2001 Newsletter - The Peregrine Fund

Zimbabwe Falconers (continued from page 13)
Photo by Ron Hartley
…students learn
first-hand the habits
of breeding birds,
sometimes climbing
to nests, banding
chicks, and collecting
prey remains.
Hills which hosts one of the richest
arrays of birds of prey in Africa. Species
studied in detail include Crowned,
Martial, African Hawk, Tawny, and
Wahlberg’s Eagles, Black, Ovambo, and
Little Sparrowhawks, and Gabar
Goshawk. Students have been involved
in long-term studies of raptor communities
in this area. Some students also
accompany me on expeditions into
study areas at Batoka Gorge, Chizarira,
Chirisa, Siabuwa, Save Valley, and
David Maritz, a former student at Falcon
College, searches for raptors at Batoka
Gorge.
Bubiana Conservancies, and
Malilangwe. These are all wonderful
wilderness areas with abundant
wildlife, including big game such as
elephants. In the field the students
learn first-hand the habits of breeding
birds, sometimes climbing to nests,
banding chicks, and collecting prey
remains. Some students have done
research projects, which I have helped
stimulate, plan, and supervise. These
projects are also published and the
unit has an enviable publication
record.
As one of our unique attributes is
the hands-on approach, an important
focus has been on the biology of littleknown
species such as Teita Falcons
and African Peregrine Falcons, Ayres’
Eagle, and Bat Hawk. We have produced
some useful new information
on all of these species. I have been fortunate
to handle all of these species
and study them also in the wild.
Watching a pair of Teita Falcons tending
young at the nest is most exciting,
not the least because nests are invariably
located in pristine wilderness
areas. Feeling the tree shake as an adult
Martial Eagle alights near the hide and
then drops onto the nest, its baleful
yellow eyes gazing suspiciously, while I
hardly breathe as I will it to settle is
another golden moment. Spotting a
dark nondescript raptor wrench off a
stick and then follow the raptor to find
that it is the elusive and enigmatic Bat
Hawk busy building its nest is equally
captivating. Being able to share such
experiences with like-minded colleagues
is both fun and inspirational.
Not all of our activities involve
such appealing and ground-breaking
biological work. Human impacts are a
constant factor, requiring basic and
sometimes innovative approaches. The
growing environmental catastrophe
from the widespread and chaotic land
invasions in Zimbabwe, with attendant
deforestation and poaching, threaten
one of the country’s most valuable
assets—its wild land. When Peter
Mundy, Warren Goodwin, and I spent
a weekend at Wabai Hill on Debshan
Ranch early this year we observed over
50 newly built huts below the feature,
an important bird area. Wabai Hill
hosts the northern-most colony of the
Cape Vulture in an area with a rich
variety of other raptors and wildlife. It
was an appropriate venue for our
meeting to contribute to a new threatened
and endangered species list for
Zimbabwe, as our deliberations were
made right on the hard edge of human
pressure. As we cooked dinner in the
bush, we heard a dozen rifle shots in
this erstwhile pristine and protected
area. The following day some of the
invaders boasted how they had shot
(illegally) some antelope on the open
plains. We have some daunting challenges
and times ahead.
14