on the Sanetti Plateau during the vaccinations tested negative for rabies. As they were both juveniles, they most likely died naturally – this time of year sees high mortality in wolves of this age, due to them being independent and struggling to find food by themselves.

We have had repeated visits to the packs where we were vaccinating in Sanetti. All wolves except one have been observed since they were vaccinated. This is an exceptionally high return rate, a great effort by the monitoring team.

We recently had further good news on the return of the team from Morebawa. During the rabies outbreak, the team had only seen 26 live wolves, and so it was feared that as many as 70 were dead or missing. However, we have now sighted 32 live wolves, and we know that seven of the remaining eleven packs still have an adult male and an adult female. The survival of these breeding pairs will be crucial for ensuring a rapid recovery of wolf numbers in this area.

All the monitoring team have worked exceptionally hard and we are lucky to have such dedicated and skilled staff. 

It’s 2am on the Sanetti Plateau. And it’s cold. Very cold. There’s no wind, no sound at all in fact. With the sleeping bag pulled over my head it’s only through a small crack that I can see the light from the full moon filtering through the tent fabric. Then suddenly the silence is shattered by a slightly out-of-breath cry: “Wolf!” Ibrahim, our vet assistant, has just checked the traps and has run back to report that we’ve caught a wolf! There is an immediate flurry of activity in the surrounding tents. Beanies and gloves are hastily pulled on, vet supplies are checked, someone grabs a large blanket, and we’re off. In the moonlight it’s easy to find our way over the deserted landscape, towards the trap where our Ethiopian wolf awaits.

As we near the trap site, we hang back while Ibrahim and Alo spread the blanket between them and make their way towards the wolf. Suddenly they break into a run, and in a flash have thrown the blanket over the surprised wolf and are holding it on the ground. As soon as it is covered, the wolf relaxes, and the rest of us rush in to assist with the vaccinations.

It’s an adult male, he’s in good health and probably weighs about 17kg. From his size, coat colour and teeth wear, Claudio reckons he’s the dominant male of the pack. Leta quickly gives him two doses of rabies vaccine, one on each hindquarter, and attaches a blue tag to his left ear for identification purposes.

His legs are checked for any trap injuries, and within five minutes he’s ready to be released. Alo loosens his hold on the wolf’s body and as soon as we remove the cloth covering his eyes, he’s off into the night, turning only once to look back at us before running off. All in a night’s work.

That was wolf number four from Nyala pack – only one more to catch and we can move on to the next pack.Over the past two weeks the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP) team has been camped at over 4,000m above sea level on the Sanetti plateau, running a vaccination campaign to prevent a rabies outbreak from spreading through the wolf population. EWCP wolf monitors first noticed something was wrong when they returned from a trip to the West Morebawa population – 11 wolf carcasses were found and samples sent to laboratories returned positive results for rabies. The EWCP team, based in the Bale Mountains, was given permission by the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority to vaccinate 50 wolves in the Sanetti population against rabies, with the aim of isolating the outbreak and stopping its spread. We sprung into action and managed to successfully vaccinate a total of 48 wolves in 9 packs, making sure that at least one female in each pack was vaccinated. For now, the threat of rabies seems to have been contained, but for how long? Interventions like these are a costly exercise, requiring a hefty investment in terms of both finances and EWCP resources. And it only takes one rabid dog to come into contact with one Ethiopian wolf for the disease to spread like wildfire. Left unchecked, a rabies outbreak could have devastating effects on a species that numbers less than 450 animals in the world today.

The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme has to tackle emergency rabies outbreaks like this as soon as it can and therefore funds are vital in order to purchase vaccinations.  Any funds you would are able to offer will be very well spent protecting the Ethiopian wolf from extinction.