Tag: Malawi expedition

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

The 2024 Malawi expedition has now finished and it ended in style. With our last research tasks complete, all the data entered and kit packed up, we enjoyed a well deserved sundowner on our last evening on the shores of the lake, watching the glorious red sunset. Back to camp for a farewell feast prepared by the expedition cook, Luca, which was interrupted by a startling loud noise coming from the dark very close to us. Elephants! A herd had quietly crept in and was calmly feeding on the trees only 10 meters away. We unpacked a red spotlight and watched with fascination and joy as the elephants spent the next hour or so wandering around the edges of our camp, utterly unfazed by us watching safely from our communal area. It was a magnificent and pretty emotional ending for the expedition.

Some headline achievements of the expedition are shown below.

Many of our elephant sightings have been from base camp. Some of the herds seem to have a tendency to wander down to ‘our’ end of the lake and the good grazing on the land opposite camp in the late afternoon. We often get only a few minutes to enjoy watching them wade through the shallows, drinking and bathing, then up onto the shore before they reach the tall vegetation where they are half hidden. In those precious minutes we need to count and do our best to characterise them by sex and age class. Using binoculars and cameras, we also look for any distinctive identification features such as notches on ears and tusk shape. In this way we can cross-reference with the Vwaza elephant catalogue created from our previous expeditions here and potentially add to the catalogue too.

We also collected all the camera traps and processed all the images. As expected, we have images of hippos and elephants (mostly just their legs, close up) as well as the antelope species we meet every day in the day time. But we also have evidence of quite a few nocturnal species: civets, genets, mongooses as well as a porcupine and a honey badger. All of these are significant, but none quite as exciting as the hyaenas we captured earlier on.

It has been a good expedition, and both myself and expedition scientist Lea are pleased with the quality and amount of data that the team has gathered. I would like to thank our all our citizen scientists who have contributed so much to this expedition and continued our mission of building up a good long-term research dataset on the wildlife at Vwaza, which will be shared with the reserve managers and others and published as necessary. Thank you!

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

We deploy camera traps to monitor which species live in Vwaza – especially nocturnal animals, which we would not otherwise spot. Some of these animals are caught on our cameras every year, but no less exciting to find anyway – civets, mongooses, genets and of course elephants and hippos (both wander the woods at night, feeding). But occasionally we capture an image of a rarer species. Two years ago we found the first ever evidence of wild dogs in Vwaza in this way. This year when we checked a camera we had set up facing an animal carcass, which we noticed had been dragged away, we found the culprit on camera: a hyaena! Interestingly, the images showed the animal investigating the camera rather than scavenging the carcass: hyaenas are known to show much interest in camera traps and sometimes even pull them off their tree and chew them to destruction. Although we have had evidence of hyaenas at Vwaza before (we spotted some footprints in the sand nearby at the start of the expedition), this is still a notable discovery.

We continue to see elephants daily, although there does seem to be a pattern of ‘good ele days’ alternating with ‘bad ele days’.

Our rest day involved a trip to the market town of Rumphi and a cultural visit to the local elementary school. We had prepared a very simple presentation for the children, which was translated by the teacher, telling them what we are doing here and hopefully inspiring them about wild animals. They in turn sang some songs for us. It was good to make a connection with local people like this.

We only have a couple more full days to go on this year’s expedition, but the team are working well and we are getting a lot of good data in. And tonight we will retrieve the remaining camera traps: who knows what animals we will find on those SD cards!

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

We have been continuing our search for the elephant with the wire caught around her head, but she has proved elusive. In our efforts to find one particular elephant we have found many other elephants instead: a few small groups or solo males, as well as several family herds, big and small. We have enjoyed the sight of two family herds meeting each other at the water a few times. It is common amongst elephant communities to spend much of their time apart, but then meeting up occasionally, greeting each other with obvious interest and joy. Witnessing this, it impossible not to find the sight of excited baby elephants running around enchanting.

And we had two or three elephants visit our camp late last night too. They announced themselves only by the sounds of breaking branches, distinctive chomping, and some low rumbles, wandering amongst our tents. The elephants were amazingly peaceful: they were clearly aware of our presence and were here on their own terms, spending a few hours calmly feeding. It was a wonderful experience for those still awake, peering out of our mesh tent windows.

For those of the team who are at risk of getting bored by elephants – we had more excitement yesterday when a large herd of buffalo was discovered in the woods on one of our regular dawn research drives. Hippos, baboons, impala, kudus, warthogs and all sorts of birds are also commonly spotted.

Tomorrow is a planned rest day, although with a trip to the market at Rumphi and a visit to the local school planned in, there may not be very much resting happening after all.

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

The team started collecting good data even before the two days of training were finished. So far elephant encounters have been less common than expected and so when we do come across any elephants, we jump straight in with our research tasks. Even counting the animals accurately can sometimes be a challenge. Yesterday we enjoyed the company of a herd of around forty elephants calmly browsing right in front of base camp, but half hidden amongst the bushes. Is takes patience and all of our eyes to count them all and record their sexes and age classes. Baby elephants are especially easy to miss in the vegetation.

We have twice spotted a lone young elephant with a poacher’s wire visibly caught around her head and have informed the relevant authorities in the hope that a vet might be deployed to dart and sedate the elephant to allow removal of the wire and to treat any wounds. However, such a mission needs to be properly planned, resourced and funded, likely including the need for a helicopter. For the moment, all our expedition team can do is to keep a lookout for the elephant and record its location if we see her again.

With training done now, we have a walking team, accompanied by a ranger, which carries out a hippo transect each day. Two other teams search for elephants and collect any fresh elephant dung for later processing to identify what they have been eating. Our camera traps are out and we have carried out our first ‘hyaena call in’ last night. Tonight we will check on half of our camera traps and see what they have recorded.

We also carry out opportunistic recording of other wildlife we come across. This can be very absorbing and there is much consulting of guidebooks, apps and collective knowledge to identify animals, birds, insects and plants. We were excited to spot pelicans on the lake, especially when we saw an unusual association between a pelican and a yellow-billed stork: the two birds swimming with each other and seemingly helping each other to fish together. Nature sometimes reveals some wonderful surprises!

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

The 2024 Malawi expedition has started! The team of elevencitizen scientists arrived late on Sunday, a little delayed by inevitable bad roads and a misunderstanding by the fastidious guards at the Vwaza Wildlife Reserve gates. But they arrived in good spirits. It wasn’t long before the team were settled into base camp and rewarded with a good supper after their long journey from Lilongwe.

We have now completed day 1 of two days of training in how to operate safely in this environment and how to do the scientific research. The day’s training ended with a hike along the lakeside, accompanied by an armed ranger, to practice the hippo transect methodology and also to get a feel for our research area. We came across plenty of hippos including the sight of a bull hippo chasing off an interloper in the lake, dramatically splashing through the water like clumsy dolphins. The team successfully recorded the information they needed to for the hippo transect. We also spotted the clear tracks of a hyaena in the sandy vehicle track by the lake – a significant discovery as hyaenas are rarely seen here in Vwaza.

Crocodiles were spotted on the edge of the lake, along with egrets, ibises and spoonbills. We saw impala and kudu in the distance along with a trio of warthogs. By the time we walked back to base camp, we came across a massive troop of yellow baboons in the warm evening light and as the sun set, some of the hippos were beginning to venture out of the water to head off to spend the night wandering through the bush, browsing the vegetation.

This evening some of the team have headed off in two off road vehicles to place the remaining camera traps, armed with spotlights to see what nocturnal animals are out there.

Tomorrow will be focussed on the elephant research methodologies. I am crossing my fingers that some elephants will make an appearance, to help with the training.

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

Chimwemwe (one of our two field assistants) and I have arrived at base camp at Vwaza Marsh, as an advanced party to get it ready for the expedition. It’s looking good. We will now get all the expedition kit and systems sorted before you arrive on Sunday. Before then, we expect the arrival of expedition scientist Lea, field assistant Wanangwa and cook Luka, some time tomorrow.

It’s great to be back here at Vwaza. The weather is hot: our new digital weather station reports a maximum of 32 degrees, but breezy. No problems with mosquitoes or tsetse flies so far. The baboons are prevalent at base camp – I had to chase a cheeky big male out of our living area just now. We have also seen many hippos and kudus and many birds (heard and seen). I haven’t spotted any elephants yet, but the guys here tell me they are around and have even come through base camp recently.

Chim and I are setting off soon to place some of the camera traps and I fully expect we will see some more wildlife on our evening excursion – maybe even our first elephant encounter.

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

Less than a week until the expedition starts, and preparations are going well for the Malawi expedition.

I have arrived in Lilongwe and Malawi has welcomed me back as an old friend! It’s good to be here again. It’s pleasantly warm – comfortable T-shirt weather.

I am enjoying listening to distinctly African bird calls even here in the city.

I am now checking kit and reviewing plans with expedition scientist Lea and the rest of the LWT team, before heading up to base camp at Vwaza in a couple of days.

I even had enough time to pop over to LWT’s wildlife rehabilitation centre in Lilongwe and meet some of the wildlife species we will encounter (yellow baboons) or might encounter (spotted hyaena) at Vwaza.

Robert from LWT is already at Vwaza making sure the camp is ready for us.

I will send another update when I get to Vwaza.

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

The Malawi 2024 expedition is fast approaching and I’m really looking forward to leading it again this year. I will be heading out to Malawi and to our base camp in Vwaza a week or so before the expedition starts, working with our partners to get everything ready.

We will be continuing the same research tasks we have carried out in previous years, with a big focus on elephants and hippos. But we also record other wildlife of interest, including the wonderful, colourful, lyrical birdlife. To identify birds and to record miscellaneous wildlife on the expedition, it will be very helpful if you could install two free apps on your phone before you get to Vwaza. You can find them on Google Play or the Apple App Store on your phone, or click the links below:

iNaturalist: iPhone I Android
Birds of Africa: iPhone I Android

After you have installed Birds of Africa, you will need to create an account, and then tap the ‘Countries’ button and download the Malawi dataset. This is a pretty big file, so best do it when you fast internat, and allow some time.

Apart from that, just read the the 2023 report and the expedition dossier (again), including the kit list and start getting excited! More updates to follow from Malawi in a week or so.

Roland Arnison
Expedition leader

Update from our Malawi expedition volunteering with elephants, hippo, cats, pangolins and African biodiversity

Biosphere Expeditions have continued their long term partnership with Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT), researching and monitoring wildlife populations in the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve in Malawi.

The two post-Covid expeditions in 2022 and 2023 have had a particular focus on elephants and hippos as well as camera trap surveys of other wild animals. Analysis of elephant dung was also carried out to assess whether elephants had been eating crops grown in fields outside the reserve. The 2022 expedition also included a project to identify invertebrates in different habitats, as potential food source for pangolins. The 2023 expedition began the process of identifying individual matriarch and adult bull elephants. Building this database of individual elephants will greatly help in mapping the demographics, movements and health of the elephant herds in Vwaza.

The 2022 and 2023 expeditions between them counted 676 elephants over 64 sightings, 1144 hippos over 10 complete lake-side transects and collected and analysed 66 elephant dung samples (yielding 3110 seeds). More than 80,000 camera trap images were analysed, giving evidence of notable species rarely seen directly, including leopards, honey badgers, hyaena and wild dogs. The 2023 expedition also created 16 ID profiles of individual bull and matriarch elephants.

2023 expedition leader Roland Arnison, who also led the 2022 expedition, says “our citizen scientist did really well. They were quick at learning from the research methodology training, worked well as a team, and were diligent and dedicated in carrying out the research tasks every day. I am very grateful to them.”

LWT’s field research coordinator, Benni Hintz, said, “Data are absolutely critical to conservation, which is why we were thrilled to partner with Biosphere Expeditions for another year of wildlife monitoring work in Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. Thanks to the efforts of Biosphere Expeditions’ citizen scientists we were able to expand our knowledge of the movement, health and composition of wildlife populations in the reserve – particularly elephants and hippos – and had a lot of fun along the way! We’re very grateful to everyone for their hard work during yet another successful expedition.”