R-e-s-p-e-c-t... all life, that's what you mean to me

(this is the same posting as currently appears on my Wild Orphans blog)

One would think 'sense and reason' should be the rule by which we travel through our lives, across the Earth, but sadly it's not always the route we humans choose, rather the road less traveled.

Today the folks representing how we treat all things but ourselves met in Doha to play god for another few years - elephants lucked out. Although not everyone was tickled pink, "We do not think our sovereignty has been respected," the Zambia's Tourism Minister Catherine Namugala said. "Respected", interesting word Ms Namugala, apparently that sovereignty doesn't extend to all life? No comment yet from the elephants who's sovereignty (and tusks) may have been spared.

Finally, perhaps, we have looked down that respect road, strewn with life other than our own, and decided they too have a place on earth. If that's the case it is somewhat ironic timing since this weekend in several countries the new BBC/Discovery Channel series LIFE took to the airwaves. Elephants, maybe more specifically African elephants have been given a short reprieve by a group with the highly ironic title the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - yes, I know you are scratching your head and saying, how can one "Trade" something that is labeled as "Endangered", if by the very meaning Endangered you are saying this thing is near disappearing, poof, gone! - doesn't that seem counter-intuitive? Oh well, I did say there were two roads and most of the time...

From a web article on BBC online:

"The UN's wildlife trade organisation has turned down Tanzania's and Zambia's requests to sell ivory, amid concern about elephant poaching.

The countries asked the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting to permit one-off sales from government stockpiles."

An overview article on the CITES vote and who's involved can be found in BBC Enviro corespondent Richard Black's article:

Ivory bids fall on poaching fears

And from the Washington Post: Elephant trade ban reaffirmed for Tanzania, Zambia

Wild Orphans specific website and blog

A few months ago I started this blog with a posting about my original Wild Orphans baby African elephant project. In that and subsequent blog postings I mentioned that I was exploring a return to Kenya and renew the Wild Orphans journey. The first steps in that journey are now a reality with the launch of a Wild Orphans specific website and a Wild Orphans specific blog. From this point on I will be posting most of the details, plans, thoughts and travels, along with photos and video relating to the Wild Orphans on those sites - please follow me there as well.

Wild Orphans Book Available

Yes - the Wild Orphans book is still out there - try here via Amazon for the few book dealers that have a copy. I am discussing reprinting the book with the publisher Welcome Books - I'll post something here when and if that occurs. Thanks to all who have asked.

Natumi - early days

In the beginning she was nearly invisible - not because of her diminutive size but her frail, shy manner. Not that any baby wants to be orphaned, but some you sensed were resigned to make the best of it from the moment they arrived and others, like Natumi, carried for days the feeling that this would all just go away if I don’t accept it. At first so many others were bolder, more precocious, warm, or needy. Natumi was definitely the little girl who I nearly missed entirely – until this photo emerged.

Who is Natumi?
She was born sometime in February 1999 and rescued in April. She was orphaned after falling down a dry well on the Eland Hollow Farm, near Nanyuki, in north-central part of Kenya, East Africa. (Dry wells are often the result of mature elephants digging into the sandy creek or river bottoms in water during periods of drought – in 1999 the number of such well ‘strandings’ became chronic as a period of several years without rain began forcing elephants to dig deeper and deeper in search of water – eventually such deep holes entrap tiny calves.)

Natumi

The reason for starting a blog... hmmm?
Several reasons I suppose, my friends, my staff, kind people who attend my speaking presentations and want to hear more stories, more thoughts - perambulations - about this planet and my journeys over and across it, and more photos and sounds, my snapshots of a life that becomes more amazing as I grow older and realize how lucky, genuinely special and rare it has been.

But its also inspired by a fellow earthling - a creature I share little and everything with - her name is Natumi. She is a African elephant, now going on 10 years old, and living happily in the arid wilds of Kenya's East Tsavo National Park. She was the cover girl of my 2001 book Wild Orphans, the four year story of her and seven other orphaned babies struggle to survive and the amazing effort of the folks at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust outside of Nairobi Kenya to keep these little floppy-eared alive. Over the next few weeks I'll post a collection of previous writings and new thoughts on Natumi and those days and what I think they mean now - a decade later. And to not bore everyone to death I'll post a wealth of photos and video as well.