Support for Climate Change

‘Support’ is a sculpture created by Lorenzo Quinn, an Italian artist. It was put up on May 13, 2017 for the 57th Venice Biennale and will be taken down November 26th. The sculpture is two hands coming out of the Grand Canal and ‘supporting’ the building, Ca Sagredo Hotel. The sculpture was created to talk about climate change and how rising sea levels are affecting and are going to affect cities like Venice that are built near the ocean.The sculpture shows how the hands are holding up the building as if it is sinking. After hearing scientists talk about Venice becoming a lost and sunken city in the next century, Lorenzo Quinn created the sculpture to show how the hands could help support the building and yet could take it down just as easily.

The past week my mom and I were in Venice, Italy. Venice is a city of canals and is a total maze when it comes to walking around, full of small alleyways and bridges. This city is a UNESCO world heritage site and is made up of 118 small islands making it unique in the fact that it is the only city in the world like it. Instead of taxis you can take a water taxi or maybe you want to jump on the bus  which by the way is also a boat. Another unique way to get around is definetly the Gondolas. Gondolas are driven by men wearing striped shirts and black pants. This slow moving boat is supposedly very romantic and sweet with beautiful boats to enjoy while moving along the canals. Some of the gondoliers still sing as they guide their boats across the water.  We were in Venice to see the art that was there during the Biennale as well as at the city’s many museums and galleries that were also open during the time.

We were very excited to see this sculpture, Support, as it is very powerful and is talking about climate change.  We took a water taxi out on the Grand Canal to see the the sculpture after a day of walking around the canals. Climate change is so important to talk about as it is the thread that connects most endangered animals and does effect every single animal on the planet including us. We love it when people can create art based on such and important topic!

Lorenzo Quinn created this sculpture using a old method known as “lost-wax casting”. The process involves casting the mold using a wax model of the sculpture. Lorenzo has three children and he chose to model this sculpture after the hands of one of his sons. He says, “I have three children, and I am thinking about their generation and what world we’re going to pass on to them. I am worried, I am very worried.”

In an Instagram post he said that Support, “wants to speak to the people in a clear, simple and direct way through the innocent hands of a child and it evokes a powerful message, which is that united we can make a stand to curb the climate change that affects us all.” The sculpture represents how humans are just like the hands, as they are destroying the planet yet they could also help save it.

He sculpts parts of the body often but he enjoys using hands in his work as he thinks they are capable of so much. “I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body. The hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy”

Support is a fascinating sculpture created by a environmentally aware artist named Lorenzo Quinn. He understands what is happening to the Earth and he understands what we can do to save it. He knows that humans are both the cause and the solution and that if we care enough we can still help SAVE THE WORLD!!!!!

 

The Search for Desert Adapted Lions

We heard about a small group of desert-adapted lions in Namibia located in the northwest corner of the country, in a desert area around the Skeleton Coast.  These unique lions were made famous in a recent documentary called the Vanishing Kings, and had a fierce protector in a researcher and conservationist, Dr. Philip Stander.  The desert-adapted lions are only location in this small remote area of Namibia and number approximately 150 in total.

These lions are different when compared to other lions because of their special adaptions and habits.  Their legs are longer than typical African lions to adapt to walking across hot sand dunes, but their coats are thicker because of the cold desert nights.  To cool down during hot days, they can sweat through their paw pads and pant.  They can go longer periods without water and can get some of their hydration needs from the blood of their prey.

They are also different in the way that they hunt.  In the desert prey is scarce and the the lions have to travel long distances to find food.  They are willing to hunt smaller prey, like field mice, which other lions wouldn’t waste energy hunting.

We had special access to the protected Skeleton Coast National Park where we were going to start looking for the lions thanks to Wilderness Safaris.  Our guide, Elias, met us at Hoanib Camp and drove us out. There are several groups of lions in the area that are well known to the guides.  The most famous were the five Musketeers, five brothers which were featured in the documentary Vanishing Kings, sadly only one of them survives today.  There are also the three sisters, and their aunt. There is a group of two sisters and a brother.  Elias, warned us about the high chances of not seeing any lions.  Recently there had been several incidents of farmers killings lions. Human wildlife conflict is one of the biggest problems for all African wildlife conservation and desert adapted lions are no exception.  When predators wander into the herder’s land for an easy meal, usually a cow or goat, they become the enemy.  Lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, and even jackals are shot, trapped, or poisoned to save the herder’s livestock.

We drove several hours into the sand dunes towards a special oasis where the group of young lionesses, the three sisters, like to hang out.  Elias hoped we could spot them there.  We looked around and didn’t see them.  We talked about how it was okay that we couldn’t find them, because of course their territory was large, and they were so few.  It would be more unusual if we were lucky enough to see them in only a few hours on our first day.  We were going to meet with Dr. Philip at his basecamp on the Skeleton Coast so we were okay with not seeing the lions.  I was disappointed, but hopeful that maybe we would see them elsewhere.  I put on my lions ears for the rest of the drive and for goodluck just in case.

We left the oasis lions ears firmly attached, talking about interview questions with my mum. Elias’ radio started chattering, one of the other guides had found the three sisters just on the other side of the dunes, and we were only 2 minutes from them.  Elias got all giddy, he hadn’t seen the lions in ages, and decided that my lion ears had brought us good luck!

We pulled up slowly and as quietly as a jeep can behind the other vehicle and there they were!  Three lions, sleeping ten feet away from us!  One of them was in the shade, while the other two were directly in from of us in the sun. The three sisters used to be a family of four sisters and their mother.  During a flash flood when they were small, their mother had to move them to higher ground one by one and the fourth cub didn’t make it, no one knows what happened.  When the sisters were a year old, their mother got in a fight with a leopard and died, leaving them too young to survive.  They learned to hunt on their own, surviving mostly on field mice.  Now they are healthy looking two year-old lionesses.

We watched them for twenty minutes, until the two in the sunshine yawned, stretched and walked over to the shade.  Then we slowly drove away and headed to the coast to meet with Dr. Philip.  When we got there, his research truck was parked outside a little cabin on the beach near the ranger station.  He was barefoot, sitting at his desk, writing.  We were lucky to meet with him, because he is usually in the field somewhere in his truck for weeks at a time.  Sleeping, eating, and working out of the truck as home, office, and research station all in one.  At Desert Rhino Camp we had heard a rumor about him writing on his body when he ran out of paper.  If you want privacy, working in a national park that doesn’t allow visitors is a good place to be based.

Dr. Philip talked about his background studying the lions for the past 20 years.  Growing up on a farm in Namibia, his earliest memories were of animals.  He doesn’t remember what got him interested in studying animals. He studied zoology and got his PhD in evolutionary biology.

“Lions are under threat because they threaten people”.   The local people don’t typically like the lions, they are often afraid of them.  This is why the farmers are the greatest threat in the area, especially lately, poisoning several lions and shooting them.

Right now he has 27 lions with radio collars.  The collars only last about a year or year and a half, but they give vital data for his work understanding how to protect the lions.

Humans are the biggest problem for lions.  “Sadly that is the case for most species in the world.”

Is there a solution?  “Yes. I believe there is.  When its in the interest of the people to want to protect the lions.  When the people want to protect them, or they admire them.  Its the only way that they can be conserved.  I do believe its possible.  But this is process that takes many years to develop.”

What do lions need?  Space.  Land and space is the critical thing for all wildlife.  Humans have taken the space away for animals.  We need to create space.  Boundary problems are the issue – where animals and human meet.  Namibia has certain rules set up to help protect these boundary areas.  One solution for the human animal conflict specific to desert adapted lions is making livestock corrals required and setting up trained patrols when lions are spotted in the area.

Does conservation in Namibia work?  Namibia has been recognized internationally for its conservation work.  Involving the local communities in conservation has been a really good step.  Tourism brings a lot of income into the country and helps to filter down into the communities.  Like many people have told us, it could work better, but its a start. Conservancies and national parks working together are helping to protect wildlife and reduce human animal conflicts.

 

Desert Rhino Camp

We flew into Desert Rhino Camp in a Cessna, the first small airplane I’ve ever flown in.  There were only nine seats and we flew low over the landscape so we could see the detail below.  Desert Rhino Camp is in the Palmwag Concession in northwest Namibia, a remote desert area known for its desert adapted wildlife.  It was about an hour from Windhoek to a small airstrip where we switched to another Cessna that took us to the camp.  We landed on a dusty airstrip and our guide picked us up in a safari jeep.  His said his name was Bons.  He drove us to camp, and when we arrived we were greeted by singing.  All of the staff were standing outside and singing us a welcome song.

Bons took us out for a sunset drive around the camp before dinner, we saw Hartman zebras, one of the three species of zebras, these ones are unique because their stripes go down to their hooves but they have white bellys.  We also saw oryx and lots of springbok. The trails were very bumpy and Bons called it the ‘African massage’.  The desert landscape here is very dry, there is very little water for the animals, especially since it is winter now and the riverbeds are dried up. There are a few springs, but the animals really have to work for their water.  Oryx are a great example of an animal adapted for the desert, because they can get a lot of their water from the grasses and tubers they eat.

The next day was our first day of tracking desert adapted rhino, which here are black rhinos. This area is the only area left in the world of free roaming rhinos of anykind white or black which make it very special to try and track.  Save the Rhinos Trust is working in partnership with Wilderness Safaris who run Desert Rhino Camp to monitor and protect and save the rhinos.  This area has had less poaching than national parks like Etosha.  While we were in Windhoek, we read in the newspaper about a recent pregnant rhino being killed.  Rhino poaching is still a huge problem in Namibia despite its conservation efforts.  Rhino horns are worth a lot of money and people are still willing to take the risk. Rhino horn prices have risen to over $100,000 a kg, despite it being made up of the same stuff as our fingernails.  This is mainly because of people in Vietnam that believe rhino horn powder is a cure all for many things including hangover cures and cancer.

We woke up at 5am to have breakfast and get on the road by sunrise with Bons.  The trackers were already out and looking for signs of the rhinos from the night before, and communicating with Bons. We were driving towards what they called Zone 3.  As we drove we saw more oryx, springbox, Hartman zebra, and our first desert adapted giraffes.  Bons showed us tracks of a leopard in the dry riverbed and rhino tracks from he said where fresh from that morning which are very large and three-toed.  We also found elephant and rhino scat which looks almost the same, but Bons showed us that when you break it apart the sticks and grass have been chewed at a 45 degree angle if its a rhino because of their teeth. Also, that it is basically safe to touch elephant and rhino scat because they are grass eaters and has been processed so much that it’s harmless, unlike carnivore scat which is full of bacteria because they are meat eaters. I still didn’t want to touch it though.

We drove for about an hour on very rough rocky roads, and suddenly Bons stopped the jeep and took his binoculars out… far away on the mountain, he spotted two white dots….rhinos. He called the trackers on the radio and immediately made a plan to get up to where they were without scaring them away.  The idea is to get downwind so that we could approach closer on foot.  That is the amazing thing about meeting up with Save the Rhino Trust trackers is being able to get close to the rhinos on foot and observe how the trackers and rangers work to protect and monitor the rhinos.

We parked the cars and watched their behavior first before approaching on foot.  We then walked over and observed the two rhinos for about 15 minutes.  It was a mother and her adolescent calf, known as Top Notch and Troy.  Rhinos eyesight is very poor, but their hearing and their smell is very good. We stayed very quiet and the trackers and rangers used hand signals to communicate. Top Notch snorted loudly several times and moved as though she was going to walk towards us, but eventually they both trotted off.  One ranger stayed back and took notes while we went back to the jeep.

Later we learned from Samson, the director of Save the Rhino Trust, that they don’t publicly discuss how many rhinos there are in the area, or where they are, so as to not give poachers any potential information or leads that could aid them.  This is much different than how conservation works with big cats who are often radio collared to aid in tracking and monitoring numbers and territory.  There are approximately 5,000 black rhinos left in the world and they are all concentrated in southern Africa with the last free roaming herd outside of a game park in Namibia.

We also saw lots of desert adapted giraffe, black back jackal, and ostrich while we were driving around.

At dinner, Winnie and Nicole, announced dinner in English and in Damara, the click language.  A local tribal language based on clicks.  The manager was sitting next to us at the table and told us how similar the words are for spoon, elephant, blue, and wind in Damara and joked that he is too scared to learn the language for fear he would ask for an elephant to eat his soup with. After dinner when it was dark, a spotted hynena came walking by the edge of the camp and that night in bed we could hear several ‘laughing’.

The next day we went out again and were lucky enough to find two more rhinos, Don’t Worry and an unnamed female that had traveled in from another area.  This was a harder approach, we had to walk for thirty minutes over very rocky ground to reach the rhinos downwind.  We were more exposed but I felt very safe with Bons who stayed close to me and the rangers signaled when they felt that we needed to move when the wind direction changed or the rhinos were moving too close.  The unnamed female watched us intently, walked around in circles, pawed at the ground a few times, and false charged a few times which was a little scary.

We turned to observe Don’t Worry who is 27 year old, born in 1990, the year of Namibian’s independence.  Bons said, he is the one rhino he feels comfortable closing his eyes around, because he’s so predictable and super chill.

We decided to go out one last time to try and see the rhinos the morning of our departure and got lucky.  We were able to see the unnamed female again in a different location.  She was in a riverbank, it was another long walk in, but much easier.  We got very scared when she almost charged us and even made the trackers a little nervous.

We drove back to camp and interviewed Bons about his life and working at Desert Rhino Camp as a guide and had time for one last game of chess.  He says he isn’t very good, but he is actually an expert.  He taught me a few tricks.  Winnie, tried to teach me the word for spoon in Damara, the click language, but I really struggled to make the sound of the click at the same time as the word.

As we got into the jeep to leave, the staff came out to sing a song and Bons told my mom to get her camera out to video.  Then he jumped out of the car and told them to sing the Desert Rhino Song and he joined in.  Then they really got going and one of the guys ran off to grab his drum and the cook said, “that guy’s obsessed with music”.  They sang two more songs for us, and Bons showed us his dance moves.  It was hilarious and made me want to stay longer.

I miss them all already and can’t wait to come back again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!